Tekton Double Impacts

@david_ten and fried okra and collards 

@charles1dad If I concede to a major upgrade of anyone component. I'll eat crow.  If I don't, then he eats crow. 

@mlg Thanks for the kind words.  I like the way you think. I enjoyed having you over. It's great meeting enthusiastic audiophiles to gab a mile a minute with and also to listen to some tunes!  I look forward to seeing you Thursday to return the favor. 

I'm listening a Blue Coast Recordings https://i.imgur.com/Ivt9WMF.png
Now I've heard the entire album a dozen times on my DIs, but what the Encores do with acoustic guitar solos is nothing short of amazing!  I'm in heaven.  I highly recommend that album in the aforementioned link. 

@charles1dad Thanks, buddy! I'm so happy everything has come together so well.  Couldn't be more ecstatic. 

@david_ten He should feel really good about this design.

 I decided I'm selling my Nords and just keeping my Diavolo tube amplifier.  Sucks because I really like the Nords for what they do on these speakers, but I really need to recoup some money towards the Encore purchase.  I just cancelled my Amazon order for an amp switcher box because I'd have to buy more cables to allow me to switch between amps so I could do ss and tubes to suit my mood.  I sold my Double Impacts today.  That was easy and painless. 

Anyone needing a $2900 pair of 2 month old upgraded 400wpc Nords One-Up SE NCORE Monoblocks let me know.  I'll let them go for $2300 shipped and insured, paypal included. 

@corelli The 15 tweeter MTM is no joke. The higher quality tweeter drivers used in the Encore are very revealing and with 15 of them the vocals and instruments from the 300hz midrange all the way through the treble region is just effortless, incredibly detailed, never harsh, totally enveloping, and they epitomize coherance.

The midbass drivers are the Italian ones like in the Ulfs, and the long throw 11" woofers are absolutely incredible recreating detailed, tight, and seismic bass that is simply stunning. These type of woofers are a departure from the pro-audio type paper woofers found in the DIs, SE, and Ulfs and there’s no comparison in what they do when compared to the DIs I’ve enjoyed over the last year so much.

I really do hope someone else gets a pair soon and chimes in so I’m not the only one blathering on mesmorized by the Encore’s performance. I feel like a lonely fanboi who won’t shut up about them. Sorry about that. (not sorry, 😂 )

@grannyring Very well stated. The footprint of the Encores is 2" wider, 2" less deep, and about 6" taller than the Double Impacts. (13.25" x Depth 15.25" Width x 62" Height). My only gripe is the 175lb weight was a bit much for me, but with some help and careful attention they were placed pretty much where the Double Impacts were with minor adjustments to compensate for the difference in presentation. I get my Herbie Giant Threaded Stud Gliders shipped today and will use them to easily slide them around and experiment a bit more with placement. I was very surprised how they were not finicky to place. They just plopped in and simply disappeared in my room. Regarding the drivers, I find them to be very refined and a huge improvement over the DIs drivers in just about every subjective metric. As tempted as I am to look inside and see what’s what, I’d rather just trust my ears and the designer because the resulting sound is so good that I want for nothing in anyway sonically. I can’t wait for someone else to get their pair and chime in on them.

@craigl59 I was told by Eric that they were of German origin. I have no idea of the brand. He only expressed that they went down to 300hz, a full octave lower than the Double Impact's tweeters.

As an aside... SO... I’m listening to a very high quality 24/96hz vinyl rip of Frank Sinatra’s "Only the Lonely" from @fetguy that is amazing. I’ve heard this recording dozens of times, but on the Encores I’ve just discovered a faint sound of Sinatra singing the next line of the song before he sings the actual line. At first I thought I was hearing an earlier take of the song being played through his headphones that he was following along to, but @fetguy explained that this is tape print-through of the master-tape recording.

How’s that for revealing? That’s amazing detail retrieval! I can’t believe how detailed these arrays are. They are definitely worth the price of admission. I’m blown away! These speakers tell the truth, plain as day, uneditorialized.

Oh the song was "Blues in the Night" ^ on that album

My audiophile friend, Johnny, bought my original Double Impacts texted me the following:

Late last night I finally got my wife and daughter (Gregory's Mom) in for a listening session. My daughter, Christal, after the first song said "I feel like I heard that for the first time."

Just now she texted me:

After listening music through your speakers everything else is terrible. It’s like I don’t hear real music....it’s depressing.

@343mps  I can tell you that the first person who heard my Double Impacts bought them after hearing them.  He is ecstatic with them and texts me frequently to tell me how happy he is with them. I spent no effort advertising them except a brief mention of them in this forum.  I would order them the color you want, personally.  IMHO you won't return them.

@triumphtt02 - Congrats on ordering the Double Impacts! I’ve enjoyed mine thoroughly for the past year. Many hours of happy listening.

@rpw The Encores are very new, so you may run into a dearth of people responding only because not many people have them yet. I was the first one to get a pair and there are a few more orders placed for them that I know of. I can only say I have no regrets upgrading to the Encores and I’ve been listening to them for many hours during the day. I hardly watch any TV now. They were totally worth it. Good luck.

Decided to tweak out today and apply some minor digital room correction via ROON’s built-in Eq/DSP to alleviate any peaks in the speaker response caused by the room/speaker interaction. A steep Q pull down of about 5db around 42hz and 15k is all that was needed to smooth out the speakers response in my room. The Double Impacts required a lot more corrections to get them to be relatively flat sounding in the same room. Kudos to the Encores then are very flat across the entire spectrum requiring only very minor adjustments to get them to play at their full potential in my room.

@charles1dad I think I lost that bet with @david_ten 

I bought a Luxman AS-55 Japanese switcher to switch between my Diavolo and the Nords and soon a Benchmark AHB2 amplifier that I just ordered to try for 30 days.

I also ordered the New Benchmark HP4 Line Preamplifier to try for 30 days as well.  It's one hell of a preamplifier. 

I also upgraded my Analysis Plus cables to their Apex Silver interconnects.  And picked up 5 of there Power Oval MK II cables.

I guess I lost the bet. 

🤪

@almarg I only swap amps when both are powered down. It's a ritual I follow before changing from ss to tube or vice versa. 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Luxman AS-55 didn't already account for this potential issue and address it in their design.  It's an extremely well made and overbuilt switcher made in Japan by a high end company, but I'm not taking any chances either. 

@charles1dad lol, well if I dont keep the AHB2 or HPA4 from Benchmark, than I'll still be in contention to winning the bet, buy it's not looking good.  I'm hoping I prefer the Nords over the AHB2 because my bank account will thank me. 

@charles1dad I’ve heard th AHB2 years ago, but only on their own speakers. It was very quiet with a black background, very detailed, smooth sounding but a tad analytical and cool sounding, which I kept wanting to blame on their speakers. Rory at Benchmark said the amps with the preamplifier and their Dac 3 possesses a synergy. If they beat out the Nords great, if not, they’ll be returned. I’m more excited with their new HPA4 Preamp. I've seen SET LOVERS remark that they love them. 

Btw, the Benchmark DAC2 HGC by itself was never dry, brittle, or overly detailed in my system running into my SET amp. Its was synergistic. 

@aniwolfe Because i gave my money to Mark Shifter of Core Power Technology because he claimed he was good friends with Peter Lyngdorf and he would procure the unit months ago.  Any friend of that lying con artist is no friend of mine. 

@charles1dad  i deleted that last post. It would appear I connected the right channel output to the HPA4 Mono output intended for subwoofer by mistake.  So I was getting cancelation that was causing the awful sound.

I will update with an accurate assessment after I lick my wounds for being a fool. 

Ordered a Lyngdorf TDAI 3400 today! Hope it lives up to the hype.

@aniwolfe Yeah, I have high hopes. This better be my last upgrade for 2018.  

@evolvist Congratulations on deciding on the Encores, you won't be sorry!  I've been loving mine to death! Come over to the Encore owner thread I started and post you're impressions of them once you get them! There's a couple of other owner's there already too.  

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/considering-the-new-tekton-design-encores-and-owners-group-ex...

@waltersalas The Encores use Giant Threaded Stud Gliders (Choose stud thread:: 1/4"-20 x 1/2" stud)

Unless you want the Iso-Acoustics Gaia I, but personally I think $1300 is ridiculous for those Gaia I because they look similar to the Gaia II or III which are much cheaper, but won't supposedly support the Encore's 175lb weight.  I don't like how they raise the speaker's height either which would raise my tweeter higher by 2". They are very classy looking compared to the Herbie Gliders, but at least you can easily slide the speakers with the herbies, something you will not be able to do with the Gaia I.  I chose utility over looks. Im happy with my Herbie giant threaded sliders. 

@david_ten Yeah I lost that bet with purchase of the Lyngdorf TDAI 3400.  Definitely a keeper for me.  The Room Correction makes a very dramatic difference regardless whether I use the Art Audio Diavolo SET 300b Tube Amplifier or the internal class D amplifier.  Both sound amazing!

@david_ten You got spoiled dude. Im envious of you. 

@david_ten Food and Tunes? My two favorite things! So jealous! 

@evolvist  - I was never offered a 9 month trade up.  I wanted an upgraded speaker when I ordered the DIs, but nothing better existed at the time. So I had to wait patiently for many months while owning and enjoying my DIs before the Encore speakers could be made available to me to order the first pair. I waited 3 months after I gave Eric the money for him to work out the design when he gave me the green light to order them. I paid $8500 upfront and I didn't get to trade my DI speakers in towards a newer pair, so exactly...why should you be given some special arrangement? I sold my original DIs and it cost me $1000 to do so. 

You sure the speaker spikes weren't embedded in the Styrofoam? Mine were, both times.  When you first indicated to me you were trading in your loaner pair of DIs for Encores I was thinking to myself that doesn't make sense to me after so many months went by, but regardless, sorry things didn't work out and about your health problems, having suffered heart issues recently, I can commiserate. 

-Jonathan

@iclickjohn Both my Dis and Encores came on time and perfectly finished.  I've no complaints.  I didn't get grills. 

@aweiner77 If i was looking at a cheaper version of the double impacts I'd go with the electrons and skip the impacts. Just my opinion. 

@david_ten Absolutely! 

Right is red and always positive. 

@2psyop Get the Moabs, I think personally it's a better value for your money and space.  Just my 2 cents.  I have the Encores, I love them very much, but the Moabs are a much better deal for under $5k when compared to the Double Impact SE. 

@david_ten I agree, I had been driving my Encores with 60wpc Allnic A6000 Quad Parallel 300bxls SET Monoblocks, but I found out I am also able run my amps with just one 300bxls tube each which produces just 15wpc per monoblock. This is plenty of power for high sound pressure levels in my new larger listening room even though the Encores are only 96db into 4ohms. Originally, I did this to cut down on the heat generation and the AC running so often during the summer months which is a bit noisier upstairs, but I love the sound so much I'm going to run it like this all year round.  I did purchase some zeroimpedance.com Autoformers to quadruple the Encore's 4ohm load to match the 16ohm output impedance of my Allnics when running with one only output tube and I must say this was a match made in heaven.  I get no compression or softclipping whatsoever on even the deepest bass or biggest of musical pieces at any volume level.  The whole room is now fully treated with ATS absorbers and diffusors now and it sounds so incredible now.  Sorry for rambling. I don't post much anymore on here and usually post more on the Tekton Worldwide Owner's Group on Facebook now.  Great place to hang out with fellow Tektonians! 

@charles1dad Well, my best audiophile friend, Mike, already owned the autoformers and some Atmosphere OTL amplifiers and he runs with just 1 pair of tubes due to heat issues.  He suggested I ask the designer, Kang Su, if I could run with 1 or 2 tubes safely since my amps are a parallel design similiar to the Atmospheres sans an output transformer. I contacted Albert Porter and he graciously and expeditiously reached out to Kang Su and he was able to get me my an affirmative answer a couple of short hours later. 

The only downside to running the single tube is the 4ohm output transformer tap of the amp effectively becomes 16ohms and that's a terrible mismatch with a 4 ohm load such as the Encores are by default.  This would likley stress the tube more. 

  Paul at zeroimpedance.com created the autoformers for this purpose.  Apparently, any amplifier below 100wpc can benefit by using them and he even has people with push pull solid-state amps using them too and enjoying them.  Seems making your amplifier loaf and not forcing it to push extra current into lower loads seems to have audibly pleasant effects for those users.

For me personally I'm enjoying using them in their 4x load mode or 4x4ohm=16ohm making it match perfectly with my amps 16ohm output impedance. (Autoformers can be set to 2x,3x,4x so there's versatility) It sounds like peanut butter and jelly or rather a match made in heaven. 

The sound flows effortlessly at any volume. I can play very loud and I have still have complete composure regardless of the scale or amount of bass of the music. It also fully restores the 10db of damping the amps have because you lose 3/4th the damping only running one tube.  There's something very intimate and even more set-like about the presentation running one tube since now the power, interstate, and output transformers are all loafing running just one 300bxls power tube and the autoformers are like the icing on the cake.  The Allnic A6000 is like buying a versatile 15,30,45,60wpc SET amp. 

Personally, if you don't need the extra wattage I think there's something to say for the sonic purity of driving a single triode, but if you need the power do to inefficient speakers you would benefit by adding tubes and power as needed to lower overall distortion that creeps up rather quickly as you drive a single tube up to its15wpc maximum output.

For me I get no audible softclipping or compression at all with just 15wpc at very high volume levels. Just complete composure. It's well nigh perfect. My system has never sounded this good. 

@2psyop You can replace just the center or treble producing tweeter if need be. It's not cheap and may put you over budget.  I'm not fond of beryllium drivers and the wrong person to recommend the upgrade. You could do the whole array possibly, but you'll definitely go broke doing it.  I'm not even certain the SE has the option for BE drivers because he uses a scanspeak tweeters I believe in that model and the diameter size may differ from the BE driver, I'd ask Eric or Karma.  

@2psyop Things may have changed since the price reduction. I always though the whole point of paying for DI SE was to get the upgraded scanspeak drivers, but please somone correct me if I am mistaken.  I'd clarify concerns or questions with Karma or Eric for up-to-date information. If I give out old information, I apologize. 

@shadys My room is about the same.  The double impacts and the Encores both worked exceptionally well in my room. 

@bstatmeister I have the Encores, but previously had the DIs. They are better in bass response and have entirely different and larger long throw 11" woofers vs the high efficiency accordion-type surround paper pro-audio 10" woofers in the DIs.  This makes the speaker a bit less efficient, require a bit more power to achieve the same volume level, but produces more prodigious bass.  The mid-bass drivers are a refined French driver and cost about $200 a piece.  The MTM array uses higher quality tweeters that cost about $100ea for the Encores which goes 1 octave lower than the DIs covering 300hz-20khz seamlessly and coherently.  What I noticed more with the encore's array is more transparency, detail, and an even better sound-stage. The Encores disappear easily and produce even more of electrostatic wall of sound effect.  The DIs are very good for the money and I highly recommend them at their price to performance value.  You will get at least 85% of the Encores in the DIs IMHO. GLWYS

@bstatmeister I've heard the amps, but not on Tektons. While technically they maybe extremely low in distortion they don't exactly convey music emotionally for me. They are detailed though, but a bit uninvolving. I'm driving my Encores with a pair of 60wpc SET tube monoblocks.  I only mention this to give you some idea of my bias and preferences.  You can always audition their amps for 30days buying direct from Benchmark. I've owned several of their DACs and enjoyed them when paired with tube amps.  I'm not much for solid state amps with rare exception.  Ironically, I am driving a pair of Empyrean headphones with a Monolith THX 887 headphone amplifier to great effect. The Empyreans are quite warm and lush sounding so the ultra low distortion and detailed sound of the THX circuit meshes nicely with them synergistically.  Best to try the combo, Tektons may very well pair nicely with them.  Best of luck. 

@Listening99 The DIs are very coherent and well integrated IMHO.  People have put them in rooms smaller than yours.  They have no glare or harshness in mids or highs. They will provide ample bass for your room size.  I can't speak to the Electrons, but my DIs and Encores are both very coherent and well integrated. I'd actually be surprised if the Electrons were incoherent. 

Go either with the DIs upgraded, but I'd buy the larger Moabs for small increase in money over the DIs SE. They are huge speakers, but Eric will tell you regardless of their towering size they work fine in smaller listening rooms.  The DI SE has much higher quality drivers and a premium crossover.  At their current price (reduced $1k) they are a good option too.  I own the Encores and precisely because I wanted more slender and shorter version of the Ulfberhts so they wouldn't physically take over my 14x16x9 room. They sound excellent in my limited choice for positioning. They are my forever speakers, but they are around $8k-$9200.  The Moabs are the best high performance speaker at the cheapest price delta over the DI SE ($500 more) and Encores ($3k less). 

You'll be very happy with the DIs or the SE,  but you'll be blown away by the Moabs. It's practically like getting Ulfberhts for 50% off.

@Listening99 Hmmm. I wouldn't say they are in your face or fatiguing whether powered by solid-state or SET Tube amplifiers. I will say they are very dynamic. Hell, if I'm being brutally honest, I may have a slight proclivity for a bit of forwardness in the midrange because I enjoy immediacy and intimacy in the vocals, but I would never characterize the sound as fatiguing at all. I think it's more apt to say that the Tektons just have a good way of projecting vocals, via the array, in a dynamic manner with excellent coherency to both the lows and highs that might be construed as attention grabbing.  I've never heard my DIs or Encores sound shouty, sibilant, or harsh whatsoever. I hope this helps you some.

This is in contrast to Vandersteens which I know are very even handed, polite, and cordial in presentation. I listened to the big Vandersteens for several years at a buddy's house prior to getting into highend audio myself in my late teens. They were a bit laid back and too relaxed for my tastes, but always quite enjoyable to listen to. Seldom were not playing in the background.
They were never offensive either.

I wouldn't say that I found them as dynamic sounding to me as the Tektons.  I think I just like to be emotionally moved by music at my core at this stage in my life (I'm 44 now). I think you might appreciate the contrast to the Vabdersteens. They are very emotionally satisfying. 

I loved my Double Impacts, but I'm in love with my Encores. I still have no intention of upgrading anytime ever.  To me, the MTM array gives you more detail, no harshness, and better sound staging.  The bass is a huge upgrade over my DIs. They were made just for me and they are really terrific sounding. I know dozens of happy Encore owners, but I totally agree, the DIs are no slouch and also excellent sounding too.  You can't go wrong eitherway.  Encores to me represent the best proportioned speaker at an insane price value for the ~$4k of drivers, alone.