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
@david_ten - As you know I’m into the best front end that I can afford. That’s why I went all-in with the Linn KDS/3, so not only am I looking for speakers that scale like headphones, but also they much bring out the beauty of my frontend.
As good as my recent Audio Physic Avanti 30th Anniversary speakers were, I thought that they imparted a little too much of their own coloration.
Of course every speaker is going to have its own sound, they way it conveys the music, etc., yet I’m sure we’ve all heard speakers that simply get in the way too much. In other words, there’s a "house sound" and then there’s an overt sound.
That’s why I didn’t dig on the Golden Ear Triton Reference. I think a lot of audiophiles have gotten used to slighting blured lower-mids, so much that it’s become acceptable.
I suppose that’s what attracts me to the mini Ulfs, at least is theory. I liked the unveiled microscopy of how the DIs let the music through. From there I could only guess that the mini Ulfs would go one better.
Yes, the mini Ulf’s size is a consideration for my smaller space, but also my experience with full range single drivers has very curious how these four (4) 3" "overtone" drivers will perform. After speaking with Eric I’m hoping these help blend more seamless with the tweeters and the woofs because of their size. I really don’t know, but from my nominal knowledge of how speakers work, I’m hoping the 3" as opposed to the 7" in the larger Ulfs will be more about finesse and integration of the lower-mids. I don’t need thump; I need accuracy.
But hey, maybe I’m off base. I’m sure the full-sized Ulfs are plenty accurate. I think one more notch up from the DIs should do.
I really need to know the crossover points in the minis.
@james_w514 Thanks. That's understandable. I'm all about blocking the light...but that's likely because of the heat it generates the ~1000 or so miles south of you! : )
Evolvist: Well If I could afford them I might buy them. Hell, the only thing I can ever remember being hooked up to my head that cost $4000 was an MRI machine! And it didn't belong to me (the head did, but not the machine)
So does everyone on this forum own a $4000 headphone? :-)
Heh. Yeah, I have the Focal Utopias, but my 14-year old son does most of the listening to them through a Chord DAVE. That's too much gear for him, so I'm probably going to sell that stuff, since I don't really listen to cans anymore.
Dave for me it was both money and size. Since I am getting 12 speakers, the total price was high so I wanted to keep it down, but even more important, the full size Ulfs are just too big for my space. The height doesn't bother me as much as the width and the depth.
I'm also a Focal Utopia owner, though I've never driven them with a tubed system. At some point, I will pick up a tubed headphone amp for the Utopias. I'm driving them with a HeadAmp GS-X Mk2. Any recommendations?
Nick, I get what you are saying. The Focals gave me a benchmark for what a reference system could be and they've helped me better and more completely understand my sound preferences. They have been exceptionally educational for me.
Like the Double Impacts, the Utopias are very telling of what's ahead of them, AND, both the Double Impacts and Utopias are scaling champs.
James, that is QUITE A STATEMENT: "For the first time in this hobby I was left with the sense of fear that I would still listen to the Tekton’s over a much pricier speaker..."
Congratulations on going with the Ulf Minis. I'm sure many, including myself, look forward to your comparison of the Mini Ulfberths with the Double Impacts.
At this point, it looks like members who are moving forward with the Ulfs are mainly going with the Mini Ulf? Is that correct?
Reasons / Rationale other than size and price, for doing so over the fuller sized Ulfs?
@james_w514, I used to own EgglestonWorks Andra IIs. Very fine speakers. In fact, exceptional. I guess like everyone else, though, if I didn't like them enough to keep them I wouldn't be here right now.
That's not entirely true.
I'm not the kind to get restless, always trading something in for something else, in love with the chase rather than the kill.
I suppose I'm looking for that speaker set that reminds me enough of headphones from top to bottom.
Once I got the Focal Utopia cans, I had reached the top of of what headphones can do. I want my speakers to get as close to evenness that the FUs got me, yet obliviously with the head, neck and chest connection of speakers.
I should have know Eric has it right. The center basically sounds like the top half of the DIs, which is basically what they are. They aren't quite there yet, because they only have an hour on them, but they are going to work just fine with the current DIs.
I have the 2.7's in my HT setup, with a Pendragon center channel speaker. They are great for movies, but you definitely need a subwoofer with them, as the bass is not as good as the DI's.
Got the center channel in today. On Eric’s recommendation I got the three tweeter instead of the 7. It looks small vs my B&W HTM1 it’s replacing. Definitely looks small vs the DIs! But it’s the same driver set that’s producing all the mids and highs in the DIs, so hopefully it will get the job done. I haven’t listened to it yet since it was delivered while the Texan’s game was on. Listening/break-in tomorrow. I’ve actually been thinking a single Enzo 2.7 would make an excellent floor standing center. I wonder if Eric would sell just one of them if this doesn’t work well.
Yep, serial numbers 1&2. Jeffery333 might have serial numbers 1&2 Ulfberhts.
Youre preaching to the choir as patience isn't a virtue I possess. Just like I can resist anything except temptation :)
If it helps, many here are chomping at the bit for you guys to get your mini Ulfberhts. Inquiring minds need to know how they sound! I would love to compare the Ulfberhts, mini Ulfberhts, DI SE's and DI's. I'm assuming they finish in that order but it would be interesting to hear the comparative differences.
@mac48025, thank you for your response. It makes plenty of sense. It's also pretty cool that we have the guy who purchased the first DIs in here. Didn't you write that yours are serialized 1 & 2?
Perhaps you're right. I need patience. Only patience is a virtue that takes too long to cultivate. :-)
Youre in the same situation I was when ordering the DI's, as the first one to purchase them I had no idea what they looked or how they sounded. All Eric told me was that they had a 7 tweeter array and that they would blow me away. Right he was! Since the DI's were the second pair of Tektons I purchased I trusted Eric and am glad I did. I anxiously await the impressions of the mini Ulfberhts as its a speaker I'm very interested in. Eric's biggest competition tends to be his own speakers as he has many that similar......which can be quite confusing. I love my DI's but are the DI SE's significantly better? What about the mini Ulfberhts? Like you I'm thinking the mini Ulfberhts will be quite special. Hang in there and your patience will be rewarded
@vitop you could join the NW Houston Audio Society and come by and hear it if you want to. Or I could bring it to you if you want to hear it on your system. Just a thought...
Looks like my DI center channel will be out for delivery today. Sort of a boring update with the current conversation between you high-end thread members. But my system will be used a lot for HT. I'm really interested in it's performance. In HT mode, it will be the most important transducer in the room. And extremely important the wife likes it!!
Yeah, 15 tweeters (3 super tweeters?), four (4) 3" "harmonic overtone" drivers, and two (2) 8" bass driver per cab. At least that’s my understanding.
An interesting thing is, within a few miles of me (80 miles at the extreme distance) there will be two sets of mini-Ulfs, one pair of Ulfs and a pair of DIs.
I imagine from there we will glean a rather keen study of what’s what.
Really, I don’t know what to expect.
On one hand there is the fear that there will be a big compromise in sound from the Ulfs to the mini-Ulfs. After all, the minis are less expensive, and it would be a big cheat for the Ulf owners to have paid $12k while the mini-Ulf owners paid $7.5k. Yet, on the other hand, there have been two Electron owners that I know of who say that the Electrons sound just like the DIs, only they can fit in smaller places. They are in full DI bloom within a smaller area.
That is seldom the case when going from the larger version of one speaker to a smaller version. The only example I can think of where a speaker manufacturer pulled that off was the Horning Eufrodite compared to the smaller Aristotles, i.e. half of the size, for a half of the room size without a loss in SQ. There are perhaps some full range single drivers that can do the same, but that’s a whole other barrel of monkeys.
So, what is one getting with the mini-Ulfs? I haven’t the foggiest. Only a rough idea. Will it be a $4200 difference in SQ compared to the DIs? A 30% increase? A 20% increase? 5%? I know in this crazy audiophile world people have paid a lot more than $4200 for a 1 or 2% increase. Increments on this level don’t come cheap.
Kinda crazy. So, smaller cabs and a combined 8" less in bass driver size saves you $4500? Assuming he's keeping the 15 tweeter / 4 mid driver design the same. It would have made sense to me to keep the 2 10" drivers of the DI's together in the bottom of the cab, but what do I know? Eric hasn't taken any mis-steps yet.
I would be be more lenient with the time allowance thing, but that's just me. A brand new design being released and all. Plus I'd bet this thread has increased sales numbers significantly, so he may be dealing with increased demand as well.
We certainly shall see. If these things take a month to get to me, I'm pulling out, though. I'm not going to sit around and wait for months on end.
I know it sounds like a hard line, but a month is about standard for a custom build from my experience. I mean, I don't have anyone to protect here but me.
That said, I'm super excited about the mini-Ulfs. I want these things. I have to talk to Eric today anyway; I want to give him another CC to charge, so I'll see if I can narrow him down to the configuration, which I should have done yesterday. We know it's two 8" wooofers per cab, and that the tweeter config is the same as the larger Ulfs. The question is, how many mid/bass driver per.
I have a feeling these speakers are going to smoke!
Evolvist, if you want to come over and play with sub integration with my DIs, let me know. I actually think you’ll like it. I take the sub in and out depending on the what genre I’m playing. And I always have it on to handle the LFE during movies. Just a thought. And when yours arrive we can certainly put them in the same room with mine for low end analysis and everything else analysis for that matter.
Evolvist, I wish that that the mini Ulf was out so we could in fact get impressions on the bass, but I trust Eric to make it sound right. I don't know anything about speaker design but I do know that if he uses a driver with a larger incursion he can move just as much air as a 12" driver out of the 8". I've been reading about it more and apparently if the drivers are close together will sound as if coming from one source. I suspect that on the minis the drivers will be on opposite ends of the cabinet. As seen on this very forum, some people will immediately walk away because of the 8" drivers, but I have heard vertical arrays that lack nothing in bass. Eric may have a little bit of an upward grind selling them until he can get a valid reviewer to bless the bass (assuming it really is there), but the physical size has benefits and many people will buy it if it has the goods. As of now, we don't know what drivers he is putting into them. I would like to see 3 high quality bass drivers, but I tend to think now that it might be only 2. Everything is speculation at this point but it will be resolved and Eric really wants to take the $7500 market with this speaker. I think he will make sure it sounds right. He is not stupid. Many $7500 speakers have larger bass drivers (heck, even the DI has 10"). He knows what he is up against when he is designing these. Can't wait to find out what the end result is.
When referring to "refinement" do you mean sonically or aesthetically? Or both? If sonically, please help me understand how you define refinement. Thanks.
@James_w514, yeah, you know, that 8" driver is probably not optimal for large rooms. Mine is small, at 13x12x8, so I figured I would go for it, especially since bass is so hard to control and also difficult to articulate right with a sub. There are usually big tradeoffs somewhere in the design. Rationally, I ciphered that with my room size I'll get the bass articulation of the DI's dual 10", but perhaps without some of the struggles.
Meh, if worse comes to worse and I fall crazy in love with the mini-Ulfs, yet I find bass to be lacking, I have this JL F110 sitting here collecting dust that I could really dial in to dip pretty low. The JL has room correction so it shod dial in nicely, and though it's a 10", itself, it sounds much deeper and goes much deeper, with great authority. Perfect for a smaller room.
At least that's what I imagine at the moment...or we'll see.
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