Tekton Double Impact phase issues?

FTR, I don’t mean to attack the OP. I find his questions reasonable and fair. I’m now just whining about the general FUD that has been lobbed.

Sorry for the confusion.

Best,

E

I'm amazed at how "phase issues" and "comb filtering" have dominated the discussions about these speakers with few actually understanding what it means, or how you would measure it.

The proof of the design is in plots of the on vs. off axis response. Stereophile does these routinely in the vertical and horizontal axis. This is an incredibly easy problem to hear and measure and therefore prove whether the Tekton's are any better or worse than other speakers.

I truly feel bad for the designer who has had to defend his designs against mostly incompletely informed critics.

Best,

E

mr_m:

Oh, yeah, I could imagine. They like to use vertical AND horizontal arrays. It's a shame though, they seemed to take a lot of care to control dispersion and timing. Sucks to know they had issues like that.

Best,

E

@hornguys

Are you talking about the distance between drivers in a single speaker, or that the L and R speakers are too far apart?

Best,

E

By the way, the easiest way to put these issues to bed is to show polar plots of frequency response.

A good speaker will have a smooth roll-off off axis. A great speaker will have level drops off axis, but maintain the same frequency response.

Best,

E

@stfoth Me too, but judicious toe-in should solve this issue for you. :)

Best,


E

@mr_m Exactly!

It's quite easy to hear this problem. I'm curious though, which speakers DID show this issue for you? This reminds me of the old Polk with their cross-feed drivers.

Best,


E

I know you are a 1 seat kind of guy, but we all move around a little. Some of the worst speakers for this are Sanders’s flat ESL designs. No comb filtering issues, since it is a single panel, but the sweet spot is a 1mm cube. Your neck and shoulders hurt after half an hour from holding your head so rigidly in place. :)

So it’s worth listening for a reasonably comfortable listening window.

Best,

E

Hi @stfoth,

Yep. Unless the designer is a huge moron.

Best,

E

Hi Trytone,

OMG, the BS lobbed at Tekton speakers by arm chair speaker designers has been incessant, and mostly wrong. Comb filtering / phase issues are incredibly easy to detect. Just move. Move around and listen for a consistent stereo image as you move left to right. Also compare the clarity and detail up close to the speakers vs. your seated listening location. Also move above and below the tweeter axis. All speakers change as you move around, the point is whether it’s still pleasant and acceptable to you. How do you listen? Do you sit in one place for hours, or do you put on dance music and move around the room? Questions appropriate for all speakers.

If the speakers were as bad as claimed, just moving your head a couple of inches would cause severe and unpleasant differences in tonal balance compared to being in the "sweet spot."

All multi-way, non-coaxial speakers suffer from phase, lobing and combing somewhat. Move above or below the normal listening axis (usually the tweeter) and you’ll hear this. How severe this is will determine how pleasant your experience will be, so speakers try to design speakers so that as you go off-axis the output rolls off consistently or at least smoothly across the mid to treble.

I personally find the Tekton solution of using a 7 driver mid/tweeter array is a fairly elegant solution, and IF PROPERLY IMPLEMENTED, will create a virtual coaxial mid/tweeter with similar benefits to those of modern-day KEF speakers.

Like all speakers though, compare your audition space to your own ideal placement. Many speakers sound great when 5’ away from all walls, and then cramped at home.

Best,


E