What’s is the deal with no owners manual? I don’t know how to use the jacks to add resistors to alter the sound. No paper manual is no prob, but why not email
me a digital manual? |
The Encores are breaking in progressively. First the treble was emphasized, then after some serious electronica, the bass loosened up. Then the mids and highs were recessed, now the upper mids are recessed. I'm thinking the polycell array needs the most time to loosen up, due to the limited excursion of the many tweeters. |
Holy smokes, these babies are huge. Totally dwarf my Theil 2.3's. I looked at the sizes online, but it did not prepare me for how they look in person. Totally dominate my small listening room. Effin' gorgeous! Flawless dark grey finish. Undamaged in transit. Whoever said the poly cell array looks unsightly is insane. I love the smell of new audio equipment! |
Nice to know the resistor pots are there if I need them. I will call Tekton for details if I feel the need to use them. Burning in going ok. Initially edgy treble and recessed bass, now boomy, one note bass and recessed highs, mids are clearing gradually. No “live” feel yet. Although, that seems to be a trait of the Moab’s more then the encores from what I have read. No Thiel “edge” so far, the reason i purchased a different brand from my 2.3’s. |
I had an order of Moabs is going for over three months, I came into some extra money and I decided to upgrade to a pair of encores. Wow, when you build a great product and great price the waiting list grows considerably. I’m hoping they will be my forever speakers, that is unless I move into a retirement home which the apartments are small. I am upgrading from a pair of Thiel 2.3’s after 23 years |
Thanks jcarcopo! Just a week after I upgraded, Tammy called to tell me the order is ready! They will be shipped today! I can’t wait! I had the money for a pair of Ulfberhts, but no way would my small room need a pair of those. The Encores are probably too big for my 17x12 room. I saw in a previous post by you, that you are concerned about the lifespan of your 300bxls’s. I have read that some are getting 40,000 hours out of their EML 300bxls’s! If my math is correct, 40,000 hours at 5 hours per day = 21 years! Making the $900 possibly worth it. I had a pair of Sophia 300b carbons seemingly not last very long at all. I use my Woo Audio WA5 only for headphone duty (that is until I get my Encores). |
Looking at Tekton website and your original post, I noticed some differences. Now it seems as though they are 7 inch mid bass drivers instead of 6.5, and the woofer is dropped from 11 inches to 10 inches. I hope it’s not a bait and switch, put the product out initially with high-quality drivers, get good reviews, then downgrade the drivers. And the weight has dropped from 175 pounds to 145 pounds. Hopefully it is just a refinement of the product. |
They are here! Still in the boxes. Will unpack them this weekend. @jcarcopo, did your Art Audio Diavolo SET 300b Tube Amplifier have only an 8 ohm output? And were your Encores 4 ohm? I will be driving my 4 ohm encores with an 8 ohm tap from my Woo Audio WA5 occasionally. |
Needs break in, hopefully. One hour on them so far. I did not take care of unpacking instructions. Styrofoam everywhere. No damage to the drivers. High frequencies need refinement. 100 hours of anxious waiting. |
Would be great if more speaker manufacturers would break in a few hours like zu audio does. My Woo Audio headphone amp needed 500(!) hours to properly break in. Darn Blackgate capacitors! Putting the Encores through rapid break in. I live in a single family home, no neighbors to complain. Able to crank them up and shut the door. Using electronica to loosen up those woofers. |
Liking the encores so far. I did read that the newer encores no longer have the front mid bass ports in earlier posts. Mine came with the ports, but with foam plugs in each of them. I found that strange. Why have the ports if you are going to plug them? Maybe a pair that never got delivered, then Eric found ports do not work as was planned, then just plugged the ports rather than scrap the speaker? |
"When I ordered I asked about this. Eric said that the woofers have remained the same since the beginning. The entire woofer is 11" but the inner part is closer to 10. He said he got tired of people saying "Hey that's not 11 inches!" so he changed the listing, but said it's the same since the beginning."
Isn't it standard practice to list the driver size by the cone, not the entire driver with the surround included? |
@vsedakov,
Never used the resistor pots. Don’t know how to use them anyway. No information from manufacturer on how to use them received. I do not have any need to change the mid to high frequency. Low frequency, however, is different. I have a small room and am having some low frequency difficulty. Not as tight as my Thiel 2.3’s, but then again not much is as tight. I have plugged one of the ports with fair results. I am thinking I should have gotten the Be tweeters, but then again, one of the reasons I got away from Thiel as too aggressive treble, likely from aluminum drivers. Encores are not even close to being aggressive. Silk tweeters likely why. Anyone remove the mid bass driver foam plugs and assess for changes in sound? |
@jsoku. Congrats on your new encores! I have been digging mine. They took forever to break in.
As Millercarbon stated "My suggestion would be to ditch separates, and all the extra multi-channel stuff". I couldn't agree more. Just a kick ass 2 channel is all you need to knock your socks off. Every mid-fi home surround sound system has been mediocre at best, unnatural at worst with the side sounds distracting from the content. I just run a Toslink from my TV to my DAC (Pro-Ject DAC box RS) with excellent results with blu-ray DVD's. On a side note, is it just me or does Netflix and Amazon prime streaming have horribly compressed audio?
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I do have a niggle on the encores, however. I wish the tweeter was lower. My listening position is higher than the tweeter, causing decreased HF. If the Encore was set up like the Moab/Ulfberht, each woofer at opposite ends of the speaker, it would be an improvement, but perhaps Eric has a good reason why, maybe speaker not quite tall enough. |
@sedond I mistakenly stated that my listening position is higher than the tweeter, it is lower in fact. Silly me. Maybe the Rick Simpson Oil is clouding the clarity of my verbosity. Lol. |
