Tekton DIs or Legacy Focus SEs?

Cohicks here is the skinny we are Legacy dealers and are signed up to represent the Tekton DI SE when they ship out to dealers.

We have heard both here is the tale of the tape:

Price:

Legacy $7k a pair  Tekton with decent paint and wire upgrades $4,300.00 upgraded Tekton Se are going to be $6,500.00 so that will make them both very close. Winner Tekton

Styling: Legacy is much more elegant facted cabinet, vs plain box winner Legacy

Imaging: Tie both are excellent the Legacy's have a bit more defined sound stage, the Tekton's do throw a big image with a unique layered quality in the midrange. 

Impact: tie the Di is a bit easier to drive, the Legacy's generally work better with solid state in terms of bass the Signatures really benefit from a high damping factor solid state the Nuprime ST 10 at $1,695.00 sounds freaking amazing on them, with unbeliveable bass and dynamics. 

Tie

Ease of Drive: Although both systems are high effiiency the Legacy is a bit harder to control the large conventional designed bass drivers, 

Winner Tekton

Resolution: the Legacy's Heil AMT tweeter and upper midrange have a bit more air and sparkle

Winner Legacy

Midrange accuracy the DI tend to sound a bit more real on male vocals with a bit more weight.  

Overall this is a tough choice if you love air, clarity, stunning cabinetry for a bit more money Legacy

If you want absolute bargin for the money, and value a warmer tonality with a bit less treble clarity, and a bit of a boxy look Tekton.

In terms of Mac48025, setup the Zotel amp design as well as an SET is not good at controlling a woofer with the type of conventional design, like the Legacy, Eric uses Emminance pro drivers which are much less sensitive to having a higher damping factor, so the Tekton's are less fussy about an amplifiers damping factor and drive for that reason and I think Mac loves a really warm sound which the Tektons are warmer is the reason why he fell for the Tekton's over the Legacys. 

A conventional push pull or a high damping factor switching amplifier makes the Legacies come alive. 

I hope that helps either way you can't lose with either of these titans it will all come down to personal taste and what you value.

Davve and Troy 
Audio Doctor NJ

Charles1Dad you are missing my point, that what the amps Mac had might not have worked well on the Legacys and were better suited to the Tektons.

Also the Legacy's have a more detailed top end if you prefer a more rich midrange oriented sound then the Tekton's would be better.

As I mentioned these are two incredibly good loudspeakers from two companies that make very high for the dollar sets of loudspeakers compared to what you get from many others in this industry.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

If you are using a Parasound I would go Legacy, the Halo integratred is a little on the dark side and this combo would be fabulous on the Legacy's I think your top end would be  a bit polite with the DIs.

It is a hard choice both are fantastic

Guys heard the Tektons at 2 different setups they are on the warm side of neutral not a bad thing they do not have the treble detail of an amt or ribbon type tweeter but compared to many speakers  which can be too anaylitical Eric did a fantastic job of voiceing the speakers.

Warm means softer treble more pronounced mids. Again two different setups same conclusion.,

Great speakers and a great deal.

It will just depend on what you value between these two superb speakers.

If you want your jaw to hit the floor listen to the Legacy with a nuprime amp the combo is freaking amazing brings out the bass & dynamics.

Add tube pre & viola.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor Nj

Mac Cohocks is looking at the Signatures which are $7k vs $4.3 for the Tektons.

The Legacy Signatures are very up to par with the larger Focus, the difference is the amount of deep bass and a slightly bigger soundstage and the Focus play louder, but other than that the two speakers sound the same.

In terms of warm, yes the Tekton's are warm, in fact most soft dome tweeters made by anyone tend to be on the smooth ie warm and slightly recessed side of sound, while ribbon tweeters, AMT, and exotics Ie Beryilium, or Diamond tweeters tend to the high resolution side of the sonic specturm which can also be a good or bad thing depending on how they are matched. 

I heard the DI on $60k worth of very high end electronics and they sounded great, but were definately on the warmer side of the spectrum also on the Zotel amps same thing. The speakers do have a characther, as I mentione before they the Tekton's sound fanastic as well and we are looking to bring in the Tekton Di SE as well.

Mac I don't know if the amps you had worked well with the Legacy's or your system wasn't voiced to bring out what the Legacy's do. 

I will still contend my findings are pretty accurate between the two speakers, this is a battle of the ages, for both systems are terrific and each one has its own strengths which I summarized before. 

As I commented before warm isn't a bad thing at all, it is how Eric voiced the speakers. compare these to a set of speakers with any of the above drivers and you will come away with the warm side of neutral.

As per the Legacy's working in a small room our demo room is 18 by 14 which isn't a giant room and they sound fanastic. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Acutally Kdenmangelare the Legacy's are competitive with much more expensive speakers, if you factor in the Di with better paint and wire upgrades they are $4,300.00 which is still a remarkable deal.

The Legacy's at $7k offer a much more attractive cabinet with higher waf, with a much more elegant shape that would work in a real Living Room, also in my demos with the Di the Legacy's offer greater air and clarity with the AMT drivers. 

Both speakers offer a huge soundstage and tremendous prescence. 

As I mentioned these are two fantastic speakers with many common features and a few different virtues for each model.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

No Mofojo, in my opinion after hearing them in two totally different setups they were warm not saying they didn't sound great, but their treble although it was there it was not as bright and clean as I thought they would be. The Di bass was excellent, midrange too. 

We sold the Jantsen ZA 2.1 which uses the same SB tweeter, so we know what that tweeter sounds like. It is a great tweeter but it still does not poess the detail that an AMT or a Raven type Ribbon is going to create. 

Eric likes these tweeters and uses them amazingly well as a compound midrange driver brilliant idea vs a line array. 

Everyone's idea of what contates bright vs warm is going to be different. 

No James_W514  not hijacking anyting, if you noticed this was a post about both products one we are a dealer for and another we are going to be a dealer for. So obvioulsy like both and know a good deal about both. 

Also your comments, about this are silly, my dealership sells a lot of great brands, as well as going to many shows, we were just at Capital Audio Fest and the New York Show. 

Good luck to you

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Vitop please explain how an AMT is softer sounding than a Soft dome tweeter? 

Never heard a soft dome with more resolution then an AMT or a Ribbon in doing this professionally for 30 years.  Even the much vaulted Scanspeak ring radiator tweeter which goes to 40K supposedly doesn not sound like it. 

If that is what you perceive and the Tekton's work more towards your taste that is great. 

Vitop I would say just the oppostie the Tekton's are the warmer of the two with the Legacy's having a bit more detail.

What does neutral mean to you then? A neutral speaker would not be bright or recessed and in that way the Tekton is very well balanced.

If you think I am not blown away by the Tekton's you are incorrect, fantastic product, each of these systems has a sound, perhaps you were listening to the Legacy's with the treble switch in the cut position? 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ