Tekton Impact Monitors


Hi All,
I'm relatively new to Audiogon but have trolled the discussions for a few months. I have been listening to Spendor LS3/5As driven by a Quad 34/306 combination since the late 1980's and decided that it was finally time to upgrade my speakers. I love the Spendors but they are very limited in dynamics and scale. I auditioned the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers and while they brought some additional scale they simply didn't have the sweet midrange that I can't live without. I listened to some open baffle speakers (Emerald Physics) and loved them, but their size and need for space worried me, and I found them less satisfying at moderate and low volumes, where I do a fair bit of listening. I was fascinated by all the discussion regarding Tekton speakers and was considering getting a pair of Enzo 2.7s, but after a short discussion with Eric I followed his recommendation of the Impact Monitor with upgrade. They have the 7 tweeter array and a pair of 6.5" woofers and are rear-ported. I use a pair of SVS subs (the sealed variety). The Impact Monitors are simply amazing. The midrange is oh-so-sweet (very similar to my Spendors, but with more air) and the detail, even at low and moderate listening levels, is superb. The imaging is even better than my Spendors managed and the scale is huge and is much more music-appropriate. My system is really quite modest but now when I walk into my listening room (doubles as our living room - thankfully my wife appreciates Hi-Fi) I get the audio-show feeling of "being there". I have a Denon DP59L turntable with a DL110 HO moving coil cartridge running through an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp and the Tektons are absolutely incredible with classic rock on vinyl. I'm not sure how Eric managed it, but these speakers are superb, even with my 30 year old Quad electronics. I believe they are basically the top 24" of the Double Impacts, but are rear-ported rather than front ported. I can heartily recommend them and Eric and his team are great to work with. I'm not sure how many other Impact Monitors are out there since the pair I have are S/N 0005 and 0006!  
ky1mag

Showing 14 responses by kdude66

Hello ky1mag,

Congrats on your new monitors,I own the DI's in my main system and I have considered the monitor version for my smaller room 2nd system.

Here is a little explanation of the magic in sound that you are probably experiencing.

Even though these are tweeter transducers the six of them that form the circle, based on what frequencies they handle, radiate acoustically as if they were one six inch mid-range driver.  The transducer in the middle is being used as a tweeter and handles the high end frequencies up to 30Khz.  So, acoustically you have a six inch mid-range driver with a coaxial mounted tweeter which means it functions as a single point source.  Now, by Eric figuring out how to make this work you get all the advantages of a coaxial driver, however the mid-range array weighs close to nothing leading to blazing speed/dynamics/micro-details compared to a regular six inch driver, regardless of what materials it is made out of it cannot be as light in weight.  Yet, you still get not only remarkable transit response, but great control because each driver is small and well behaved.  The closet you could come to this regarding weight/control would be a ribbon or AMT which cannot be used as a coaxial design as a single point source.  Brilliant on his part!

The more I listen to the DI's regarding mid-range and high frequencies they easily rival any panel design/ribbon/AMT I have had in my system and surpass them in low end extension/dynamics and overall macro-dynamics,micro-dynamics and brings out realistic nuances from the music.Truly a magical sounding speaker at any price.



Enjoy,

Kenny.
Pawsman,

I'm glad you are enjoying your Di monitors and that was a very good description of the sound you are hearing.

I listen to quite a lot of piano music and I must have speakers and system that gets it right.
I also use full orchestra music as a system test and that can be a deal breaker also.

Enjoy the music,
Kenny.
ky1mag,

I commend you for at least trying the monitors in your own system,and I'm curious to know how much time did you put on them and also could you clarify how they first sounded vs how they differed in sound when you made your decision.

Kenny.
My DI's have the ring radiator sb acoustics tweeters but I'm wandering which dome tweeter that Eric is now using in some of his speakers,I wander if it's the Peerless Typhani by chance,I haven't found this answer by anybody and Eric is such a busy guy I'm not going to bother him just for that.

Kenny.
Yes the monitors would be about 91db with 1 watt at 1 M.

Now I'm getting very confused with all these different tweeters that have been used in the Monitors.

Kenny.
pawsman,

Your tweeters from your posted pic look like the,

Sb acoustics SB26STCN-C000-4

The sensitivity would match up perfectly from the specs.
But this tweeter has a higher resonance frequency than the Sb acoustics ring dome SB29RDNC-C000-4 that is used in the DI's floorstanders and wouldn't play as low, I don't think.

Kenny.
backsigns,

I believe that the peerless Tympani dome tweeters may be only used on the Double Impact SE version with Scanspeak mids and possibly the woofers also.


Kenny.
ky1mag,

I wouldn't worry about one bit if I were you,
You gave them a honest shot and found them to be not your cup of Tea,so to speak.

I recall myself a few years back just hating one of the most popular phono cartridges that everyone else just loved.

Kenny.
sbayne,

Congrats on your monitor purchase,

I would love to read your thoughts on them after you give them a shot,no sugar coating allowed give me the good,bad or ugly.

I still have the monitor or Electron at the top of my list for my smaller room 2nd system that will be powered with my Yamamoto A09s.

Kenny.
Looks very nice,love the stands.
You may like the center tweeter at ear height.

I hope they work out for you and get some time on them and let us know what you think.

Kenny.
danoroo,

Looks like possibly bad timing due to weather,
You may want to place a hold on the shipment with fed ex and pick them up later.

Kenny.


Take your time and really get to know the speakers true character.
I will love to read your thoughts when posted.

Enjoy the Music,
Kenny.
sbayne,

Thank's for your very through summary of this Tekton monitor speakers.Sounds to me like you are really enjoying them and took your time to really optimize them into your system.

For those folks that are interested in this speaker I do believe the true sensitivity is 91db with 1 watt @ 1M.The rating of 94db is with a input of 2.83 volts.

Can you tell us which tweeters that your pair came with.

Kenny.
sbayne,

I have the sb acoustics SB29RDNC-C0000-4 ring dome tweeters in my DI's and I haven't compared the 2 tweeters but I seriously doubt any big differences.

Even though neither tweeter is made from exotic materials,they are most definitely always in the sweet spot of very low excursion in this speaker design and I would also say that they sound "Natural" and never fatiguing to my ears like some designs can,and on the detail side of things I do not feel like I'm missing anything and only have gained a more Engaging sound overall.

You mentioned the band "Gov't Mule,I haven't listened to any of their music in awhile and I hope Tidal has them because I misplaced or lost my Cd's when we moved 3 yrs ago.I like them and think they are quite a unique sound.

Kenny.