Tekton versus Klipsch

I can only speak from experience which is limited since I’ve only had four pairs of audiophile grade speakers and my first pair were the Double Impacts with a PrimaLuna EVO 300 and 400. However, I am a professional musician and a respected instrument maker (PhilBarone.com) so I guess my ears are pretty good.

The DI’s with two PrimaLunas did nothing for me and every time I put them on I turned to my wife and said “I hate these”. I moved them around fifty ways to Sunday and did every possible thing t make them work.

I finally dumped them and bought a pair of Klipsch Forte Fours which were a huge improvement but were more money and great for most jazz and blues but not for classical music although the best recording I’ve heard with all my various combinations was with Glenn Gould playing “the Art of Fugue” which is an organ piece.

I got rid of those since about half of my listening is classical and a friend of mine found a rebuilt pair of Proac Response Threes which are simply amazing with my Conrad Johnson mono blocks. They are simply mind, freakin’, BLOWING.

During my three year search, I was in close contact with a great employee over at Pass Labs by the name of Kent English who told me that the Tektons would be best with one of their amps which are solid state so I bought one of their x350.8 models which was sometimes amazing but after listening to it for a few months I found that it had a house sound so I sold that and ended up with my Conrad Johnson’s. But I want to be clear, Kent was very honest and extremely well-versed in audio and he was very nice and gave freely of his time so maybe that’s someone to consider talking to. He won’t BS you or try to sell you.

After quite a lot of research I’ve come to a few conclusions. A) Don’t buy anything based on reviews because many, although not all of the people writing reviews have incentives to write positive reviews and in order for you to get the same results, the rest of your gear has to be the same as whoever is writing the review and they may not like what you like.  I have a friend who wrote for four audio magazines who said that reviews were pure BS since the manufacturers pay for advertising space. He got a few very nice rigs for free for writing positive reviews. B) Always buy your gear used as long as it’s in good condition and this is especially true of the Tektons since there’s so many of them on the used market and you can probably get a pair for much less than new. You might also want to consider why there’s so many used ones on the market. You can also buy a new pair on here from Tekton for less than their website price if you insist on going that route. C) In all likelihood, don’t buy anything based on what people on forums say because they can be inexperienced or have poor ears. I’ve worked for many professional musicians who gigged regularly but had terrible taste which is why so many products that are crap pervade our markets.

If you do decide to buy Tektons new, take into consideration how much they cost to ship back to Tekton should you decide that you don’t like them. In my case it was $760.00 for both and I can assure you that they count on people not sending them back for that very reason.

I should mention also that the customer service over at Tekton was nonexistent and the women over there didn’t have a clue of what she was talking about although she was very nice. However, the owner over there was outright rude and condescending and was of no help whatsoever. I tried very hard to like them. It also took me almost four months to receive them.

In the end I was very fortunate to have met someone on here by the name of a Steve Jones who managed a high-end audio store and who felt sorry for me when he heard I bought the Tektons. Steve steered me in all the right directions and located several unbelievable pieces for me including my Proac speakers and my amps and preamp. Steve has been an amazing help and has more knowledge than anyone I’ve encountered and probably saved me at least fifty thousand dollars as I fell down the audio rabbit hole and he’s never asked me for a thing since he honestly enjoys helping people out. Steve is the founder of the audio forum on Facebook and I’m sure he’d be happy to help you out and for what it’s worth, Steve doesn’t have anything nice to say about Tektons.

You didn’t mention what your musical preferences are or the size of your room which would be helpful.

Best of luck to you and if I can be of any further help don’t hesitate to contact me at the phone number or email on my site.

Phil Barone

Just one more thing to think about no matter which ones your buy/try. 

The bigger and heavier they are, the more they will cost you to send back (and shipping is very expensive right now) if you don't love them.    AND if at some point you decide to resell, the buyer will want that high shipping cost deducted from your selling price...sure, you can say "buyer to pay shipping" but look how often the big Tektons and other speakers take to resell.

I have a pair of Tekton double impacts (upgraded) for almost 3 years. I love them. I listen to ONLY Rock and Roll. I have a rather large area in my shop designated for music. The acoustics are incredible, don't know why. ( 20'x30')

Speakers are about 12' apart and my listening distance is about 12 to 14' Very Holographic and dynamic sound, and accuarate. Listen at mid 90's spl. Pink Floyd, Def Leopard, tHe Cars Rush, Great White. Grew up during 60's

System is as follows: AMP, ATI 6002 (2 channel system only) Benchmark line amp LA-4, Meitner MA-1 DAC, Project RS2T CD transport and a n SVS SB 4000 Sub, also stream qobuz. A decent amount of money spent.  I have no idea why, but the sound is GREAT. In my system, The Tektons are very Good. Everyone of my current upgrades added dimension, THAT YOU COULD HEAR. Most recent, the  Project transport. Robert TN

Speakers are highly subjective. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. I don’t usually listen to someone who complains about wait time to get speakers, how they look, how good their ears are or how terrible a speaker sounds. Conversely I don’t pay attention to words like mind blowing, freaking awesome or gobsmacked when someone talks about the greatness of a speaker. I usually will listen to details about how the speaker sounds without the other ridiculous stuff.

A speaker is a container with drivers and a maybe a crossover. It’s something you like or don’t. I have heard both Klipsch and Tekton and they both make very good speakers. It’s really the sound you are looking for. I think the Klipsch are easier to drive and you have to like the horn sound. Actually both can be driven with tubes, even low watt amps.

I have Tekton DI SE in one system and Vandersteen 2CE Sig II with stereo Rythmik subs in another. They both sound good to ME. The Tekton are more forward and will fill up a room with sound, very musical and yes they can compare to horns in that sense. The Vandys are more laid back and also sound great. Try to have a listen to both these speakers, if you can and with as close to your setup and music as possible...

Maybe I can understand if you only listen to loud rock or even blues but aside from that Fagetaboutit, the Klipsch Forte Fours smoked them on every genre BUT they were 1500 dollars more. It wasn’t a personal taste thing and I had other musicians listen to them and given the fact that they were supposed to be audiophile grade speakers, none of the guys I had over liked them for whatever reason and smoked is smoked, the only word I can think of to describe it and I probably have good ears. I should add that I never minded the wait but it is a factor for some people especially given all the choices out there. But I’ll tell ya one thing, I’ll never buy into hype again or listen to people on the World Wide Web whether for audio or anything else I’m spending my money on.  All around it was a bad experience and the owner over at Tekton didn’t help matters.