Nice video.
What did you think of the Lore? |
I've never heard either (of course, nobody has heard the Omen yet), but I have a pair of the Tekton Katz Meow. I can say that I am impressed with the build quality, and Eric Alexander seemes like one of the good guys in Audio. He states "Benign 8 ohm load" and it seems so because the speakers seem to be a great match with my 2A3 SET. The Katz are a good speaker for my gear, room, listening.
My room is 12' x 13' x 9', and I've tended to have larger speakers than maybe I should have in the room. The Katz are similar in size to the Lore, but 8" driver vs. 10" on the lore. He specs the Lore down to 30HZ (40HZ for the Katz), and I'd believe it. The Katz have plenty of good and tight bass, and sound very good overall.
I guess all that means is that he makes a good product and he doesn't BS on the specs. |
Also-if you're considering Lore and Omen don't overlook the older Katz Meow that Eric has had and may still have for $900 or so. I have Omen and this Katz model and really like them both. I've been out of town on a couple of extended trips since I got the Omens right after Christmas so I still need some time with them but I'm sure I'll keep them. The Katz are money. I've had them since last summer.
How either compares with the Lore I don't know. |
>>"The biggest differance that I've been able to read about is that the Lore has cabinet dampening, 30hz bass responce, Phase control and a tweeter that is second to none."<<
The Omen has the ZURG loading, 30hz bass response, and I assume it has phase control (the Maine driver is set out and tweeter is recessed) and I assume a good tweeter also. |
Zman - I went through pretty much the same thing with my Tekton Katz Meows last summer, although it was over the course of days and not hours. I'm currently putting the finishing touches on my new Omens that have maybe 100 - 150 hours on them as I write this. Both great speakers for the asking price no doubt.
Have you heard other Full Range Single Drivers before? The Katz were the first for me and I'm sold, at least for a while.
What amp are you running the Lores with? I have a 2A3 single ended jobbie that works well with both the Tekton and Zu. |
I have Tekton Katz Meows and Zu Omens, never heard the Lore. Both fantastic speakers that I believe give a lot of value for the money. I could easily live with either if I had to.
As far as value, craftsmanship, etc., the Lore and Omen should be very close. A bottom port here, a different driver there, and you'll get a slightly different sound but I believe the differences will be within the "individual preferences" window.
My Katz (8" driver) are more refined than the Omens, and can get eerie with some music, like spooky holographic. The Omens can come close to that, but also allow for a wider variety of music. They play loud much better than the Katz and play rock much better.
How anything I just said applies to the Lore we may never know :) |
Everything you guys (Zman, Gpowered) are saying about the Lore I am saying about the Omen. I'm driving them with a DIY 2A3 SE amp and they are absolutely fantastic. It took me a while to get them set up properly, specifically playing with speaker to floor gap since they are bottom porting. But once I found the sweet spot I've been very happy. It was much harder to get my Omens sounding good than my Tektons (not Lore)
At $850 for the Lore and $1,000 for the Omen I'd say it's a toss up - Save $150 with the Lore or get a better looking product with the Omen. But now that Zu has raised to $1,500 I'd say that most would get better value from the Lore. As a Tekton owner (Katz) I can vouch for Eric's craftsmanship and great sound, he knows what he's doing. Same with Zu.
It's good to see the passion from 2 small shops, hand building their stuff and delivering such value. Very nice. |
Gpowered - I couldn't agree more when you mention "some of yo out there that do not take this product seriously because of the lower price tag." When I saw the ad for the Katz Meow I really didn't think there was any way it would compete with the speakers I had at the time (Klipschorns) because of the price and the size. I spoke to Eric and he basically said to give it a try, I might be surprised. My KHorns have been in the TV room connected to the XBox since I got the Katz last year.
The Katz were my first Full Rangers, the Omens my 2nd. There's something to be said for a crossover-less in a well built, well designed cabinet. |
Gp - That's awesome. You guys with the Lores really seem to like them, and I haven't heard a bad thing about them yet. Enjoy!! |
I haven't read a post anywhere from anyone who has heard both.
My guess would be that different amps and rooms will influence the sound more than the difference between Omen and Lore just by looking and reading about them. This type of conjecture will likely be the closest you'll get until someone compares both. |
I agree with Morganc that you'd probably be happy with either.
I have and love my Omens that I bought for $999. If I were looking today I would opt for the Lores but that's just me.
btw I don't believe there is an answer to the "are they $999 speakers selling for $1500 or ate they $1500 speakers that originally sold for $999. |
The key is that the main driver (90%?? of the music) is connected directly to the amp. No crossover to muck things up. |
FRSDs with that big honkin' Parasound?!? (Just joking)
We're all too busy sitting around listening to music to post. Try to find a pair to listen to and you may find they work for you, too.
I have the Zu Omen and Tekton Katz Meow driven by a 2A3 SET. My review is that if you are in a small room the simplicity of single drivers makes it easy to get great sound in there. Certainly worth a try. |
04-08-11: Gpowered
So is it safe to say that these deliver just as much, if not more than the Soul SuperFly's at less than half of their price!??"
No, he did not say that. He said he heard a couple of songs on the Superflys in a hotel room.
Easy, tiger.
The Lore to Omen is the comparison to be made if you are comparing Tekton to Zu. Now that the Omens are $1500 I'd say nod to Lore, but I'm still waiting for someone to post who has heard both.
FYI - I have Tekton Katz Meow and Zu Omen and could write pretty much word for word what you guys are saying about the Lore for both of these guys. Fantastic speakers both, and I'm sure the Lore are as well. |
C'mon Gp. Secret inside information??
The Lore and Omen are so close in design I can't imagine that one would be head and shoulders over the other.
If I were to buy now I would probably buy the Lore. Actually, If I didn't already own Tekton I probably would have bought Lores instead of Omens back in December.
The Omens have completely exceeded my expectations that I don't regret buying them (@ $1K). Would I be happier with Lores? Don't know, but I ain't gonna ask Eric Alexander because I know what his answer would be.
I just think you guys are over the top on the Lores. I laugh at the value ratio everytime I fire up my Omens because at $1K they have no business sounding that good. But talk to a Decware owner, Cain and Cain, Sonist, etc. for med/hi eff speaker owners. They'll say the same thing. That's why I check myself. Lots of choices, what's better for one guy isn't necessarily better for another guy, YMMV, etc etc.
Enjoy the tunes guys. |
04-08-11: Zmanastronomy
My Listsning room is small, so I can't put a $30,000 speaker in there to see if it's better or not. It would surely overpower my room."
The key for me was that I tried for years to get big speakers to sound good (Maggie 12s and 1.6, ML Ascent, KHorns, others) in my 12' x 13' room. The first full rangers I got were the Tekton Katz and I was amazed at how much better they played in the small room, and how they filled the room with only 4 watts. Same with the Omens. An eye opening experience to say the least.
I would guess that there are many out there that look at some of these full rangers, or read stuff in these forums, and think they won't work even if they are in a small room. I'm glad I took the chance. I really don't see myself changing around much any time soon. |
Genjamon - I am also surprised to hear you find Lores are light in the bass. My Omens with the 10"er are anything but light, I even had to raise them a little (they port out the bottom) to get the bass right. I would assume the 10"er on the Lore would be similar in this regard.
Have you used that amp with other speakers?
Have you played with positioning?
Or maybe you're just a bass freak :) What's your point of reference? |
I got on early this morning and noticed the new layout. Nice.
Also noticed the new price of the Lore.
I just got on with my phone no problem |
311 - What amp are you using? |
Thanks Cwazz, I was wondering what speakers you had.
I had Paradigm Mini MkIVs at one time with the matching sub and liked them a lot. When I got them (when they were the current model) they were compared a lot against the NHTs. I never heard the NHTs but always thought they must be good speakers because of the direct compares to the Paradigms. The Paradigm sub integrated well with the speakers, I would guess the same goes for the NHTs. |
04-21-11: Gpowered
"I am happy to report that my Lore/Quicksilver combo presents the music much more realistic and even better then many $30-40K systems I heard!!"
I have no trouble believing this.
Amazing how a well thought out system puts a wrench into the law of diminishing return.
Enjoy! |
Telescope - That's really saying something 'cause as a fellow Texan I've noticed your many speaker sales.
I feel the same way about my standard Omens as you about the Defs and these other guys about their Tektons. I believe there's a lot to be said for the simplicity these speakers allow. |
Cwazz said he likes the Lores but he doesn't find them to be the holy grail...What's the issue? He is relaying his experience with them, which is what he should be doing. Better than commenting on something he's never heard, which happens all the time on these forums.
The Lores seem to be real good speakers. But don't get bent out of shape every time someone says they aren't the best speaker ever in the world ever. Different people have different tastes, rooms, music preferences, etc. etc. Jeez. |
04-22-11: Gpowered
"Sebrof... I am fine with diverse views - that's what makes the hobby so much fun. I enjoy seeing it through the eyes of others. The issue was the comment about me being Eric, and all of the other negative comments here and there that have no substance. Wondering if he even owns a pair of Lores..."
Fair enough. I think he was joking about you being Eric but who knows.
I see 99 guys raving about the Lores, there's got to be a few guys who say different. Life is never that cut and dry. |
Yeah, my standard Omens are not perfect, but almost the opposite of bright. |
Lots of pics of the black around.
Someone posted pics of the white satin on audiocircle dot com
There was a bunch of pics on the Tekton site until yesterday when they changed the website |
I have an update on the Omen vs. Lore thing.
If you guys go back over my posts in this thread youÂ’ll read that last year I received a pair of Tekton Katz Meow V1. My first full rangers and I loved them, still do. In December I received a pair of Zu Omens. Love them too. I could easily live with either pair. I received* a pair of Lores about a week ago and after breaking them in I compared them to my Omens.
In my small room (12Â’ x 13Â’) with my 2A3 SET, I played a variety of music on both speakers. There was plenty of bass from both (not unusual in my small room), but the bass from the Lores sounded tighter and a little more tuneful. It was easier to follow bass lines in songs, the notes were more distinct. Also on the Omens, at times it seemed as if the bass was wandering into the midrange and interfered with the clarity of vocals in particular. The Omens sounded very full, but not quite as clear as the Lores. When I played complex music loud, the Lores held together and gave a real solid presentation, they were fun to listen to. They seemed to be an easier load for my amp.
Last night I brought the Omens and the Lores to a friendÂ’s house (oh, my back!) that has a bigger room at about 18Â’ x 14Â’ or so. We first hooked the Lores up to his tube preamp and Carver amp (400+ watts into 8 ohms or something ridiculous). It was not a good match, so after a couple of songs we decided to swap in a 100 watt EL34 beast. Much much better. We played a bunch of music and took mental notes. We swapped the Omens in and played the same music. A lot of my notes from my small room applied here as well. The difference in bass was more noticeable in the larger room, with the Omens able to fill the space a little better. But as in my room, the bass on the Lores was tighter and also more musical. Also, I suspect because we were playing louder to fill the larger room, the differences in cabinets became more apparent. Vocals on the Omens were not as smooth as the Lores. For example Norah Jones sounded silky smooth on the Lores, but not on the Omens.
All in all I am very impressed with the Lores. I tried to give each speaker a fair shake and put them in different systems, rooms, and playing different music. Myself and my 2 audio friends all had pretty much the same impressions. We all liked both speakers but there were a few things the Lores did that we liked a little better.
*In the interest of full disclosure - Eric heard that I had Katz and Omens and that I liked them both, and asked me if he could send me a pair of Lores because he was curious to get my impressions of both speakers. He said that after I broke them in and compared, I would send them back or if I wanted I could buy them at market value (this pair is B Stock due to a small blemish on the top of one speaker). |
05-07-11: Gpowered
Now, from your “to the point” review, it is obvious that the Lore gets the edge, but can you tell me, is the differences you are talking about extremely obvious, or subtle?"
In my small room with 'mellow' music, the differences were what I would call subtle. But even in my room when I started to rock out a bit the differences became more pronounced. In the larger room as we pushed the speakers harder I would call them obvious.
"Also, interesting there are these differences, since both speakers use the SAME Eminence driver! Zu modifies it by cutting out the whizzer cone and installing its proprietary phase plug. Were you aware of this???"
You mean the big silver thing hanging off the front? Yeah, I was aware LOL!
The fact that they use the same driver and they sound so different was a surprise to me. What do I know about speaker design? Not much because I didn't realize that the cabinet would make such a total difference.
The other thing I didn't hit on was the highs. One of the guys that was there has a music background (played in numerous bands) and commented on the highs a lot. He said that with the Lores he could tell how close to the bell the drummer was hitting the cymbal or high hat, and that he could hear differences in each strike. He said with the Omens it just sounded like a stick hitting a cymbal.
As I have them back in my room, back in familiar environment, I'm also hearing a lot more imaging. The Katz are probably the best speakers I've had in here for projecting a holographic image, and I'm getting some of that with the Lores. Keep in mind that I've only had the Lores for about a week and I have only started to fine tune positioning so I'm hopeful that that will come. It took me a few weeks to get the Katz dialed in (I got a job and a family you know). |
05-07-11: Telescope_trade
Hi,
Just want to make one observation regarding the Omens.
First, when I had the regular Omens ( I now have Omen Defs)
I found that the height of the spikes made a difference in the sound of the speaker (mostly in the bass) in that if to low or to high, it could make the bass less solid, and a tad ragged sounding, and it could sound a bit congested."
Telescope - I agree. I went through great pains to get the spikes to where I thought they were best in my room (about 4 weeks worth). I have the speakers on the carpet spikes tilted up slightly in front. I did mention to the guys that that might be a contributor since we did not re-do that in the new room. And I agree that the Omens are more likely to be problematic with placement, etc.
But - As the Omens were optomized to my room, and I heard the same things from them vs. the Lore in the new room, I believe that tweaking the Omens would probably have brought about only an incremental improvement. I could be wrong. I'd love to keep comparing, but these suckers are heavy and I just want to listen to music. |
"Also, interesting there are these differences, since both speakers use the SAME Eminence driver!"
Actually I think we need to be careful here. My understanding is that there are in fact differences between the main driver on the Lore and the main driver on the Omen. What the exact differences are and how significant they are I don't know, but per the Zu website they use a Zu260FRD/G4 on the Omen. When I spoke to Eric he did say that the drivers were not the same. I am looking at them both and there may be other differences besides the color.
I think it's safe to say they are similar but not the same. |
Jacobabacon - When we had the 100 watt tube amp with the Lores we didn't play any heavy metal, but we did play complex music loud. And with my 4-watt SET amp I have as well, for example Dire Straits Sultans of Swing. Good bass, a lot of guitar, a driving beat. In both cases I thought the Lores held together very well. They sounded very solid and clean, no breaking up at all. The sound didn't change a whole lot, it just got louder which I suppose is what you'd want.
What's your amp, room, etc.? |
B.J. - Great post. Got anything more to contribute? |
Hello UL - Don't want to make your own, eh? (Referencing the other forum). I was going to post over there but the DIY guys really took the thread over.
I have the Lores about 6 - 7 feet from my head and I think they sound great at that distance. I'd try 4' but I'd have to rearrange, move them closer together, etc. so I'd rather not. 4' might be a little close but I personally think they would do fine, especially because of the full range design.
As I've said before in this thread and elsewhere, I think these are a real bargain. I know your original budget was a bit higher than their price, but don't be mislead by that. And there is a return policy so worth a try.
Hope this helps. |
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rspkr&1306118085&read |
Cwazz - Just curious, what speakers were you trying to replace with the Lores?
Has the bass improved any now that they have more hours on them? I'm in a small room so the bass is *almost* too much for me, but I did have them in a larger room (19 x 16 or something) and the bass was still pretty darn good. That was with a 100 watt tube amp (vs a 2A3 SET in my room). |
I've heard the Lores on a 2A3 SET, a 100 watt EL34 integrated, and a 200 watt SS (Carver) and tube preamp.
Both tube amps sounded very good with the Lores, the SS amp was a non-starter. As soon as we hooked it up we knew we needed to disconnect it.
Cwazz had a 35 watt tube amp and still had light bass, so my guess is that it could be a number of things:
1. His hafler preamp is the culprit
2. He's used to a sub
3. His room has a suck-out that is compensated by the sub
4. What is prodigious bass to me is light bass to him
Cwazz - How high do you turn the NHT sub up when playing music. I mentioned the Paradigm monitors/sub I used to own, and when playing music I would have the volume on the sub just barely turned up. 7:00 was all the way down, I would turn it to 8 or 9 and be fine with bass. If your sub is turned up to say 10 or 11:00 then it indicates to me that the system/room is light on bass to your taste. |
06-06-11: Cwazz
"Sebroff I apreciate the help , the 35 amp was actually a intergrated amp. I am use to the sub woofer.I had volume at 8-9 depending on the music."
Couldn't make it easy, eh Cwazz :)
The 35 watt tube integrated amp sounds like it should have been a pretty good match, and it does eliminate the Hafler so, well, ummm...I got nuthin' man. Sorry. |
Hey that's good news Genjamon.
I tried the "cross in front of you" toe in and didn't like it much either. But I'm not surprised about the difference in bass by moving only a few inches. Bass can be very finicky indeed. In my room I have the opposite problem in that bass can be boomy/heavy if it's not set up right. I have the advantage of a dedicated room so I can pretty much move around as I like. |
Utah - Just FYI, I had Klipschorns when I took a chance on Eric's Katz Meow V1 speakers. I have never looked back, I have never missed the KHorns, and I like the Lores even better than the Katz. I didn't realize how much "unforgiving-ness" I was putting up with listening to KHorns ;)
Not sure how the mods to your LSs apply here, but I'd be willing to bet you would not be disappointed with the Lores. |
Drcruz - The Katz I have are the first version, you can see a picture on my system page. Much different from the ones on the Tekton website.
The Katz are more smooth and do a better job of disappearing, the Lores have more bass. I would guess that many people would prefer the Katz to the Lores. My 2 buddies preffered the Katz to the Omens, for me it was a "depends on my mood and music" thing. We all preferred the Lores over the Katz but not by a whole lot.
I personally wouldn't pair either speaker with a sub, my feeling is that that would defeat the concept of my system - Simplicity. SET + no crossover. Might as well get some crazy multi-way and some big SS amps ;)
Hope this helps, PM me if you have specific questions. |
I see 3 ads right now on AGon for Lores, 2 already sold.
1 guy is upgrading to Tekton Pendragons
1 guy is moving and plans to buy new Lores in white when he gets there (I saw his ad on another forum)
Zman doesn't say why
I'm real happy with mine, but I'd sell them if I thought I could get something better. For the price I think I'll have mine for a long time...but I've said that before. Many times ;) |
Jedinite - I don't believe the numbers add up to support what you're saying. I've seen very few for sale, and of the 3 I listed earlier 2 are planning to buy Tekton again after they sell.
I have seen many more Omens for sale (including mine), although I'm sure there have been many more Omens sold than Lores.
I do agree with what you said about "initially were really excited like when anyone buys something new, raves about them, and then when that newness wears off they buy something else." This will never change. To many, this hobby is all about buying and selling, trying new things.
My personal opinion about you not buying into the hype - You may have lost out on experiencing a really good speaker that is hard to beat for the price.
FWIW - I think it's important for people like cwazz to post and check/balance the banter, else these forums would be no more than advertizing for your latest purchase. If you look at my posts back in April I was trying to check the Tekton homers, until I got a pair for myself. |
Johncdnt - If the replacement drivers are more sensative then you'd need to compensate for that. I suppose with more sensative tweeters or L Pads or something.
Also I would think that the cabs etc were designed specifically for the B102, no? |
09-03-11: Cwazz
"ok after reading gpowered latest coment I DEMAND apologies from everyone who slammed me in the past on this thread!"
NEVER!!
; )
. |
Wow, this thread has taken some twists and turns. Here's another.
I have the Tekton Lores, really nice speakers. I also have a pair of Tekton Katz Meow V1 since about Sep 2010 but hadn't played them in my main rig since I got the Lores (which replaced the Omens...see my earlier posts in this thread if you like). I got new 2A3 tubes for my amp, JJ 2A3-40s and they put out a lot more low end than the Shuguangs I had before, so I decided to try the Katz again to see how they sound. That was 2 weeks ago and they're still up there, they sound great. So now I have the Katz in my main rig, Lores in the 2nd rig in the LR. We'll see how long that lasts.
But my point is that maybe there's another option @ $1,500 which is what the Katz V3 sell for.
Note that the Katz I have are 2 revs old, so I assume the newer versions sound better, don't know for sure.
I might also add that at this point in my audio journey I'm a complete Tekton homer. I assume that at some point in the future I'll look back with fondness at the good old days when I had Tektons, most likely with much more expensive speakers. But for now please consider the source when you read my posts ;) |
11-03-11: Gpowered
"Tekton Pendragon update: this is for the "Lore-based" Pendragon update"
GP - What are the specifics with the Lore Based Pendragon? Does Eric sell 2 types, or is the updated type the new standard now?
Thanks |
I use a 2A3 SET (DIY), works well. I used it with Omens, and with Lores and Katz Meows.
And yes - Looking forward to hearing your impressions of the Lore Morganc. You have Omen Defs, correct? |
As far as placement, no unusual considerations. They set up pretty well in a normal EQ triangle, toed just slightly out from directly at the listener where you can just barely see the inner side of the cabinet. Nothing like Omens where the height is so important, etc. |
The only time I heard a SS amp with this type of speaker was when I compared Zu Omens and Tekton Lores at a friend's house. He hooked his Carver amp to the Omens and within a minute we all agreed we needed to hook up the tube amp we had there. The tube amp was much better for the Omens, so I assume the Lores would have sounded bad with the Carver also.
How the Emotiva fits in I do not know. |
Here you go y'all
http://hometheaterreview.com/tekton-design-m-lore-loudspeaker-reviewed/ |
