Considering the New Tekton Design Encores? AND Owners Group - Experiences/Questions

hi  charles1dad,

yes, good transformers are important.  but it's not like the transformers in the decware zen taboo were shoddy.
https://6moons.com/audioreviews/decware/taboo_2.html
it was simply that they're set up at 4 ohms, and have unusually low input sensitivity.  this should have been a red flag, and steve deckert could have been more forthright when i queried him about how they'd match w/my 14 ohm speakers.  but in fact, it seems his answer will depend on who's asking the question, and what steve wants them to hear.  i have emails from steve about this; when i told steve about my results, he said he knew why my set-up wasn't working (w/my high-gain preamp), and added:

" The Taboo is ideally suited for 8 ohm speakers. It will do 4 ohm and 16 ohm, but would rather see 16 ohms then 4. I’m not sure how the 6 moons review got listed as lower is better. While that is true with many of our amps, it is not true with the Taboo."

i explained to him that srajan got those results w/the taboo working better on his 6 ohm vs 12 ohm zu's, and that steve told him it was to be expected.  so, i asked him i'd love to hear why he thinks the taboo's didn't work in my set-up.  i never heard back from him.  ;~)

doug s.

Anyone out there have their Encores and wish they had more from them? Or found nitpicking issues with them?

I've seen a few people who have traded them in for the Ulfberhts, which I guess is understandable given that is Eric's top of the line offering. I've heard from some of those people who comment about how the Ulfberhts seem to produce more of that live sound Tekton is becoming known for compared to the Encore. Not sure what that means as far as the Encore line however. Or what kind of sound they create comparatively. 

My only hesitation on the Ulfs is their size obviously. I can probably manage it, but how much more performance are you getting for that size trade off?

Out of curiosity, I looked at the tweeter arrangement and noticed a few differences and am curious how that pans out for soundstage, imaging, etc. To me it seems the Encores, being slimmer,  use a different tweeter housing which has a smaller diameter than the Ulf. (5 screws opposed to 4) so Im guessing the tweeters are spaced out more in the Ulf/Moab line. What effect that makes for placement differences, idea listener positioning/seating height, etc. between the two. 


Basically how much more performance can you really get out of the Ufs over the Encores in a reasonably setup room with high quality, highly reviewed electronics/amps/connections?? Or is it just a a slightly different overall sound presentation. More than a personal taste difference?



I called Tekton the other day. Haven't had a chance to talk to Eric himself to see what he would recommend for my situation, or what he would say about Encore vs. Ulfberhts (If anyone has had that conversation and cares to comment, please do)  but the lady on the phone said someone recently sent back their Encores in exchange for the new Moabs, which are also getting a lot of critical praise for their ability. 


Yes, as a current double impact owner, I think you I cant go too wrong with any option. Just waxing details here before I ultimately buy one of theses to upgrade the DIs. 

I've never heard the Ulfberhts, but I'm absolutely sure they have several pluses over the Encores. I pushed Eric to build me the Encores 2 years ago because I wanted a more room friendly and more asthetically proportioned speaker similar to the Ulfberhts at a more affordable price.  I paid $9k for them at the time with a gloss finish when the Ulfs were selling for $12k.

If you're on Facebook you should join the Tekton Worldwide Owner's Group. Then send a message to Jon Jonsyk and get his impressions because he has owned both Encores and Ulfberhts. 

If I had the room for them and the additional funds lying around I'd possibly upgrade to the Ulfberhts too, but I'm more interested in his 2112 speaker project since it's been quite a long while, they're shrouded in complete mystery, and it hasn't been released yet which has me curious like I was when people whispered about the mini Ulfberhts which became the Encores.

I might just harass Eric about them tonight. 😁 

haha harass away! Curious if he releases any teasers. 

Wonder what the 2112 will turn out to be. Something like the 1812 given the same naming?

I did reach out on the Tekton Owners Group. Its a great resource with more photos and personal input which is super helpful given the inability to see/hear many of these speakers in person. Unfortunately I don't have a FB account at present time so I'm borrowing an account to pester people for their impressions. 

I reckon either speaker are reasonable deals presently. Though I bet Eric and company are swamped with orders at present time. 

That being said, I waited about 9 months for my double impacts 3.5 years ago. 

what i's like to see is a mini-ulfberht, with the moab's tweeters and woofers, and the encore's two 7" mid-bass drivers between the woofer and tweeter array, like in the ulfberht's, which use four of the 7" drivers.  maybe, too close in size/cost?  or at least a mini ulfberht w/the 10" woofers of the encore, instead of the 12" woofers.  i do believe someone custom ordered a pair of the encores that way, w/the woofers top-n-bottom, instead of both at the bottom.  i'd definitely want the encores that way, were i to order a pair...

doug s.