Room 30' x 11?
Tekton Double Impacts vs the competition....
So I recently have been on a pursuit of better speakers ...I know its all relative to each individual listener . I am a professional musician and am seeking some powerful depth and clarity for my cavernous living room which will be addressed and treated. 30x11x10 pitched ceiling.
I am polling the Tekton Double Impact owners they're opinions on living with these seemingly beast like cool speakers....after auditioning Harbeth and various others, I remain in a state of inquisitive, insatiable limbo and am ready to forge into some new sound arena....many of these high end speakers just aren't available to demo . What can handle high volume and still hold the presence and clarity / bottom?
my tastes : Prince, all 70's jazz fusion such as Billy Cobham, Return to Forever, Lee Ritenour, Led Zeppelin, Kiss , Miles, Coltrane, Steely Dan , Toto, Jellyfish, Plini, David Maxim Micic , overall its melodic rock / jazz that needs to be sometimes cranked to very high levels especially on "bro night"
Marantz PM-11S1
Sony STR V7
SVS SB1000 Sub
Thank you all !
I am polling the Tekton Double Impact owners they're opinions on living with these seemingly beast like cool speakers....after auditioning Harbeth and various others, I remain in a state of inquisitive, insatiable limbo and am ready to forge into some new sound arena....many of these high end speakers just aren't available to demo . What can handle high volume and still hold the presence and clarity / bottom?
my tastes : Prince, all 70's jazz fusion such as Billy Cobham, Return to Forever, Lee Ritenour, Led Zeppelin, Kiss , Miles, Coltrane, Steely Dan , Toto, Jellyfish, Plini, David Maxim Micic , overall its melodic rock / jazz that needs to be sometimes cranked to very high levels especially on "bro night"
Marantz PM-11S1
Sony STR V7
SVS SB1000 Sub
Thank you all !
108 responses Add your response
tommypenngotti: Am a musician as well and have had the DIs for over a year. They live in a living area a bit larger than yours and can make it sing as loud as I can stand. Listen equally to pop and classical music and like very loud orchestral music (the loudest of all styles). They handle it easily if you have the amplifier behind them -- and they are very easy to drive at 98 db efficiency. With 50 years of audiophile and studio experience I can assure you that your description fits the Impacts to a "T." Give them a try and if they don't please, send them back. BTW, check out the long Tekton thread by Corelli; it's got a ton of info. What you will learn as you research is that all DI owners praise their speakers -- this is unusual. |
Craig - I scoped that thread , lots of good info , did you get any upgrades? When you crank them up I’m assuming they hold together nicely , so many speakers fall apart and distort at high levels...and these Tektons seem up to par with clarity / sound like other big names? I know different speakers speak to different styles of music ...I better buy 3 different sets! :) thanks! |
tommy: The DIs are remarkable for making all styles sound good. This is one of the first things you notice about them. Then there is the realistic dynamic range that enlivens the music and makes all sound "right there." They blossom naturally with the source and will only start distorting when you get way past normal levels. Pop music is much less difficult to reproduce than is dense orchestral music. My system is now completely tuned and I can sit back and point out each orchestral section/soloist and assess their instrument's timbre. The soundstage is that good. You do NOT need a sub with these if you tune them well (I use REW and JRiver). Your room will also impact bass response dramatically and some owners claim they need more bass. My larger room is very friendly to long waves and I have the DIs tuned down to 16hz with a little bumb upwards from 25 to 70cps. Take it from me -- you will not be disappointed with these speakers. |
Tommy: No, there is only the one upgrade -- to better wire and capacitors/binding posts. Those other options are for adding additional speakers for 3 and 5 channel setups. REW is a free Internet app that many studio and professional musicians use to measure their frequency and impulse response then create a convolution file (*.wave file) that is imported into JRiver and used to EQ all music files so they sound perfect in your room. REW creates the impulse correction automatically and I have learned over the years to do my own frequency correction -- it is more effective when you spend the extra time. But REW can also create an auto frequency correction as well. Have spent 4 years tuning my summer stereo system to be as accurate as possible and it is now +/- 3db from 16 to 30k hz -- this is total room and system response which is challenging to do. This is what I have learned. It's always best to do as much correction in the physical realm as possible -- corner traps, wall deadeners behind the speakers, etc. Once you are maxed out here, then use Impulse and EQ correction, This will be best if it is done in the virtual realm -- e.g. JRiver. REW is free and JRiver is cheap. They will make more improvement in your overall system than many multi-thousand components. It does require that you keep your music sources as digital rips in JRiver -- but this has som many advantages that once you get used to it, you will not go back. |
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tommy: This is the single wiring/crossover/binding upgrade I mentioned above. As far as I know, it is the only stock upgrade available. The DI SE is a different model tailored for dealers that includes different drivers and a more sophisticated crossover. Specific drivers for this model have not been made public. You should prepare a list of all your concerns and call up Eric. He will answer all of your questions and has a superb ability to ask questions designed to select the proper speaker. Like you, he is a musician as well (a fine drummer) and where else can you call the owner of a company and have him help you with advice concerning the product? Eric is also open to new product suggestions and makes adjustments to individual designs as time and monies permit. Give him a call, Tommy. You will not regret it. Use my name and he will charge you an additional $100. |
Each driver plays within their comfort zone is the best I can explain it. That’s why it’s a 4 way. The tweeters are high quality for sure and the other are Eminance pro audio. There is about $1400-1600 worth of drivers in the DIs . It’s the implementation that makes them special. For the 3k nothing can touch them and I say that with confidence. That’s not including cabinet crossovers etc. |
I had the DIs and have since upgraded to the DI SEs, but I do not yet have a fully informed assessment of the differences because my SEs are still going through the break in process. Based on what I have heard so far, I think what you get with the SEs in a nutshell is a more dynamic, more resolving, speaker, with deeper, more impactful bass. The SEs are REALLY going to tell you what is going on upstream in your system, so any changes--positive or negative--are going to be more pronounced with these speakers than with the DIs. Some might say the SEs are "less forgiving," but it may be that they are just more accurate. If any of this sounds dismissive of the Double Impacts, please understand that I am speaking here in relative terms. The DIs were outstanding in my system, and in my opinion a crazy good deal at their price point. I could have lived with them long-term, but stumbled into a good deal on the SEs and jumped on them. As I said, my pair still has a ways to go to get through the ups and downs of the break-in process, but my view is that the SEs just give you more than the DIs and are speakers you can grow into--they'll get better and better as you make other improvements in your system down the line. I hope this is helpful. |
WALTER : Thanks for your descriptive response . This is a difficult point for me...I don’t do well when there is a product that gets high marks and there is another "higher end" version . Leaves me not wanting to buy the lesser model and look for something else. $6500 is quite a steep climb from $3K...I don’t see too many Tekton deals around , they seem to new and people like/ hold on to them...thanks |
The DI with upgrade is $3300 The SE is $6500. To add to what @waltersalas and others have already shared, consider the following: If your budget is tight then go with the DIs. If your budget does allow for the extra spend on SEs but there are other components you can (and want to) upgrade or add, then use the extra $3200 towards that, and go with the DIs. If you feel your current system is more ’basic’ in nature and you don’t want to upgrade your gear, then go with the DIs. If you keep your gear for a long time and foresee yourself keeping whichever speaker you choose for the long run, consider going with the SEs. If aesthetics are a priority, rather than incur the added spend on the DIs, I’d suggest stretching your budget to get the SEs (as the price includes the custom automotive paint finish). If exit strategy is a priority, then go with the DIs as they fall within a price range that many many more folks are comfortable with and they will be easier to move. If your listening mostly includes genres or artists that are not as well recorded, go with the DIs. Making these points as an add on to the already great feedback you are receiving. Hopefully they are helpful. All the best. |
good advice , I answered all questions and it leans towards 50% split on both sets! To spend an extra +$3200 on the SE’s , they’d have to have knockout comparison value . Both sets back to back and there’s an obvious winner ! Like ...why would you even consider buying the DI’s because they sound so much better.... |
I know its silly , but I didn’t know anything about Tekton when I started this hunt for "higher end speakers" . I started heading down the familiar paths , Klipsch etc... a sound engineer friend who I trust implicitly told me Harbeth speakers are the best speaker he’s ever heard hands down, so I demo’d the SHL5+ and honestly they sounded great but didn’t hear $7K. I always am a little leary of brands I’ve never heard of ...Tekton had a tremendous amount of positive feedback and a few naysayers..we’ll see! |
tommy: Two small but significant tweaks that many of us have made are to 1) baffle the back two ports with some kind of acoustic material and 2) insert Herbies Glider Feet that cushion the boxes movement. For the first, I have constructed a 16" X 32" custom baffle that is affixed to the wooden stand on which my DIs sit. This will lightly soften bass volume while, significantly, increasing its accuracy and presence. ONCE the baffles are in place, the speaker can be placed as close to the wall as you like. Mine are about 18" from a treated wall. For the second, go to http://herbiesaudiolab.net/spkrfeet.htm and check out the Threaded Stud glider. It will not only help bass accuracy, but will, surprisingly, improve soundstage quite a bit. Eight of them run about $130 and are well worth the price. There are plenty of variants and don't think you need to do this right away -- you might find adjustments in your room that are even better. |
kristofa: They are overlong (16" W X 30" L) bases with a 1/8" plywood support (16" W X 32" H) screwed at right angles to the back end of the base. On the front of this right angle (speaker facing), one sheet of 1" chair foam batting and two sheets of 2" EcoTouch home insulation are tack glued. Then the back piece/foam is covered in speaker cloth, tack glued and stapled. Once you have the materials and basic idea, takes an hour or two to build. AND, regardless of the simple design, THEY WORK. The DI cabinet pressure is not affected but the 180 degree out-of-phase port noise is killed. Will very lightly reduce the total bass volume but will substantially improve accuracy and presence. I use REW EQ to bring the bass volume back exactly where I like it -- about 5db high from 16-80 hz. BTW, have also gone over to the half grill alteration discussed towards the end of the epic DI/Corelli thread. Have used this for two weeks, retuned my room response, and will not be going back to a full grill. Check it out. |