I have dedicated audio room 14.5x20.5x9 ft. Currently have Marantz Reference CD/Intergrated paired to Magnepan 1.7's with REL T-7 subs. For the vast majority of music I love this system. The only nit pick is that it is lacking/limited in covering say below 35 hz or so. For the first time actually buzzed the panel with an organ sacd. Bummer. Thought of upgrading subs to rythmicks but then I will need to high pass the 1.7's. Really don't want to deal with that approach.
Enter the Double Impacts. Many interesting things here. Would certainly have a different set of strengths here. Dynamics, claimed bottom octave coverage in one package, suspect a good match to current electronics.
I've read all the threads here so we do not need to rehash that. Just wondering if others out there have FIRST HAND experience with these or other Tekton speakers
Whoa! I thought the DI's were crazy looking when I first saw them.....these are insane looking! I'll definitely make the trip to Chicago to hear these if Mike carries them. Hope they post some spec's for them soon.
I bet they sound very good. My wife would cry, not laugh, at first sight. No way they could could ever be in our living room. I would love to hear them however.
I believe the PMD line are only going to be sold through authorized dealers like yourself? If you get a pair of these in please let us know as I'll definitely come hear them. As much as I love my DI's I bet these Ulfberhts are better yet......more than $8000 better? It will be interesting to find out. The DI's have set the bar quite high. Let us know if you get any specs on them. They look like they might be about the same size as the DI's.
The PMD line is confusing. The Ulfberhts are Eric's ultimate speaker yet the PMD Pendragons are priced $8k/pair higher? Maybe the price for the PMD Pendragons are wrong on the site, initially the Ulfberhts were shown as $40k per pair!
Lol grannyring. I like the look of them, but guarantee like your wife, mine wouldn't. Thankfully I have a dedicated music room and aesthetics aren't an issue.
Bill, (Grannyring), I agree with your assessment regarding the visual/aesthetic impact of these speakers. My wife and I suspect many women will find them overbearing and physically unattractive. They are not going to be an acceptable addition into most living rooms IMO.
I have a separate listening room in my finished basement but this is not the case for many people. I don’t doubt that these are beautiful sounding speakers, however more attention payed to an elegant and more refined appearance would be well worth the effort. I place higher priority on sound quality than cosmetics, yet I do appreciate attractive visually appealing audio products. Charles
I bet they sound very good. My wife would cry, not laugh, at first sight. No way they could could ever be in our living room. I would love to hear them however.
I would love to read about your journey rewiring and redoing the crossovers on these,oh my take forever. LOL.
I'm a lucky guy my wife thought they are very cool looking and already asked me if I'm going to get a pair.
Goodness you are a lucky man Kenny! If I had a set of the DI speakers I would go to town! I would place the crossover outside the speaker for sure in its own special box with vibration control etc...
I would use the best parts in the crossover and the beauty would come from the inside, not the outward apprearance of these babies😁Well the beautiful sound would surely help me forget about the looks. Actually the beautiful sound may well help me to see them as outwardly attractive over time.
I'm thrilled! Thank you for discerning the truth! I'll make a prediction... the positive reviews and believers will continue to mount going forward. The group I cater are the most persnickety, finicky and discriminating listeners on earth. In hindsight, I'm even smiling about some of our dialog together, your hesitance and skepticism about the DI's ever proving out for you for example.
Seriously, how could I get mediocre hyped speakers to do this?! Impossible! I've had a number of people cold-call me to congratulate me for simply getting Terry London's stamp of approval. All have directly stated to me: "You don't know how picky Terry is - nice work."
Then, on the flip side... I check in again on this Audiogon thread and read garbage about me. How sad! Someone saying I tell "lies" and produce "hype" and "pseudoscience". It's so frustrating to be defamed and slandered like this.
I'll make heavyweight predictions: I'm right and I know I'm right. This is audio news. Without reservation, I'll present and defend my patents, my work and my theory's at AES. I'll do real-time switching A/B comparisons with even the most highly regarded speakers - we'll pass with flying colors. Simply because I haven't published research doesn't mean I don't possess it. Scientists will support me and validate my conclusions. Honestly... I don't know what audiophiles would prefer to listen to. Knowing what I know... I can't think of anything.
Well Eric, after months of owning the DI's I think I've found a speaker I'll like even more.......the Ulfberts! These new speakers of yours intrigue the hell out of me. I had no idea what I was getting into with your DI's and something tells me the Ulfberts are going to take things to a whole new level.
Regarding the science behind your designs. It's all over my head and it concerns me not. I do know that two best sounding speakers I've owned in my 35 years of audio are the Enzo's and DI's. That's enough for me to know!
Then, on the flip side... I check in again on this Audiogon thread and read garbage about me. How sad! Someone saying I tell "lies" and produce "hype" and "pseudoscience". It's so frustrating to be defamed and slandered like this.
If I where you I would'nt worry one little bit about this,you are always going to have some negative comments no matter how good your products are.Just keep doing what you do and not look back.
Audiophile's are the most picky bunch of folks around,but I'm very happy with my Di's and I honestly turned down a set of Magico q3 instead of.
I'm Intrigued and also interested in your new one on down the road,I can always sale my Zu's and move the Di's too my 2nd system.
Could you give us any details about your new Ulfberhts.
mac48025 - I learned from Eric/Tekton that we can sell the Ulfberhts at Audio Archon. However, they are much larger than the Double Impact and not sure how much space is needed yet? Especially, since the DIs work so well in our rooms! If/when we get a pair you are very welcome to stop by for a listen!
From what Eric told me, the Ulfberhts are HUGE. Over 70 inches tall, 16 inches wide. Scanspeak drivers, upgraded internals, too. Placing my order soon!
I've been running my Double Impacts with Carver Crimson 350's for a few days now, as my Nat amps are in the shop to replace some caps and resistors. The DI's really like these big tube amps, bass is glorious on them.
Hello Eric, The Ulfbehrt is larger than the DI and has increased internal volume. Does it have a higher sensitivity than the DI and will it be available as a 4 and 8 ohm version ? Charles
70" tall and 16" wide? I'm even more intrigued now! They must put out some serious sound, especially bass. Like Charles I'd like to know about their sensitivity and impendence.......along with frequency response.
Mike,
Whether you get the Ulfberts or not a trip to your place is in my future......getting the Ulfberts would certainly expedite that trip ;) I know I'm crazy for even contemplating removing the DI's from my main system but something tells me the Ulfberts are going to be insane.
They are sounding terrific. I just finished up the last week of a particularly grueling semester (I'm a college English teacher), so my listening time this week has been somewhat limited. I probably have somewhere between 20-30 hours on them. Last night it was easy to tell that the bass has both deepened and tightened, and the sound overall has opened up. I was impressed immediately with how dynamic the DI are, and impressed especially with the sound stage and imaging. From the start, it was very easy to "find" the instruments in their correct places on the stage. I felt initially that maybe the upper frequencies were just a touch veiled compared to my Ulysses speakers and that the DI might not be quite as "musical," but I did not have that same impression in last night's listening session, which was glorious.
My plan is to put another 40 hours or so on the DI and then do a fairly intensive A/B comparison with the Ulysses. One thing is certain--the DI are just as amazing as all of you have said they are, and they can hold their own with anything I've had or heard.
Glad to hear it Walter. Again it's remarkable how consistent the impressions of this speaker are in terms of dynamics, sound stage, etc.in all our different systems I'm sure your LM 805 is a great match. Will look forward to your comments down the road. I do believe that subtle improvement will be noted as crossover caps, suspensions settle in.
Waler, Hello, I must say that I am not surprised your amplifier and the DI are such a fine match. Given your typical listening levels what is the power range/watts your amplifier meters are displaying? Charles
Charles, when the family is around, I generally listen at a moderate level, which barely moves the needle on the meter on my 508 at all. When they are out, I will let it rip, but this amp and these speakers excel at any listening level, which I have not always found to be the case with other amps and speakers. One thing is for sure--the 508ia will drive the DI speakers with a ton of headroom to spare. Some might even call it overkill, but the sound is so beguiling and so great with all types of music, I would call it a great match. If all goes well, this week will be telling as I finally have some time and opportunity for some extended listening sessions.
Thanks for your reply. I was just curious given the sensitivity of the Double Impacts. I suspect at moderate listening levels you may rarely exceed the 1st watt of power.
Just want to share, many Emails asking this question, that a decision was made that instead of Eric sending me a pair of SE Double Impacts to review for hometheaterreview.com I'll be getting the much larger and brand new model called the ULFBERHT, which I believe is Viking for a special sword. ( Don't hold me on that one!) The estimated date of arrival is the middle of June.
Any technique questions regarding what drivers/transducers, wiring, caps, etc. will be answered by Eric on his website and on this thread. By the time this speaker gets to my house for review I'll have a least two more amplifiers to drive it with to get my take on it. Fortunately, my acoustic space is gigantic and would allow any speaker to breath and preform at its best, including this new Tekton. My only concern is how my back will feel after setting up this baby, I think it weighs around 170 pounds, but I'll manage somehow!
Waiting with bated breath to hear your impressions of the Ulfberhts. While I absolutely love my DI’s something tells me the Ulfberhts are going to take things to a whole new level......and at $12k a pair they should. While I could be very happy for a very long time with the DI’s, I’m thinking the Ulfberhts could be in my future. He ain't heavy......he's my speaker :)
On a different topic I finally ordered my LTA MZ2 and should have it in about 3 weeks. I’ll give it a try as an integrated amp but I’ll most likely be ordering the ZOTL 10 with the upgraded power supply which should be available early July.
After hearing about the big boys called the ULFBERHT, I forgot all about the DI SE model.The SE might fill the gap between the standard model and the Ulfberht.
If anybody has any info on the SE model please let us know.
Hey mac48025 - Since we can sell the Ulfberht, I suppose we will get a pair! So stay tuned!
kdude66 - I keep missing Eric, but if I have it right the SE will indeed fill the gap, between the DI and the Ulberht. The SE will have upgraded everything over the standard DI and it looks like the Ulfberht already has upgraded everything from the start.
I've decided not keep my pair and will be exercising Tekton's return policy. The website says they may not be for everyone...that's why they offer a 60 day return policy. I called to see if they would send me a shipping label because their charges would be much less than mine (which I would pay), but have not heard back from them yet. I'll keep everyone posted.
cmss2000 - I agree there is no product that is for everyone. However, we now have good experience with setup, placement and tested lots of equipment with the DI. Perhaps we can help you optimize the setup? If you wish to discuss further, feel free to PM or call.
It's not that I don't like the DI's. They are very, very good speakers and I do like them and if I didn't have my current speakers, I would definitely keep them.
As I mentioned before, my other speakers are Dunlavy SC-IV's. They are quite similar in layout in that they are D'appolito towers with two 10's, two 5.25 and a 1 inch tweeter in each one. I've listened to both pairs changing speaker location, electronics and media.
The speakers to me, sound very similar. They are both great at coherence, imaging, soundstage, definition, flatness, etc. The DI's may even have a little better bass, but there is not enough of a difference to justify me spending the extra money. I was originally hoping they would just blow the Dunlavy's away, but they didn't. Maybe it's just me, maybe I can't hear as well as I used to, but it doesn't make sense for me to spend the extra cash for the same sound.
Still have not heard back from Eric on a return shipping label, so I guess I am going to have to ship on my own. I even offered to pay some or all of the shipping charges they incurred in sending the speakers to me if they would work with me, but I guess I'm on my own.
I'm sorry to here the DI's didn't work out for you like you hoped they would and I wouldn't feel bad about it if I were you. Speakers and amps are the most subjective components that we have in our systems and we just like what we like.
Just to clarify, the DI's are $3750 with upgrade package and custom paint, the DI SE at $6000 and the Ulfberhts at $12,000? Both the DI SE's and Ulfberhts come standard with all the upgrades including upgraded drivers and custom paint? That's one heck of a line up!
@cmss2000: Thanks for sharing more about your reasons for moving in the direction you did. Are you still considering a possible replacement to your Dunlavys? If so, any prospects?
i have owned both the pendragons (4 ohm) and now have the DIs . . my thoughts are this - the DIs are a great speaker but much more sensitive to electronics and associated eqpt...the PGons less so...the PGons have a broader bigger soundstage while the DIs are tighter and better definition..it seems the PGons liked to be played louder but that may have been a function of less detail aslo....the low end tightness probably has to do with the crossover..etc..etc...the mids on the DI move alot of air...this will catch many off guard and may be a determent for some..the PGons at their price imo is a better value and left me shaking my head ..the DIs less so..looking back i could have been happy keeping the Pgons...it has taken a while to justify the added cost of the DIs and only have done so moving from solid state amp / preamp to a all tube integrated...its starting to come together but a bit mroe efforts required to get to the finish line...also the DIs are quite a bit more revealing than the PGons..overall Eric backs his products and i wouldnt hesitate to recommend his speakers....
-The Double Impacts ’sensitivity to equipment’ as you put it, is 100% on point. -I was one of those (you mention) being surprised by the air ’being moved’ (and energy) of the mid drivers.
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