Terry definitely is crazy about the speakers! I have heard them at his house and they are a ridiculous bargain! They are huge and good and only 3k! Great deal for the audio community.
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Charles I completely agree with you. It is amazing how much an audiophile can do with such little money (compared to more established brands.) I have heard Teajay's set up and it is excellent. With the DI being so efficient, I want to hear them with MicroZOTL2's 1 watt amp! I am sure it is not as good as with the Linear Tube amps. If it works well one could get the two pieces and when funds afford they can buy the amplifier and use the Microzotl2 as a preamp. Talk about a rewarding upgrade path! I still cannot understand how these huge speakers sell for $3,000 including shipping. The DI with upgraded components might be a complete knockout. Can't wait to hear them! |
Mike,
That will be a fun listen! Get Teajay and we might even have to crack a beverage or two! |
Corelli,
When I finally heard these speakers my thought was "how could these speakers be $3,000? If they had a big audio name on them they would be at a minimum $30,000. I know we don't buy speakers by the pound but these are large speakers! |
Charles1dad, I call hyper detail HIFI vs. listening to music. When I go to most shows there is a lot of HIFI and very little music. I guess HIFI sells Better than music. By the way, my new MicroZOTL2 (actually MZ2-S) just seems to have broken in and it is gorgeous to listen to. Tube rolling in this unit takes it a step higher. This unit is magic. I really thought it wouldn't make as much a difference as it has in my system. Sounds great in Teajay's system with the DI! |
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or invite me to Libertyville! |
Eric,
I would imagine that there must be some sonic difference between the 4 and 8 ohm version. There must have been a reason that you brought out the 4 ohm version originally. I want to congratulate you for turning the high end of audio upside down. I heard your speaker at Teajay's house and it is amazing for the money charged. Is anyone showing the speaker at Axpona? Mike Kaye of Archon Audio is in Libertyville and not that far from Axpona. I wonder if he might be able to organize a listening session for those coming into town. At some point during the weekend. I can assure that people will laugh at what Eric offers compared to they will see at Axpona. |
Teajay I'll help you carry them! |
David, that is exactly what I meant but let's not get carried away with this!
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The melody 211 would be a good choice. It is a little faster than the 300b amplifier. I still want to hear the famed Ongaku which is a 211 based integrated.
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Don' t forget the power cords! |
I had the wonderful experience of listening with Teajay to the two SET amps with DI last Wednesday. I must say that I thought the 2a3 amp made by Triode lab was far better than the Canary 300b mono blocks. Everything Teajay said about the Canarys is true. They have a huge image with great dynamics and they are the champs at detail retrieval. They just don't sound as much like music as the 2a3 amp IMHO. The 2a3 amp bowled me over with its incredible tonality and beautiful imaging. It was the best that I have ever heard Teajay's system. There was real music playing with the 2A3 amps. The Canarys had a more exciting sound but the Triode lab was just the music. Both are great amps but the 2a3 literally knocked my socks off!
I told Teajay that Triode lab was so good that I wanted one of to buy one....even though not having speakers that would work with it...it was that good! |
Teajay,
Can't wait to hear your field report on the 12au7. Which is your fav?
Bob |
Snopro, I was wondering if you rolled tubes in the MZ2s? Using vintage NOS tubes make a huge difference in this piece. A number of us are using the Tungsol black glass round plates and Teajay and me are using Brimar 6060's which are just gorgeous in the midrange. I had a Supratek Chenin a number of years ago and enjoyed it for a few years. In my rig at the time it had great tone but I found the imaging a bit lacking. I was tempted to try Mick's more expensive offerings but never did. I agree with the rest of the group that there are no wrong answers in what sounds best to your ears. As an aside, I heard the Horning speakers at High Water Sound's room at Axpona 2 years ago and they were lovely. It was one of the few rooms at the show that actually did music instead of hi-fi. I am quite sure that they must be amazing in your system. Happy Labor Day to everyone. |
David,
Teajay does concur that the 2A3 amp does not seem to have enough juice for the Ulf. For some reason the imaging of the speaker was not conveyed correctly with the flea powered amp. It just bunched up between the speakers. When I heard it originally I thought there was something wrong with speaker's imaging abilities. With Aric Kt-88 amp the imaging was much better but the midrange wasn't quite as luscious with the Triode 2a3. It would be interesting to try a 211 amp with the Ulf or one of the Line Magnetic behemoth 219's. I still love the midrange of the 2A3 so I think that the DI SE would be my choice but the regular DI is darn good also for 3k! Ridiculously good for the money!
I like romantic symphony music and Jazz and use old Beveridge Model 2 electrostatic speakers. I mention this just so you can know my bias in listening.
My wife is a professional singer so getting the midrange is key for me. I typically hate most rooms at the HIFI shows because they play HIFI over music. The DI and up the line can play music.
I want to give a plug for Mike at Audio Archon who is as true of an audiophile as you ever will meet. You definitely are in good hands with him. He has great ears as an even better guy.
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As one of the few people who have heard the DI SE version I must say |
Not sure what happened but the speakers have a wonderful and alive midrange that are quite enchanting. The speakers completely disappear and they image like crazy! I heard them at Ezra's with Teajay, Mike and Alan. As good as as the original Double Inpacts are (and they are very good!) the SE version are a bit more refined with a warm and organic midrange. They also image better. We heard them fresh from the box so I am anxious to hear them with a few hours on them.
On on another note I must add that the Ulfs are incredibly huge! I have a picture of Teajay standing in between them with him being dwarfed by the Ulfs. I like large speakers but as good as they sound, they will not be everyone. For me the DI SE would be the sweet spot both financially and from a size perspective. In addition you can use a 2A3 single ended amp with the DI SE. For me that would be a central reason to go for this speaker over the Ulf. The 2A3 amp really didn't do the Ulf justice. Anyway, I would like to add that all these speakers do an amazing job for their relatively real world price. I have seen many speakers come through Teajay's sound rooms for review and from a price to performance ratio there is nothing even close to these speakers. If these speakers had a more advertised name they would be many times more expensive! To think you can have a great system with the microZOTL2 and the DI for less than $5K is truely amazing! It is a great time to be an audiophile!
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Thanks for everyone’s opinion. They are all valid in the mind of each poster. Really that is all that counts. There really isn’t such thing as right and wrong because we all hear differently. We all have our preferences and that makes the world a more interesting place. I have a lot of respect for many of the posters here. As I said before, Teajay and Mike Kaye are great friends. On the other hand, I have been reading Grannyring’s posts for years and always respected his opinion. I always liked the AZ crescendo speakers at shows also. I am wondering if Grannyring modified that speaker also because I have been told that the designer also uses inexpensive parts and somehow still makes a great speaker.
One thing I would like everyone to think about is that we are listening to systems and not just speakers. The interesting thing is that amps that I thought would be great with all the Tekton speakers that I have heard (DI, DI SE, Ulfs) did not turn out that way. There is a 300 B amp that I didn’t particularly like on the DI that Teajay told me today sounded glorious on the Ulfs. In my mind I had already panned this amp but it could be the interaction in the system just didn’t work with the DI. The 2A3 amp that didn't work with the Ulfs etc. Audio is complicated for the most dedicated of us. It is apparent that these speakers can sound quite different in different systems. I never heard the speakers being bass shy at Teajay’s house. I have said before that I am more critical of the midrange and I am not that sensitive to bass as others are. I totally believe that in some systems and rooms the speaker might not be to eveyone’s taste. Audio is not paint by numbers and you cannot cobble together a system based upon reviews or other people’s experience. It really is trial and error until it works for you. Tekton has done audiophiles a great service offering excellent speakers for little money in high end economics. The fact that they are even in the conversation of great speakers at $3000 is astounding. They are obviously not for everyone but they can sound quite different with different amplication, wires, front ends and the list goes on and on. I hope Grannyring and others will continue to post because there is much to learn from them. We all lose by not hearing and considering all voices. |
Has anyone tried the new Triple Impacts? |
