Former Tekton owners: What have you moved on to?


I owned the Tekton Lore Reference for about a year and a half and they were great for the price. I ran them with a 50w tube integrated and it was a nice combo. For $750 I had no complaints except perhaps that the paint was cracking on one of the rounded corners. I ended up buying a pair of Gallo CL-2 for an office system on closeout direct from Gallo for $390/pair. After they were broken in I found myself listening to them more than the Tektons after awhile. I was getting addicted to the CDT tweeter.

Based on that experience I ordered the CL-3 refurbished for $650/pair shipped (crazy steal) and they were on a different level than both of the above. Sonically, one defining moment for me was listening to Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now. (I think the Track was You’re My Thrill. )
During the intro there is a brief flute soli. With the Tektons it sounded like a really nice flute section that was very homogenous sounding and blended. With the Gallos I could hear each individual flute player and their unique tones and vibrato. The bass was also deeper and tighter on the gallos and the imaging was just amazingly holographic and wide and deep.

I know the timing of this is interesting as the Tekton hype train seems to be at full tilt right now with some of his higher models and I am curious to hear them. The 2 things that would give me serious pause and keep me from moving up the Tekton line are 1) the size and aesthetics 2) The very much "in your face" house sound that can get tiring to me.  Just wondering what others have moved on to from Tekton and what they heard that moved them in that direction.
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Showing 13 responses by grannyring

The upgrading of crossover parts and wire in the Double Impact speaker really takes the speaker’s refinement and sound to a whole different level. So much more potential than stock as an FYI.

Best set speaker I have owned after about $2000 worth of carefully chosen upgrades. Easily bests my previous AZ Crescendo and Harbeth 40.1s.

The design of the speaker is outstanding and The perfect speaker for A DIY guy to make into a very special music maker.

I guess one could say I moved onto a highly modified Tekton DI. 
Not even broken in? A tad too rushed for proper evaluation of any speaker that is brand new. I think you know that.  
No I don’t care. Just want newbie aphiles to read about how important time and proper system matching to a speaker is. Takes time to get the best out of a speaker.  Time and effort.  Plopping a speaker in and listening for a few hours will never help one end up with the best sound for their ears and preferences.  It will frustrate. 
Truth is the crossover parts found in many Tekton speakers are the same quality level as most speakers costing up to $21,000 that I have modified. This is the truth of the matter. A sea of $10,000 - $25,000 speakers with $10 caps and $ .50 cent sand cast resistors. Common. All these speaker can, and should, be upgraded to hear what they are capable of.

As as far as drivers, many speakers costing up to $30,000 use “ off the shelf drivers” that you and I can purchase today. No big deal here. This fact alone has nothing to do with quality.

Lastly, many like the sound of paper drivers over synthetic materials. Many ways to build an excellent mouse trap.
@david ten.   LOL! 

@213runnin. I don’t care to argue on Tekton and that was not my point. Yes, I have indeed worked on speakers costing up to $22,000. Many. Yes they do use MDF, yes they do use $10 caps and $ .25 sand cast resistors. Highly reviewed ones winning all kinds of accolades. It is quite a revelation learning from actual experience and I suggest that for you sir. Go ahead and look inside some expensive speakers and learn. They still sound great, but can be improved.

Yes some use other materials and higher quality parts. You mentioned a couple.
Even the expensive B&W 800 series use a $20 cap on the all important mids. The bottom of the line film cap from Mundorf. The standard MCap. This is the cost of a 50uf (large value) cap to mere consumers like you and I. A smaller value Mcap costs $10. The builder pays far less. These are average quality at best. The same quality level of caps found in Tekton.  Tekton uses Clarity PX. 

I was educating you on the comment you made.  I did not realize you knew big dollar B&W speakers use $10-$20 crossover caps based on your post above? Being serious here. Just trying to share facts for better understanding. 
Great speakers and congrats! I have always loved ANE speakers.  Just beautiful sounding. 
Yes I would love to see a thread on Audio Note kits and builds. I hope this does happen. 
Yes indeed many have sold their 5 figure speakers for the DI.  They really are a fine speaker for $3000 and can be upgraded to sound far more refined.