First post on this site and it’s going to be a long one. I’m not very active on forums other than creeping behind the scenes or doing research. But I have been following this thread in its entirety from the start and it has been quite informative.
@teajay It’s great to have your input here as well as everyone else who respectfully contributes. Especially the ones who have actual experience with this speaker and different equipment combos.
A little background on me. I’ve always been into audio all my life. My dad was an electronics technician and I have always had a hand me down system. But until 2 years ago, my main focus was on car audio and even more so, home theater. (Current system consists of Martin Logan Electromotion series 7.2 w/SVS Ultra subwoofers)
So fast forward the last two years and here’s the equipment I’ve run through. Naim Nait 5si amp, Primaluna Prologue One amp on KT 120’s, Martin Logan Motion 15 bookshelves augmented with Velodyne Minivee subs, Spatial Audio M3 Turbo S’s, Totem Element Embers and now the Tekton DI’s which I purchased used. I have also recently acquired a Line Magnetic 508 amp which I’ve got about 80 hours on now with stock tubes.
My current upstream equipment is as follows: Macbook Pro running Tidal Hi Fi/Audirvana to a 2Qute DAC to the Line Magnetic to the Tekton DI’s. I haven’t tried my analog rig yet as it’s packed up in anticipation of us moving. I’ve also ordered a Linear Tube Audio MZ2 which will be used on its own or in front of the Line Magnetic depending on my mood.
A couple caveats before I relay my opinion on the DI’s. I don’t lean toward the neutral/clinical sound. As I’ve always been into car audio and HT systems with dedicated subs, I do like my low frequency. I also like a rich, emotional midrange and with lots of detail on top minus any shrillness. (I guess I want everything) I can’t stand shouty, lean sounding or speakers that lose all dynamics and fun at low volumes. All my speaker cables and interconnects are generic and nothing special. I have only just begun to dive into that realm. I also have no room treatment for the 2 channel room. I’ve included pics to give you a better idea of where I’m coming from.
I mainly listen at moderate volumes where I can still hold a conversation with my wife but when I’m alone, things get louder. Of course after a few drams of Scotch, things can get much louder. My main musical tastes range from newer style folk, blues, reggae, and classic rock. Everything else is also fair game including country, hip hop and electronic. Just no death metal please.
So my take on the Tekton DI’s. Visually they are a bit over bearing, especially if you have a smaller room. Lol, no surprises there. I enjoy the look, my wife not so much. Sonically, they are not overbearing in the least and it’s truly amazing how light on their feet they are compared to their physical appearance.
They are very fast, dynamic and never get shouty or grainy on top. But they also aren’t lacking for detail in the least and I don’t ever see them getting fatiguing with my set up. I’m getting a beautiful lifelike midrange. During some listening sessions and recordings, I feel like I could almost move my head and look behind the singer’s head. I tell my wife it’s almost like watching a cartoon. I am new to the SET experience so this could be part of this.
They image like crazy and don’t require much toe in to achieve that. My Spatial M3’s had imaging that I didn’t think I could match again but these do it. My carpet must have 100 tiny holes from experimenting with placement. I ended up in nearly an equilateral 10 ft triangle with the speakers toed in just outside the sides of my couch. I’ve got the DI’s pulled out about 2 feet off the front wall for now. But to be honest there really wasn’t a placement that I found horrible. My goal was to have a realistically sized soundstage where everything stayed cohesive left to right.
Soundstage width is great, there’s still some recordings where an instrument or sound will pop out of no man’s land on either side of a speaker. Check out “Dock of the Bay by Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues on the Sheffield/AT2B Test Disc” on Tidal. Turn it up and see if you can find the saxophone. Lol. Soundstage depth is average to me.
I’m stealing someone else’s words here but I can agree with the statement that they almost sound like a panel with more meat on the bones especially in the midrange. It’s also been said before that live recordings are great with these speakers and I agree. I’ve never listened to so many live recordings ever. They are amazing on these.
But…and this is my only real negative about these speakers. The bass. I’m not used to the way these speakers portray the bass. The visceral, physical impact of the bass just isn’t there for me right now. I can audibly hear that these speakers play low in my room. The bass “sounds” great but doesn’t seem to do the music justice like the rest of the frequency spectrum. It almost reminds me of the open baffle Spatial M3’s I had. The bass was there but it wasn’t ever that satisfying.
Compared to my Martin Logan Electromotions with a single 8” woofer, down firing port and only play down to a spec’d 42hz, the DI’s are sort of a let down in this area, especially considering the 2 10” woofers in a large ported enclosure.
Another interesting aspect of the bass compared to the ML Electros is the ML’s seemed to always have great bass in most every music, genre and recording. Now if the DI’s are playing a recording that has great bass in it, it will definitely pressurize the room and get down and boogie on the low frequencies. But if the recording has only “ok” bass such as a lot of classic rock tunes, the DI’s can sound quite lean which is disappointing. One more interesting fact is that when I move further toward the rear wall of my room, the bass is so much better. This is totally to be expected due to room modes. And once I move into my new home, the listening couch will be nearly against a back wall so this may become a non-issue for me. And yes, I realize this is a no no in the audio world! But it may bring me to my happy place which is what this is all about.
I’m hoping between upgraded speaker cables and interconnects and tweaking, I can get these speakers to what I think they’re capable of in the low frequencies. Because to me, everything else about them is end game sound quality and I’d love to keep them. The sound is truly addictive and just plain fun!
I also understand I could probably achieve better low end with a solid state amp or something other than my Line Magnetic. But I don’t want to give up the rest of the sound characteristics and beautiful looks of this amp. And to be fair, the Line Magnetic provides plenty of bass on the other speakers I tried it with so I don’t think it’s all amp related. Upgraded tubes may be another avenue down the road. I do have a JL Audio E110 sub that I could integrate but with the size of the DI’s, a sub is a no go for me and I don't want to risk taking anything away from the DI sound.
I’m also very open to any suggestions, thanks guys and girls.
Anyways, just some thoughts from a fellow normal audio and music lover. Great forum!
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