Ok, here we go again. I started 2 threads a few years ago. "What did I do?" was the title of the first one. Look it up if interested.
This is what I did. I sold my used Wilson Sophia Series II for $1000 more than I paid for them. Then I spent most of that money on Tekton Moab speakers. The system was in a really large room and the Moabs did not look out of place and the fact the actual speakers were higher from the floor gave me a sense of "Being There". I loved them.
Now I moved to a smaller house, room. These Moabs now look like I has 2 standing closets in the corners of my room. Black in color does not help. But the sound is still very nice and I plan on buying the Townsend bases for them.
But I know in my heart that the Wilson speakers would be perfect in this room.
Time marches on. I traded the Tekton's to The Music Room. The money went towards the next speaker I grabbed.
Here is my take on the Tekton's. Great speaker for Live Music. It sounds like a PA system. So, if you love live rock recording here is your choice. I added a REL Sub and the speaker just magically open up even more. If you have the Moabs get a REL sub, it will amaze you.
I picked up a set of Canton Ref 3 speakers in white. Classy looking compared to the 2 coffins I had standing in my room. These are much better speakers made in Germany.
Anyway, I wanted to finally put a nail in my Tekton experience.
I had the same experience, I added a pair of REL T5x subs to my system and everything improved. When you get an excellent sub integrated properly everything snaps into place and you get one of those "Wow!" moments. I bought the subs to use with a set of AR M1 speakers but when I put them in place with my Tekton Pendragons they really added something special to those also.
And now I did something that surprised me with the results. I added the Townsend podiums last year. That is better. But this real difference is the REL 98 I added a few months ago.
I do not know why the mids, mid lows, and lows all jumped up improved sound.
My comment was that the Wilson’s that I owned and had set up was in a much larger room. I bought the Moabs because they did fill the room with music. Like I said I had a much larger room then.
Now the Wilson would be perfect in THIS room. So, never sell anything was my initial comment.
By the way, I have some friends sit and listen with me. They told me that they never heard a system that sounded as good as this one ever. Even in HIFI shops. So I am not moaning here. I will keep my Moabs for year to come.
I am experiencing live music in my Livingroom almost every day.
- Dude sells Wilson for 1k more than what he paid.
- Dude buys Moab which goes head to toe against any Wilson, Schweikert, etc w.r.t sound quality at a fraction of the cost. Moab is butt ugly, but, so is any Wilson (ghastly, ugly creatures), i.e., dude didn’t do any worse in the aesthetics department..
I have the Tekton Double Impact SE. They sound pretty good to me with my tube amp. Maybe I am not as smart as the other audiophiles here. In my other system I have Vandersteen speakers. Are they sub par too? BTW I have heard that Tektons are ugly. That may be because many people don't leave the grills on their speakers. With the grills on the Tektons look like about 95% of all the tower speakers out there????
@bill_peloquin think about some sort of cloth cover for your Moabs that fits in with your decor.I have the same type of dilemma after selling stand mounts and replacing them with floorstanders that look out of place.So I made a cover that hangs over the top and down front that looks pretty much like a grill.Much better aesthetically.
The OP’s problem is one of the reasons why I started a new speaker business from scratch. It’s called blueprintacoustic.com I’m in it for the long haul, I am retired in my mid 50s and looking for something to do that I love. being able to change and adapt on speaker system, I don’t think it’s ever been attempted before. Check out the section called the configurator. I’d let you configure your own design in real time and get an estimate on approximately what the speaker will cost.. it’s been three years in the making and we finally have got the doors open. Our next move is going to be a custom show room on the west side of Cleveland. We’re having a blast and would love to talk to you about speakers. Hope you say hi sometime, thanks.
But we do all have eyes. And that is the most widely expressed criticism, their appearance.
For me both Wilson and Tekton are butt ugly, badly conceived, brutalist designs. They look malevolent.
For that reason neither would find a place in my system, when there are some beautiful speakers out there that sound every bit as good. There's no excuse for such bad design. I rather have a pair of beautiful girls to share my room that a pair of nightclub bouncers that dominate it.
Audioman58 , for the money Wilson is charging? I would expect the beauty of Wilson’s speaker cabinets and parts.No doubt they are made with high quality parts? I agree with you 100%. I own two Tektons I have Not heard any ringing sound on them though? I own Andra Eggleston so I have a good idea what good cabinet is.
A trip to the Wilson dealer with your wife is in order. Listen to the Yvettes, smaller and better looking. Like Sophia on steroids. Better than Sasha 1. They are still winning awards in 2022 but available now used at reasonable prices.
What other speaker company decades ago used a multiple set of the same speakers to get a better midrange sound that is similar to what tekton is doing? Bose!
IMO, and the original poster states this, they moved to a larger room and instead of buying a larger pair of Wilson’s to fill the room for a larger cost, they went cheap with big speakers to fill the room. A tough choice is to have a much better smaller speaker in a larger room or get a cheaper speaker with poorer quality but fills the room with sound.
Decades ago, people would buy Cerwin Vega speakers to fill big rooms but were terrible cheap speakers.
Not in a Million Years ,from the cabinet ,which the Tekton just a ringing box ,
the Xover uses inferior parts ,as well as drivers vs Wilson
sonicly start with micro,macro detail the Tekton is miles behind .i have rebuilt both Xovers ,the Wilson’s have pretty good quality , the tektons low budget would be a kind way to state it , no Thank you .
I've sold to upgrade in the past and have never regretted it, except for a pair of Musical Fidelity Silver ICs, which were the best darn ICs I ever had. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Lot of comments in this thread from people who have never heard Tektons....may they celebrate in their superiority and be happy.
And you know this how? There are lots of posters on this site and you apparently know what each and every one has or hasn't heard. Wow. You are very special. Do you go to Mensa meetings?
Iam now 65 , I am planing to buy the MOAB before I got my modified KLH model 9 panel speakers.Because I listen to classical large scale orchestral music.
Wilson’s I believe they are very very good stuff and beautiful? For them to sound right they have to be set up right. At Axpona I never heard them sound good at all ? I believe they are not set up correctly. For sure if you move to Tekton the nice furniture look of Wilson will not be there.But the MOAB won’t disappoint you my guess? I own two Tekton speakers both are good for my taste.
That TkT Mo seems an overkill in that space, too much pressure in the room either sonically or visually. Not sure what the downgrade from Wilson is for?
Thank you for raising this. Downsizing is a big topic all by itself and worth discussing.
I turn 74 this year, fortunately my wife and I are both in very good health. The issue is heightened for us as we don't have children. But we certainly have a lot of 'stuff'. We have different views on downsizing. My wife says we really must start now and she has started going through her books and giving them to charity shops.
I have 4000+ LP albums; I know that's a lot less than some. No I can't listen to them all but I want the option to do so. I enjoy being around all the accumulations of stuff over a lifetime and don't want to get rid of anything while I remain able to enjoy it OK I may soon round that final bend and be in the finishing straight; but when big bang time comes and I can't use it any more it can all go to auction sale.
Most of us don’t have fully dedicated "man cave" rooms so aesthetics are still a factor. Speakers become essentially a piece of furniture, and I’m going to be looking at those speakers while listening for years. It counts if what I’m looking at is ugly or not. There are too many nice looking (IMO) speakers that sound good to compromise on looks (for me).
I mean...anyone can wear track pants in public if for them it’s "all about being comfortable." But...some of us have standards ;-)
As long as the Moabs meets WAF, screw what they look like. It’s all about the Sound. Your listening experience. Life of an Audiophile is/are, Sacrifices. I think you will get used to them. Even if they were Avantgardes! (My personal opinion) It’s all about the Sound.
Don’t beat yourself up by telling yourself "They look like sh*t" every time you see them. If you don’t like the Sound of them in your present environment, that’s a different discussion.
Keep all the old gear, keep all the boxes -- that's always worked for me. But then you turn 75 and the prospect of downsizing swims into view. Soon your library will dwindle to an armful of classics. Ditto your artwork, your mementos, your cookware . . . and same story with your audio gear. Downsizing, you can hang onto a few vital possessions. On the final move, you can take nothing at all.
I bit of a different road for me. In the 70's I sold a bunch of Yamaha for a high end store. Always loved the receivers but never brought one home. Couldn't stand it recently when I say a mint unit on Reverb for a great price. Snapped that bad boy up and lifted years of regret just like that. I do wish I still had my SP-6. I have started looking again. Fun stuff.
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