Tekton Speakers,Who owns them and what did you replace and why.

Ordered a new pair of Pendragon speakers last October.  Had them for 3 days and back they went.  Did not care for them at all, plus it cost me 295.00 to ship back to the factory, never again.

I can relate to the Pendragons,I heard them in a friends system about 3yrs ago,I even tried some of my gear with them and I personally found them to be a Bombastic incoherent mess.

My friend still has them and still loves them,go figure.

Kenny.

I replaced a pair of Daedalus Ulysses speakers with the Double Impacts. I spent three weeks pulling what's left of my hair out trying to choose between them, as I thought each had very particular strengths. If I had been forced to choose in two weeks, I probably would have kept the Ulysses. But after 150-200 hours or so, I knew I would not be able to give up the utterly beguiling sound of the Double Impacts. For anyone considering an audition, be sure to give them some time, although they should also sound good right out of the box. They will get better, believe me.

I still consider the Daedalus speakers to be fantastic, and of course they are gorgeous. But these Double Impact speakers keep me up way too late night after night pulling me into the music and keeping me pinned in my listening chair. At that point, I don't give a rat's patoot about parsing the differences in that quality or this quality in obsessive comparison and contrast between speakers. The Double Impacts have reminded me of a basic truth, that turns out not to be so basic and maybe not so true among audiophiles: it's all about the music. Everything else is just a means to that end.

waltersalas,

Very nice assessment of 2 very nice speakers.
Would you say the DI's sound is very musical and engaging and you just enjoy the music and don't even think about putting on the audiophile hat.

That's how it is for me and they make it much harder to review any gear upstream of them.

Kenny.

jmc,

Fair enough but could you point out where I speculated.

I'm the kind of person that likes to get out and about and listen to all kinds of gear.

I'm here to learn and also help others learn if possible and I really don't like silly confrontations.

Respectfully,
Kenny.

Kenny,

Yes, that is a pretty fair summary of what I am trying to say. When I try new things in my system--whether it is a DAC, a pair of interconnects, an amp, speakers, or anything else--it all comes down to how engaged I am in listening to the music. If I am more focused on the performances and the emotion of the music than I am on determining and quantifying the specific and relative sonic characteristics of the gear, then I know I have a winner. That is why I think the Double Impacts are winners. When I listen through them, I am more focused on the music than the speakers, if that makes sense. I'd rather appreciate Bill Evans than tweeters.

james,

That's a very interesting comparison of some very fine gear and we look forward to any more thoughts that you have.


waltersalas,
Very well written and a excellent explanation on this all important topic of engagement with the music we love and basically forgetting all about our gear.

This is something I personally have been seeking and striving for myself and I can definitely say I'm there also with only minor tweaks and changes in sonic flavors.

Kenny.

Hi Kenny. Good on you for including all the Tekton models. It will be interesting to follow the specific replacements or why a specific model may not have worked for a member.

I had Tekton in my 'speaker to consider' sights for a long, long time but never got around to picking up a pair of Eric's speakers (at the time I decided on Salk Sound specifically, though there were many speaker brands that rotated through).

This 'Tekton drought' ended in March, when I ordered the Double Impacts, purely based on Terry London's review. I did not even check here or on the other Tekton related threads. In other words, the Double Impacts were a major leap into the unknown for me.

They did not replace anything specifically. We had moved many times in short period and I was holding off on picking up a pair of speakers until we had a city and house to call home.

For me, I actively demoed the Devore O/96s (and O/93s) as well as the Harbeth HL5Plus though I was more interested in the Harbeth 40.2s. I was holding off until we purchased our new home and I had a final space to call my audio room. Other options were Legacy Audio, Vienna Acoustics, Ref 3A, etc. Most speakers under consideration were in the 10K-15K realm. For me it came down to the O/96 or 40.2.

My bias, unfortunately common among us audiophiles, was informed by price to performance........I figured if the DIs didn't work out I would ship them back, or if they were okay enough, I'd keep them for HT duty. Given the HT backup plan, and the much lower price point for the Tektons, I auditioned GE Triton Ones and also on my short list were: Spatial Audio, Pure Audio Project, and Emerald Physics.

It took one listen on that first day, not dialed in, or placed properly, and with fairly moderate components, cables, etc. to realize the DIs with the upgrade package were very special. My wallet has backed this up to the tune of 25K in support ahead of the DIs...to my ears, a tremendously worthwhile and smart investment.

I believe I would have been very happy with the O/96 or the 40.2 had I never been exposed to the DIs. All three are very good speakers!

robelvick,

Very interesting comparison in your different speakers,I've only heard a couple models of spendors and I'm not familiar with your others but I'm glad you did find what you were looking for and I hope you get lots of enjoyment from them.

Kenny.

@david_ten can you provide your thoughts on the DI vs Triton 1s? I auditioned the Triton 1s a couple days ago at the dealer and was very impressed. Blue Moon by the Cowboy Junkies blew me away. I am considering one of these for my next speaker.

treebeard1,
I owned the Triton 1 for probably 6 months. I liked them quite a bit. Good for a wide range of music. One thing is vocals on tv and movies sounded a bit off at times. Could never really pinpoint what it was. For me the DIs do everything the Triton 1s do but better including bass. Especially mid bass.

@treebeard1  I'd be happy to.... PM me so I can help you more specifically. The Ones are good speakers and all the positive owner feedback and glowing reviews are well deserved.

BTW, I also auditioned the Triton Reference recently.

@mofojo Suprised to hear the bass was better in the DI.  Don't know how Eric does that.  TV is not that important for me.  Mostly watched while exercising.

@david_ten PM coming your way.  The GE Reference is out of my quasi-approved budget authorization, but I would still be interested in how the DIs comapre.

Ultimate bass extension I would give to the Triton. Mid bass and bass articulation I feel is better on the DIs. Obviously this will be more amplifier dependent on the DI. They are however very easy to drive. 
The DIs for me feel fuller and more articulated. I'm sure you wouldn't be disappointed with either. Maybe you should try and see if someone in your area has DIs you can audition. 

My daughter is going to college in Chicago and I hope to stop by Audio Archon and listen.  Hopefully this fall.  There is a St. Louis audio club on Audio Circle.  I might check it out.

david_ten,

Quite a interesting journey too the arrival of your Tekton speakers and I'm glad to read that you have settled in for now and hopefully for a extended period,Life happens to us all and there's no better feeling than being settled in.

You are the 3rd person that has told me they originally brought in the Di speaker for HT duty,only to be completely shocked of this speakers overall musicality right out of the box and certainly not optimized in placement and upstream pairings.

I wanted to include all current Tekton speakers because everyone isn't going to gravitate towards the DI's and I do believe there are other good candidates in the lineup.
Some folks may say that Eric of Tekton has way to many choices and maybe so,I'm not him and I'm not going to debate that.

I have owned probably more than my share of speakers in my journey of 36yrs in this hobby and I can say without any doubts I'm still highly impressed and satisfied with mine.

Enjoy that music,
Kenny.

I like many others have been trading speakers for a long time (40+ years). I decided to give the Pendragons a whirl. Well, they are still whirling. I have been enjoying them for well over a year now. It is difficult to compare these to all of the past performers I have owned. Apples to oranges really. All I know is I enjoy the heck out of my system these days. The DI's have peaked my interest but I am not sure if I really want to part w/ the Pendragons. We shall see I guess.

I was watching "Ask Paul" videos this morning where Paul McGowan takes questions from listeners and tries, as best he can, to respond to their queries.

One question asked how important driver material is to the resultant sound of a particular speaker design. I mention this on this thread because his response, in part, may explain why a speaker such as the Double Impact can sound as good as many of you attest that it does ( I have not had the pleasure as of yet to hear any Tektons!) As Tektons do not employ "exotic" driver materials yet reportedly yield very satisfying sound quality, I think Paul’s video posted here may be of interest to you. Paul has no dog in this "what makes a speaker high-end" debate as he is not a speaker designer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ILbjs37Dr8

I have been listening to Monitor Audio Gold GX300 for the last 5 years in my HT/ 2 channel basement. I liked the MA's although a bit more colored and bright than I would like, they had good bass and worked just fine in my HT. I paid $5500 new for these.

on a whim I ordered the Double Impacts knowing I could send them back. I look at the return shipping as a rental cost. I have been extremely impressed with the very natural presentation and as it's been said by others already that they are very musical. Not only am I now listening to more music than TV in this room but my listening sessions are longer and longer.

Heres the kicker, I have a very nice small room system upstairs, using a spare bedroom to optimize a dedicated 2 channel setup. My best, most expensive gear is in this room and now I spend more time in my basement with the DI's listening to music.

Lance

hifiman,

I appreciate the link to Paul's video and I found it to be very interesting.I know I love my DS dac best digital that I have had.

Maybe you will get a chance to listen to a pair of DI's or other Tekton speakers sometime.I don't know anybody in your state that has them and I live quite a distance from you.

I have posted several details and my opinions of this DI speaker on other threads that I don't want to repeat here for now but here is some other thoughts pertaining to this design and It's lack of exotic material drivers.

I tend to fall into the tribe that likes a more natural sounding speaker overall,and I don't like most modern "HiFI" speakers regardless of the cost.


1. In order to have a powerful, dynamic speaker you need to move a lot of air. The 22 drivers in these DIs do this with ease.
2. In order to recreate vocal and timbral accuracy, your speaker must move the air JUST RIGHT and stay within the sweet spot of movement.The principle of the DI, using low mass drivers to replicate harmonic and format (Vocal overtones) structures accomplishes this accurate air movement.

Kenny.

I have the Pendragons and really enjoy them for HT and Music.I turned a friend on to them and he also bought a pair.Yep,he loves them as well.I think about upgrading someday to the DI's but that is a long way off still.I need to wait until the youngest Grandkids get older else I might as well kick those those low hanging fruit woofers in myself.They are already trained to leave the guitars that sit in the stand alone[they have their own guitar]but,when they are around, a WWE "Wrastling"match can breakout at anytime.

I am enjoying a pair of lore impulses, great speaker. I made a shift from monitors and sub . 

Great thread Kenny,

I replaced my Legacy Audio Focus SE's, which were very nice speakers, with the DI's and I couldn't be happier. Efficient. Musical. Dynamic. Neutral. Detailed. Basically they sound "right" to me. My previous Tekton speakers were the Enzo's which replaced my Magnepan 1.7i's for many of the same reasons above. As much as I liked the Enzo's the DI's take things to a whole new level and it sounds like their PMD line take things to another level yet......having said that I'm pretty sure any Tekton speaker will provide a lot of musical instruments enjoyment. 

hifiman5,   I watched  Pauls vid and noticed he did not mention poly material for drivers although as he mentioned speakers are not his thing .   - I had read somewhere in the last year or so about the proliferation of polypropylene material drivers and how that material is just not the optimal way to go  for reproducing sound.   It is though  exceptionally cost effective for manufacturers  to use poly drivers  as  they are very easy to manufacture  so much so that its practically like using a waffle iron to make the driver material.        

 Around this time I started reading more and more about Harbeth of which I never paid attention to in the last 15 yrs that I have been  immersed   in my music listening.   Being I buy virtually all my equipment  (preowned)  without auditioning  (it kept  me busy although of late I have settled down staying with my current components)   I decided to spring for Harbeth  7-es3 monitors  (used) which have taken me to a place of  spending the most I have spent on speakers..   Harbeth  has a lot of good info on driver material  and their product  on the site .     and of course plenty of  reviews online.    Im glad I did.    The most musical I have heard thus far.  

  I did have an entry level pair of Tekton's quite awhile back and used  for a very short time and dont remember anything special about them.   Those Tektons of course being very entry level likely do not compare with what is being discussed in this thread.    
Back to poly:     Im guessing  based on my last pair of Decwares that retailed for around 2k and used poly drivers that could be bought for $36 ea online.    I know because I was able to find out in order to replace a few that had been damaged in shipment.   Another story.  
So,  I have to wonder how many "hi end " manufacturers are using poly drivers to keep parts cost down when spending a bit more would bring forth better sound.   Of course the most egregious example would be speakers costing 5k and up and using poly drivers.     To be clear though--its not like they are going to sound awful..  I listened to my MG944's for years and I found no obvious complaint  .    Just coming from a place of getting more for the money ..       

skiroe,  The poly drivers you speak of were all the rage for a short period of time.  I remember auditioning speakers with such drivers and they seemed to have a "plasticy" sound to them.  Paul Mc was making the point that in his experience, regardless of driver material, as long as the speaker designer understood the limitations of the drivers and utilized them within their optimum frequency level that all would be good.

This seemed to me to be appropo to the Tektons as they appear to use very conventional paper cones for the midrange and bass.  Paul's opinion would seem to support  the claim of Tekton devotees as to the superb sound quality of their speakers.

I have personally gone the other way, buying into the efficacy of very sophisticated tight tolerance drivers uniting with  an excellently  executed crossover to deliver outstanding sound.

Which approach is "right"?  Maybe neither or both.  I would love to have the opportunity to hear the Double Impacts of similar Tekton model to hear where they truly fall, at least to my ears, in the pantheon of audiophile speakers.

When it comes to Poly drivers,I haven't heard any speakers that use them since I owned a pair of Kappa 9's many yrs ago.Several speakers of that time period used Poly woofers and maybe other drivers like mids.I can recall a weird sound from them that just wasn't natural and I changed both of the 10 inch woofers to paper cone woofers,It's been so long ago that I don't remember what I used.

There is some great technology in very thin but rigid thinned epoxy nano spheres that are a hand me down from the aerospace industry and make great paper cone coatings,quite similar to what Zu audio speakers use.

Kenny.

I heard that Eric will be at RMAF this year, does anyone know what models of the Tekton speakers he will have on hand. Also what size rooms are you using with the DI's. I am considering attending RMAF just so I can listen to these speakers. I live in Kansas so I know there is no other opportunity for me to listen other than make a trip to Denver.

My listening room is 20x25x9 and has a open kitchen on one side and the other side is open to the front door entryway and front bedroom.

I have no Idea what models would be at RMAF but I'm sure they would want to showcase their top models.You might call them and see,I'm sure other folks would like to know as well.

Kenny.

I had Tekton 6.5t monitors (like totems) on rigid yet minimal sound organization Linn stands in front of audio refinement separates and a modified rega RP6. I liked them better than Fritz carbon monitors and Ascend Sierra Towers. They imaged well with a nice bass kick 11" from the wall. My ProAc Studio 148s finally replaced the 6.5t monitors, which are up for sale. 

Hi, you may be interested to join this facebook group for Tekton Design speaker owners in case you have questions or would like to know more about their first hand experience with them, and the electronics they use to match with their speakers:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/135142323767796/

Hi I am reading this thread with great interest.
I am living in Denmark and have just ordered a pair of DI. It was a very hard decision with many sleepless nights, no kidding. The price for getting them to Denmark is around $1100 and I has been asking the Tekton FB for DI owners in Denmark, Sweden and North Germany but with no luck.
Now I just has to wait and see if I have for $4500 speakers that I don't like.

I am listing to blues and classic music and this is the gear I am using
Marantz AV8805, 2 x Emotiva XPA-5 gen2 PS Audio Detect and some ok cables. Tidal is my source of music.

I had a pair of Goldenear Triton Two+ for a month. There where very good but I didn't like voices on them. Then I borrowed a pair of B&W 702 S2. Very sweet sounding voices and guitar are GREAT but the are missing the body of the music.

Now I just hope that the DI can do the job. Giving the bass foundation for reggae and big orchestra music and the intimite of a good blues recording.

Martin, make sure repost your thoughts after you get them. I am leaning towards going with the DI myself

Dont own them but have heard them at shows and thought they were among the worst speakers I have ever heard. Sound was so bad that there was no way that the room or the associated equipment could be to blame. 

I replaced a pair of Usher Dancer Mini Ones (DMD) with Tekton Enzo 2.7s.  They occupy a 12x16x8 room which is open on both ends to other parts of my house.  What can I say about these speakers but that the treble is not as extended or as transparent as the Ushers, that I have owned other speakers that rendered midrange and voices just as precisely as the Tektons and that the Enzo 2.7 bass is not as extended as other speakers I have owned.  But a strange thing kept happening after a few weeks of ownership.  I kept planning on sitting down for the proverbial "critical" listening session only to find myself "critically" listening to a series of guitar licks or drum sequences.  I found myself critiquing bands instead of speakers.  These Tektons are the first speakers in a long time that took me from nit picking a crossover anomaly or an imaging gripe to wrapping myself in the aura of a jam session in my living room.  Music means more to me again than stereo equipment.

@jsautter this is exactly what makes me nervous. Some are saying the speakers sound like sh.. other worship them.

Anyone who jumps to either a positive or negative conclusion regarding a speaker's performance under show conditions is either naive or very inexperienced regarding how to evaluate in an objective way a speaker's flaws or virtues.

Upstream gear, room acoustics, and setup of the speakers dramatically effect the "sound of the speaker".  I own two Tekton models that sound stellar in my rooms/systems.  However, under show conditions they sounded almost completely different and did not "show" they stuff at all as they do in my systems/rooms.