My Experience With Tekton


I know this is a polarizing discussion point and was thus hesitant to share unless I could keep it objective, helpful, and concise

I have no intention to be inflammatory, sway anyone’s current opinion or beliefs

I merely want to share information in two specific areas, my results of product performance and my experience with the manufacturer

 

Background and reference point

I replaced a pair of Revel F36. The F36 is the upper end of Revel’s lowest tier floorstanding speakers and retails for $2,000 MSRP per pair

Took approx. 45 mins to unbox, level and connect

Like for like drop-in replacement, same location on the floor as the F36s, the listening position did not change, identical electronics and cables

We’ve all got our preferences, biases, different levels of experience, etc; but share the common limitation that we just don’t know what we don’t know

I’ve not heard a pair of 30K speakers but expect to someday and envy those that own them

In my VERY limited understanding, it’s near impossible to pinpoint how any specific system change will behave and perform across the board, contingent on the variances in electronics, set up and room. These three items alone (electronics, setup and room) make me think that while similar in nature, but at a critical listening level, each combination is unique and a different snowflake or fingerprint

 

Listening results

Product delivers as advertised

Meets or exceeds every performance expectation I had hoped for

After approx. 5 hours of listening over 3 days I tried to characterize the sound. The first thought was neutral, but that was understating what I was hearing. I eventually landed on natural or real. The voices and the instruments sound VERY real to me. This is as close as I have come with my electronics, setup and room to sensing that someone is singing to me or that someone or an entire band is playing for me

To date, each song that I’ve played, is the best version of that song that I have heard in a playback, and I’ve listened to all of them 100s and 100s of times

Some of the improvement was by a small margin, but most songs, 65% conservatively speaking, by a vast margin – night and day, game changing stuff

Chet Baker didn’t sound like a presentation from 1958, it sounded as fresh and real as a new recording with the benefits of 60 years of technology advancements. Exile on Main Street didn’t sound like a home recording from 1972 it sounded like 2022 with many layers of percussion, keyboards, horns and background vocals

Is the sound of this $5,000 pair of speakers comparable to the sound of a $30,000 pair of speakers? I don’t know, as mentioned I’ve not heard a pair of $30,000 speakers.

What I do know is the $5,000 pair of speakers, simply put is the best my system has sounded by a wide margin

Again in summary, it sounds real, like someone is singing to me

 

Experience with the manufacturer

I had hemmed and hawed for 2 or 3 months before placing my order. One day the website mentioned a future price increase but until mmdd you could still order at the current price

I called and spoke with Tammy and told her I wanted to lock in on the current price point but wasn’t sure what product or configuration I wanted

She built an open-ended order with current pricing and told me to contact her when I knew what I wanted

With work travel and other commitments it took me 4 months to finalize which speaker, Moab, which upgrades, beryllium tweeters and Cardas connectors, and what color, white

I was never pressured to make up my mind or that my window for the lower costs was going to expire

Since I was the one dragging my feet, I offered multiple times to pay for the product

Not once did they hint or take me up on my offer to pay in advance

They did not bill me until the product shipped

Once I had made all the config decisions, the build and delivery were again, as advertised

Tammy mentioned a 4–6-week supply chain delay with beryllium, that arrived within her estimated timeframe

Once the beryllium arrived, she said she was waiting on cabinets, eta 5-7 days, followed by build and paint, and shipping approx. 10 days after she received the cabinets

Within 2 weeks Tammy emailed my owner’s manual, unpacking instructions and told me to expect a call from the freight company within the next week

Freight company contacted me on that Fri and scheduled delivery for the very next Mon, Aug 30

The boxes arrived scuffed and with multiple impact points that dented the packing material

There are no blemishes or damage to either speaker cabinet, the packing and packaging worked as designed

Upon unpacking, I didn’t experience a heavy smell of paint or wood, if I put my nose to the cabinet, I could smell fresh paint

The cabinet finish or construction does not appear inferior to anything else in my inventory, KEF, Revel, Klipsch, Paradigm, Polk, and Elac – permission in advance to laugh

Enjoy the journey and happy listening

Respectfully


stevewharton

Showing 12 responses by missioncoonery

"You were saying".......i think the point shillercarbon  is obvious...This site is pro Tekton maybe because its Trump like polarity keeps people engaged on the site..As it relates to you,a lot are tired of your arrogant ,my thinking is  correct when it comes to audio which most of us know is the farthest thing from that statement..Personally i think your constant shill of tekton is shameful at best (putting it mildly) in an attempt to keep this post on and not deleted .
9:18amIn the spirit of 'pouring gasoline on the fire' may I point out the Tekton impact monitors made the Stereophile recomended component list for 2021 where JA commented on their 'superbly even on axis response' JA concluded 'this unusual design is not compromised'.xxxxxxxxxxxx Actually if you had read the measurment testing section ..the 94db measurment is actually 87db efficiency ...the off axis is a joke etc etc.....these speakers are junk..ive heard them,witnessed them taken apart to see how they are made...this is another shill post and audiogon should stop this free ad Tekton postings .
"I believe the specific 30K figure comes from a Terry London review".××××××that original statement was on the tekton website on top of their front page..their claim  to fame ..it was removed of course once that was pointed out as bullsheet...i read on their site "they compete with 50k to 100k speakers" and again once pointed out on audiogon as bullsheet it was removed as well from the Tekton site
Peter..your post is as credible as the build quality of Tekton ...comparing Avalon to Tekton ?shame on you.
Ive owned many Avolon speakers over the years and have heard Tekton more than once...for you to use those two makers in the same sentence is silly at best.....its like saying Mexico paid for the wall...come on, stop the bullsheet
Yep,it was quite eye opening having an owner of a company threatening users on this site and trying to intimidate them....for me what was even more revealing was he was asked several times by me and others  how his company tested the product for sensitivity ratings and what 50k to 100k speakers were tested to support his claims...no answers to that but he still kept chiming in with threats......outstanding owner! 
Id say that explains why the owner of Tekton dodged that question when asked directly on this site.
Thats the best ya got on a customer service major blunder...if i paid for something and 15 months later  still hadnt received them id been more than upset
A speaker is just a box with some drivers and a crossover. That manufacturers can make and sell them for the price of a luxury car is ... rather appalling, eh!........Dumbest thing ive read in quite awhile
This is hilarious...funnier than reading MC and the crew shilling the product..LMAO