Tekton Double Impacts

mac48025, I am interested in your impressions of these speakers with your new LTA gear when it comes. I agree with others posters here that the Linear Tube Audio MZ2-S and ZOTL40 are great bang for the buck products and are also world class amps as well.

My listening room is pretty well set with my LTA gear and Janszen zA2.1 speakers but I do have a second system to work on.

Thanks mac. Very much looking forward to this weekend.  I'm sure you are right--seems our ears/brain learn to accept our prior system as  our point of reference.  After a month or two might be interesting to put the 1.7's back in action.

Will post some initial thoughts this weekend.

 Mofojo, I'm in Michigan also just north of Detroit. You're welcome to come hear how I have my DI's set up should you wish. Have fun playing with your new toys!

Corelli, it's going to take some time getting used to the DI's after the Maggie's. As much as I loved the 1.7i's I sold them after 3 weeks as I just couldn't live without the dynamic impact of the Tekton Enzo's I had at the time. Two very different sounds from the Maggie's and Tektons. Hope you're already enjoying the new speakers. 

mofojo--
beat ya by a day!  Two big (cold!) boxes waiting for me when I got home.  Now for a bit of break in before some serious listening this weekend.  Are they going to be able to compete with the magic of the Magnepan 1.7's??

No doubt there will be some give and take.

Pickin my Double Impacts up tomorrow on the way to Mi from Ohio. They called and said they could deliver Thursday but they are already right where I am driving through so I am happy to be picking them up sooner. 

Yes.  Seemed like a cost effective upgrade given that it included better wiring (lots of wiring in this speaker) as well as better posts. 

@Corelli
Supposed to arrive Tuesday. I am hoping. Could have got them today if that pesky business trip didn't get in the way. Did you go for the cap upgrade? 

DI's ought to arrive next week sometime.

Spending my weekend working on my dedicated audio room.  Turned all that mdf into columns of varying depth that will occupy the front wall.  If they don't diffract they WILL look cool when I'm done!

mofojo, any idea when yours arrive?

Looking forward to it teajay! Double Impacts with the Linear Tube Audio pre and amp.......that will be my system soon. Can't wait to hear your impressions of them together. Thanks for the heads up.

The review on the DI will go up on hometheaterreview.com on the 20 (Monday) of this month.  Hope you guys enjoy reading it.

Wow!  This thread still lives?  I must confess that I usually do not go out to chat rooms and post.  The post I made here a few days ago is probably my first or second time posting here since I have been an AudiogoN user. Usually, when a review of mine is posted, I get a bunch of emails afterwards and that's generally enough going back and forth regarding something I said for me.  Readers tell me I'm either a good writer and that they were enlightened about a piece, or they'll say I'm a total idiot. Actually I do enjoy the reader's emails because at least I know they're reading my reviews and I respect that they have their opinions whether they agree with me or not.

In terms if the DI "challenge", sure, I would love to have the opportunity to put them through their paces and evaluate them in my system.  I need to add here, though, that VAC has informed me that they are sending me an amp and preamp for review and that I need to put 200-250 hours on them for break-in before I do any serious evaluation.  I have also been asked to contact a couple of distributors who want gear reviewed that for possible opportunities.  So keeping that in mind, you'll have to tell me if you are wanting me to do a review of the DIs or if you want me to spend a weekend listening to them and coming back here and sharing my findings.  We can discuss.

Mofojo,
there are two rear bass ports and the four small ports on the front next to the mid drivers.

Question guys. I can't find a pic of the backside of the DI. Are there bass ports on the back? Are the holes in the front of the speaker next to the mid drivers ports or really big holes for the grill pins?

Mike, 

When you said updated DI, I was thinking a PMD DI which are in the price range I was guessing at. When will we hear more about this new upgraded DI? Is it something that our current DI's can be updated to? Inquiring minds must know! :) Any info anyone could give on them would be appreciated. 

Terry's good natured challenge would be a great one to hear the results of. I've never personally heard the Wilsons, but many seem to compare Tektons sound to them. It would be very interesting to hear how they actually compare. Something tells me the DI's would make a very good account of themselves. When I first got my DI's and shared my impressions of them many doubted they could be as good as I was describing or that I preferred them over my Legacy Audio Focus SE's. Comparing them to your Wilsons would take things up a notch or two......or three! 

Hi Mike,

I had a conversation with Eric regarding your very positive comments about the performance of the DI speakers at my home and in Allan's listening room.  He was also aware of our respectful disagreement concerning were the DI speakers place in the pantheon of reference speakers, including your pair of series-1 Wilson Sasha speakers.

If the readers of this thread don't know already, you are Mike Wright, staff reviewer for the Stereo Times website.  In my humble opinion, your one of the best and brightest writers on that website.

So here's the "challenge" we came up with that would be a lot of fun and at the same time be very informative for the Audiogon members.  As soon as I get my pair of up-graded DI speakers that I purchased (about two or three weeks) I'll make arrangements to get the audition pair of the basic DI's to your house so you can with your own gear, music, and acoustic space make a side by side comparison of the DI and your Sasha speakers.  Maybe, you can talk to your editor, Mr. Perry, if he would be interested in having you do a formal review for Stereo Times.  If not, at least you could share your experience here on Audiogon. I'll do all the heavy lifting to get them to your house, you just have the fun of hearing what you think of their performance when you get them in your own environment.  I believe this would be very interesting  experience to see what your conclusion would be comparing a $3,000.00 speaker to a speaker that retails for over $25,000.00 when you can spend time listening to it on your own home turf!  

Let me know if you accept this good natured "challenge"

Thanks, Teajay   

Hi mac48025!  

We are still discussing with Tekton on the upgrades...and will share when we have the details (which should be next week).  After we have the details we can finalize the price. I know you were just guessing, but it will be MUCH less than the $30k that you mentioned. This will be a nice upgrade and still be priced so most audio enthusiasts can afford it.

Thanks!
Mike
Audio Archon
Note - We are a dealer ;o)

Jetter- 

Since the DI's are too big look at our Brilliance model. It is an absolute slice of heaven and I created it for those needing a smaller sized loudspeaker. Rick Becker at Enjoythemusic.com is reviewing this model and he received his pair yesterday.

By the way... I don't buy into a speaker being too big for a room. Any larger speaker can be imposing visually in a small room. However, a small room with a well-engineered absorption coefficient can sound amazing.     

Eric Alexander 

jetter, they're pretty big but I don't consider them massive. I had them in my 20x15x8 family until building the dedicated listening room and while they definately stood out they didn't totally dominate. The wife even got used to them.....and that's saying a lot! The problem is if they were a foot smaller they wouldn't be DI's anymore :) The Enzo XL or Enzo are shorter and sound great but aren't up to par with the DI's. I went with Mercedes Diamond Black which makes them appear a bit smaller. 

I know this sounds silly, so be it.  I haven't seen the speakers except in pictures, and it looks huge.  If a foot smaller I would have already bought a pair.  Size matters sometimes.  How did you manage to not have it overwhelm your room, or is it in a dedicated music room?  Don't take this the wrong way, I am still really interested in the speaker.

Great discussion continues. @teajay thanks for weighing in with comparisons to other brands, as it gives a really good frame of reference.

I am now leaning heavily towards making the trip down to SoCal for the L.A. Audio Show, since Tekton is on the exhibitors list. Plus it looks like an excellent line-up all the way around: laaudioshow dot com. 

Thanks Al, so in other words there are more factors involved that determine how easy a speaker is to drive than I'll ever understand! :) I appreciate that you take the time to explain the technical aspects of our hobby to novices such as myself. Obviously Eric understands all of this very well as he continually amazes me with his speaker designs......and offering them at prices I can afford. 

teajay.......I'm not exactly sure what qualifies a speaker as being reference speakers, but I consider the DI as one also. Having owned the Legacy Audio Focus SE ( $12K retail) at the same time I had the DI's and ended up selling the Legacys, I was able to directly compare the two. The speakers were more similar than differant with each doing some things slightly better than the other. I happened to like what the DI's to better more. That's saying a lot as the Focus SE's are very formidable speakers and is four times the cost of the DI.  I can't wait to add the Linear Tube Audio pre and amp to my system to really make my DI's sing. 

Mac48025 3-6-2017
I’m told the impedence curve also influences how hard a speaker is to drive? The flatter the impedence curve the easier it is to drive?

Yes, generally speaking. Although if the impedance stays relatively high at most or all frequencies lack of flatness will be less significant than if it dips down to low values at some frequencies. For example the impedance curve of the Enzo XL that I linked to earlier varies a lot over the frequency range, but never goes much below 6 ohms, which minimizes the significance of that variation.

Also, the phase angle of the impedance can be a significant factor in many cases. That is shown as a dotted line in the impedance plots in Stereophile’s measurements, and corresponds to the markings on the axis at the right side of the graph. Very negative phase angles that may occur at various frequencies, especially if they occur at frequencies for which the magnitude of the impedance (the number of ohms) is low, will work in the direction of making the speaker a more challenging load for the amplifier. JA will usually comment on that. For example, in the Enzo XL review he commented that "the Tekton speaker’s impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) remains above 6 ohms at all frequencies, and the electrical phase angle (dotted trace) reaches extreme values only when the magnitude is high. The Enzo XL is therefore well suited for use with low-powered tube amplifiers." The "extreme values" he refers to for the phase angle are in the vicinity of -45 degrees, but occur at frequencies at which the impedance magnitude is around 10 ohms or more.

Regards,
-- Al

Judging sound quality of audio products will forever be subjective by default.  There are multiple variables at play that prohibit universal concensus.  That's the beauty of this endeavor,  near endless possibilities of choices/audio products that allow one to seek and obtain the sound they want. 
Charles 

To my brother from another mother, Mykeryte (Mike)

In the spirit of discussion about were the DI would fit into the overall perspective of reference level speakers, regardless of price, we have a honest but passionate disagreement between to listeners, professional  reviewers, and friends regarding what you hear and my experience of the DI compared to your series-1 Wilson Sashas speakers.  One big difference between me, you, and Allan is both of you love to hear music at much/much higher volume levels then I do.  This does not imply that the DI will not effortlessly play over 100dB with ease, however in my opinion, regardless of the room/system the individual players will start to sound "larger then life" which is not a natural presentation to me.  So, next time you come over I'll let you pick the volume level that sounds right for your ears.

I totally respect your love of your Sashas speakers, but historically I always felt they were one of the most over rated speakers I had listened to in many systems.  The series-1 had the Focal inverted dome tweeter which after a short while of listening to the speaker I always found it quite annoying and very unpleasant to the point of not wanting to stick around.  Finally, when Wilson could not score Focal's tweeter anymore they finally went to a silk dome tweeter and I found the series-2 Sashas a much better sounding speaker.  Even with this improvement I have always found Wilson speakers to sound like good speakers that measure great/do everything right/,except make music.  When I was at your house and heard the Lawrence Audio Double Bass speakers which you reviewed I liked them a lot more then your Wilson speakers.

I had as my reference transducers in my big rig the Lawrence Audio Cello speakers for over five years and enjoyed them, and still do in my smaller system, which retail for $18,000.00 and they were out performed by the DI!
The DI is not just great for the money, it's a reference level speaker, regardless of the cost and I believe, stated with respect, if you had them in your house you might discover they out perform your Wilson's just like they outperformed my Lawrence speakers.

 

I have owned the the 3.6 . .if you want real low Bass get a good powered sub Like 
JL Audio, or Rel.  Your panel is good only to about a honest 40hz at best. 
Your amp should be good wuslity and at least 250 wpc to not distort  as easy.
A good powered sub has several advantages.   For one  to take any bass  below 50hz.  It takes a big load off your amplifier,  and set to around 50hz your panel slso will be much more at ease to you. Without bottoming out.

@strateahed , using an active sub on a full-range speaker with extended bass will provide the amp with an easier load to drive. The amp needs to use a higher amount of current to drive the low frequencies (more air to push), so if the sub can help with the low-end, then the midrange and low-mids will benefit by getting quality power from the amp with with no clipping.
If it's a large room, a subwoofer is a benefit to the sonics of the tower speaker.

mykeryte, wondering if you had any comparisons in the 5-8k range new that would be good competitors for the double impact? I just ordered them so obviously I am hoping they are very good. What do you think the Sahas do better or other speakers of a higher price point. I am really just curious so not trying to act like I bought world beaters since I haven't heard them yet nor have I heard the Wilsons. Did a demo with some big ole Focal speakers that I could never afford a few years back in a treated room powered by really pricey front end and it was jaw dropping. 

Thanks mac48025, that is just the kind of information I was looking for. Much appreciated!

I had two Vandersteen subs that I used for years with a variety of speakers but not with the DI's.......and they aren't missed at all. The DI's have some of the best bass I've heard. The bass goes low, it's tight, fast and blends seemlessly with the other drivers. Would adding subs make them sound even better? Probably, but I'll not be in a rush to do so........even as enticing as the Tekton Brisance subs look.

Thanks for the nice write-up mykeryte. Great to hear from folks with first-hand experience. The statement about whether a sub was or was not used in one of the demos got me to thinking. Since the Double Impacts are spec'd down to 20Hz, wouldn't that make a subwoofer unnecessary? Maybe I'm missing something, or don't fully understand the concept; but I was always under the impression that anything that could produce clean response down to 25Hz - or below - was considered "full range." Translation (to me at least) -> no sub needed. Is that not the case? Anybody?

Tekton Design was far from the first loudspeaker company to publish SPL measurements as we’ve disclosed for years now and if this is the biggest shortcoming found within the Double Impact I’m thrilled! It even looks like someone has already figured out the 2.0V 4 Ohm SPL on this thread. At least I have the courage to advertise it as a 4 Ohm speaker since a few of our competitors (famous mainstream manufacturers) disguise their 4 Ohm loudspeakers as 8 Ohm models - they’ve done this for decades.

Regarding the patent claims... it’s real folks. No P.T. Barnum going on here and the patent examiner agreed with us and gave us a patent allowance.

Respectfully, anyone having trouble grasping the concept of speaker cone moving mass and it’s integral relationship to musical sources: will you please call me prior to making me out to be a bumbling idiot on here. I’ll gladly walk you through it.

I can also see how my claim of others speakers becoming subtly obsolete might be considered inflammatory or even offensive to some. I tend to be candid and frank in my thoughts/opinions. I make the claim and I stand behind it. We have something truly special going on here - you’ll discern it or you won’t. I’m not trying to take over the loudspeaker world nor sell hype... I’m simply want to offer high-quality high-value loudspeaker products.

Sincerely,

Eric Alexander
President
Tekton Design LLC

My most excellent audiophile brethren,

I couldn't pass up on an opportunity to chime in on such an interesting thread, such as this one, concerning the Tekton Double Impacts, especially since I have heard them perform 3 weeks ago in TJ's system and 2 weeks ago in Allen Richard's system.  First let me say that anyone just starting up a system, and have not decided on speakers yet, the Double Impacts should definitely be on your short list.  I can't think of anything better at or around its price point.  If you are looking to upgrade speakers at around that price point, and maybe up to $5K-8K, they still should be on short list of speakers to consider.  You get an awful lot of sound and performance from the Double Impacts that's very hard to beat by anyone else's speaker.

The Double Impacts sounded really good in TJs system, though as I told him then, as much as I like how they sound I would have to get more familiar with them before I decided whether I wanted a pair or not. When I heard the Double Impacts in Allen's home, he really drove the heck out of the Double Impacts using a $3400 PrimaLuna 26 watt tube integrated and easily reached life-like levels of volume and dynamics with all kinds of music.  I don't recall if TJ used a sub-woofer or not but Allen did use one.  After hearing them in Allen's system, I was more convinced of the great achievement Eric made with this speaker.  Mike Kay (Audio Archon) puts on a good demo and will show the Double Impact's sonic capabilities with the Linear Tube gear as well as with the likes of Pass Labs.

It would be interesting to see how our planar speaker brethren, especially those who love electrostats feel about the Double Impacts.  I want to reiterate, before I'm called a heretic in this thread, that the Double Impact is a wonderful sounding and performing speaker, especially at its price-point and beyond.  Personally, I like my Wilson Sashas much better, especially for doing audio reviews with, but in my opinion, the Double Impacts are one of the best values in what's available today for speakers.

Mofojo,

Steve Deckert of Decware helped me with placing the quadratic diffusers at the first reflection points on the ceiling, one side wall and on the back wall along with building floor to ceiling bass traps in each corner and hanging heavy velvet curtains on the side wall without the diffusers. We also decided to cover all of the exposed ductwork with acoustic foam. The room sounds great. Building a dedicated room was one of the best audio investments I've made. I wish I could share some specific wisdom for your room, but I pretty much followed Steve's advise. My room is in the basement with low ceilings, 7'6", so I guess the bass traps are more necessary. Placing diffusion at the first reflection points seemed to really help along with carpet and padding on the concrete floor. After that experimenting with absorption throughout the room, especially where the walls meet the ceiling would be the extent of my advise. Hope that helps. 

Thanks for the explanations Al and lowrider. While I don't have a lot of technical knowledge regarding audio equipment, I enjoy learning about it. All this time I was focusing on sensitivity specs without giving thought to impedence. That explains why my tube amp is having a harder time driving the 4 ohm DI's than the 6 ohm Enzo's even though they're both about 98 db sensitive. I'm told the impedence curve also influences how hard a speaker is to drive? The flatter the impedence curve the easier it is to drive? Thanks for your help. While I care more about sound than specs understanding how the electronics and the speakers react to one another is very helpful in choosing the products that will work well together. Thanks again. 

Mac, I see your room on the Audiokarma website. Looks like you have a whole lot of room treatment. Just curious did you come up with what needs to go where, how many etc on your own or did you have some consultation to help you figure it all out? I currently just have some owens 703 in basically random places but am interested in doing it right but don't really have a clue how to start.

@mac, I wanted to note this inconsistency in how Eric specs his speakers since it has been commented on in other forums. It looks like the majority of the speaker line is 8 ohms nominal, but a few models are 4 to 6 ohms and are measured using 2.83 volts @ 1 meter and rather than 1 watt @ 1 meter/8 ohms. An important spec when choosing a tube amp.

Interesting points that Al has raised on how specs can be manipulated, (not saying that there’s any cheating going on). Regarding Stereophile’s findings with the Enzo XL, the Tekton’s seem to have resonant cabinets, even measurable on the impedance/phase curve, although these resonances should not affect performance.
I found several high-level resonant modes on all cabinet surfaces, with one at 301Hz the strongest on the sidewalls level with the bottommost tweeter and on the rear panel. Another mode, at 262Hz, was strongest on the top panel, while a mode at 414Hz dominated on the bottom half of the side panels.
All of these modes are of high Quality Factor (Q), so may measure worse than they sound. Also, the Enzo’s high sensitivity will work against these resonances being as fully excited as they are in my measurements.

Also an easy speaker to drive. That’s good news, as I am becoming more interested in trying out one of these speakers.

Specifying speaker sensitivity based on 2.83 volts rather than 1 watt seems to be pretty much the norm these days, among manufacturers and also among reviewers who provide measurements (e.g., John Atkinson in Stereophile, and measurements performed by the National Research Council of Canada that I’ve seen published in conjunction with reviews at SoundStage.com).

I wouldn’t consider that to be deceptive, it’s just something to be aware of, especially if tube amps are to be used. Per my earlier comment, basing the spec on 2.83 volts vs. 1 watt makes no difference in the case of an 8 ohm speaker, assuming the 8 ohm spec is realistic, while resulting in a 3 db difference for a 4 ohm speaker. Part of the rationale for using 2.83 volts is presumably the fact that many high quality solid state amps can supply twice as much power into 4 ohms as into 8 ohms, which would compensate for that 3 db.

A separate issue, of course, is the accuracy of any such specs. Regarding the Enzo XL, its spec per the website is 96.5 db/1 watt/1 meter, while Stereophile measured 90.6db/2.83 volts/1 meter, with the speaker being accurately rated at 8 ohms. I’ve seen such disparities for quite a few speakers in the past, typically in the area of 2 to 6 db. In some cases the disparity is perhaps accounted for or contributed to by an unstated assumption on the part of the manufacturer of some amount of "room gain." In some cases another contributing factor may be that the manufacturer bases the spec on the speaker’s sensitivity at a specific frequency, which may be somewhat greater than its sensitivity as averaged over a broad range of frequencies (which is what JA and the NRC do). That kind of "specmanship" I **would** consider to be a bit deceptive, in contrast to the 2.83 volt/1 watt issue.

Regards,
-- Al

Good to hear they are shipping right away. I believe you'll have to sign for the delivery....maybe not.

The Odyssey will be sweet with the DI's. Before going to tubes I had the Kismet Monoblocks with a Candela and the dynamics and sound levels I could achieve were insane. You will have a lot of fun with the Odyssey/DI combo. I want to do a second system like yours....Stratos with DI's. Warning......make sure the volume is turned very low when first hooking things up! I never went past 10 o'clock on the Candela dial. You may want to strap down any small kids or pets standing in front of the DI's if you crank up the sound :) Beware that any noise issues you have in your system will become more evident with these efficient speakers. 

A future automotive paint job later sounds like the way to go. Ford Electric Blue sounds sweet. I want to go with BMW Phoenix Green they only use on the M3 on my next set. 

Yeah I was surprised at the quick delivery. I could have got them by this Friday but I am going out of town on business on Wednesday and won't be back till Tuesday. I am hoping they are sitting on the front porch when I get home. I did ask about the custom paint and it was 4-6 weeks. I have a buddy that paints cars for a living and at some point may have him give them a nice Ford Electric Blue paint job.
I will be pushing them with an Odyssey Stratos Extreme so I should be pushing 360wpc into 4 ohms if I remember correctly. Should be plenty. My Jolida Fusion Pre is having a static issue so looks like I'll be using my old Denon 5803 as a preamp till I send that in to get fixed. Actually sounds pretty descent in Pure Direct mode and using Amarra for any eq adjustments needed.

Congrats mofojo. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how good they sound. You're getting them next week? Not too long ago there was a 6-8 week wait.....but maybe that was just for the custom paint. 

Lowrider, I never understood why Eric has some of his speakers sensitivity rated at 2.83 volts @ 1 meter and others 1 watt @ 1 meter. I don't think the speakers are quite as efficient as their specs but like you pointed out they're probably still in the 92-95 db range. I believe Stereophile tested the Enzo XL at about 92 db and the specs list them at 96.5 db. Which ever number is correct matters not to me as they sound great no matter what the actual number is. 

I will say the DI's seem to respond well to giving them room away from walls, but that's probably the same for all speakers. I moved mine 6' from the back wall....actually it's more like 13' since there's a 6' opening between the speakers into a small room that I house the components.....and 4' from the side walls and they've opened up more than I though possible. The soundstage is deeper and wider and the speakers completely disappear. All I need now is an amp with more oomph. The 24 watt Decware tube amp sounds great but strains too much if I want higher volume levels. The amp was plenty for the Enzo's but the DI's must be harder to drive. 

Just put in my order for a pair of Double Impacts with cap upgrades. Pretty excited. I hope they are as good as the initial feedback suggests. I will post my impressions late next week once I have some time with them.

This speaker line looks very interesting. There is a Tekton owners thread at...http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/tekton-owners-thread.611768/page-44

As Almarg pointed out, sensitivity on the DI is actually lower than 98dB due to the 4 ohm nominal load. There are other models that were rated using 2.83 volts/1 meter that have actually measured lower than spec due to nominal impedance. But, in all cases, speaker sensitivity was still well above 90 dB.
This is really the only negative I could find about Tekton.

I have owned 2 pairs of Eric's speakers, still own one pair. Without question great value for the money. I spoke to Eric on the phone several times and was impressed, seems like a real good guy.

Someone in this thread is posting not about pseudo science and lies, not about bad business practices, but about ideological differences. I think it's time for him to either post about the true nature of his issue with Eric or not post in this thread.

Just sayin'

rotarius, it's very irresponsible to post baseless comments and badmouth someone without any proof. You sound just like someone else we all know...

The only negative thing I can say about Tekton is that they were slow to ship the grills I ordered for my speakers. My conversations with Eric Alexander over the past few months have been quite informative, with very little BS. I ended up getting some of his Enzo 2.7's for my home theater setup. Quite good speakers for the money, though the Double Impacts best them.

Charles beat me to it!

rotaries, I googled and found only one complaint, which funny enough was someone on A'gon, whose pair had mismatched woofer colors.  He later explains he loves their sound and has bought two or three pairs since then.  Maybe I misunderstood your post, but I found no complaints about Tekton other than the one.

Rotarius, truth is in the listening. Reminds me of when I was 18 and some
fly by night speaker outfit offered speakers that were SPEC-tacular.
Brought them home and my EV Interface B's shamed them. Thank
goodness I trusted my 18 year old ears. Returned them.

The point is why would you want to give money to a guy who puts out pseudoscience and lies?  There are plenty of people who have been shafted by this guy and have posted online about his business ethics.  Just google it and see for yourself.  
I am merely pointing out the facts, easily verifiable.  This is important to some of us here to make an informed decision.

I'm a complete noob here when it's come to hifi but I'm interested in these. I have the opportunity to audition the golden ear triton 1s which I've seen reviews say they are great value for the money I'm just  wondering how they compare to each other?