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Quality issues with Tekton speakers....

I was reading all the buzz about these Tekton speakers and after sorting through all the reviews, decided to order a pair of the Pendragon (the big ones... $2,500 a pair).

When they arrived, I found them to be boxed well and in perfect shape, although one thing was very noticeable once I looked at the speakers. The woofers had a slightly different tone (color). The upper woofer in each tower was basically dark gray or black (like most paper woofers you might come across) and the lower woofers were slightly blue in color. After looking on the web some, I could not find a Pendragon speaker photo ANYWHERE that had this color difference. Since they did not come with speaker grilles, I knew the color difference would bother me as long as I owned the speakers.

I contacted Tekton (Eric Alexander) via e-mail and explained the issue. After almost a week of not hearing back, I sent another e-mail and his response was...

(copy and pasted right from my e-mail)... " I'm sorry. Please refresh my memory. What seems to be the problem? Thanks, Eric"

I described the issue again and he offered to exchange the speakers. I said there was no need to ship back a huge pair of 85 pound speakers and have him send me another pair and suggested maybe he just send me grilles at no charge to cover the speakers and I could live with the slight color difference in the woofers. I really feel that grilles should be included in a $2,500 price tag however.

All of these e-mails took several days to answer by the way.

He agreed and said he would get the grilles out right away... they were sent a few days later and upon arrival, I realized there was a pretty big problem. I had a normal type speaker grill with 4 pegs on the back and a speaker with no peg holes. After all the time, e-mails, no answers, etc., I was not interested in wasting any more time with the matter and asked for a partial refund through PayPal and asked a simple question... why send me grilles for a speaker that he just shipped to me with no holes to put them in? His reply was to offer to make new grilles and send "velcro dots" to affix them to the speakers with.... WOW.

The WORST part about all this: Within 30 minutes of making a PayPal claim about the issue and asking for a partial refund from him, Eric tried to call me right away... now that there was money at stake.

The really sad part of all this is that the speakers actually sound pretty damn good now that they are broken in... I just hope the quality and communication come up to the same level for the sake of Tekton as a company.
128x128audiofreak32
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snapsc
666 posts
 
It seems pretty clear that Eric made the effort to “make things right”.  And it seems pretty obvious that swapping the speakers or the drivers were the preferred solutions. 

All companies have problems at one point or another... the key is what happens going forward to prevent a reoccurrence.

As Tekton becomes more and more successful is unlikely that Eric has a chance to personally inspect every loudspeaker that is built. Therefore, it is critical that he has processes in place that assure quality... as an example...have photos and descriptions in all work areas in his shop of what is an acceptable product so that his employees know what is expected.  

Based on Tekton’s track record, I suspect they will continue to improve and to make great products...in this age of instant everything, communication will be the hard part. 
gregb63
45 posts
 
Reading through this thread, I must say, some of it sickens me! As a customer of Eric’s, I’m proud to own his speakers. I’m sure when you read the “bashing” threads they are pissed off competiters! Eric’s speakers blow away most! I have and can buy any on the market and have chosen the Encore’s as my reference speakers. I have all tube gear. I use TruangleArt Reference SE turntable along with their Reference phone stage. You folks don’t know me from Adam but to back up my thinking, Tom Vu from TriangleART and I were talking a few days ago and I told him how much I love my speakers. He snapped up and said he had heard them and loved them! I got him and Eric together and looks like Tom will be using a pair at his shows. If that’s not a indication of how good Eric’s speakers are, I don’t know what is!! 
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