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
Footers help for sure, but won’t eliminate booming as part of a design. Internal damping, footers and very low DCR coils all can help.  
I agree,Cheap cabinet construction and engineering or lack of..I heard these monitors a few weeks ago on a trip and wasn't impressed at all,very uncontrolled bass.Several attempts by the owner to tighten things up made no headway.Maybe I was expecting more from all the hoopla Tekton has received on this site ,but it seems yet another  flavor of the month .Just my take.
Actually, I find these speakers to sound great. Really great. I was impressed before the upgrade and more so after. I was actually surprised by the amount of good bass. My comments are general comments about booming and remedies.

These monitors paired with with a good sub make for a wonderful system.

The mids and highs are very natural and unforced. They do not call attention to themselves like many glitzy high end speakers at first. However, after long term listening one finds the music rather engaging and nice. The stage is deep and they image very well. Most importantly the tone of the speaker is nice. Post upgrade the tone is even more pleasing to me.


@missioncoonery 

Congratulations on finally auditioning the product line that you have been criticizing on multiple threads extensively. 

I have owned the Electrons, and now the D.I.'s and find the product line to be the most responsive to adjustments of any audio product I have ever owned going all the way back to 1968. Therefore, I find it interesting that your audition resulted in "several attempts by the owner to tighten things up made no headway." 
Was the owner aware of this shortcoming prior to your audition, or did this issue come to light for both of you during your audition?

Either way you should be comfortable now in knowing conclusively that Tekton is just not your cup of tea all the way around, and you can now focus on finding the speaker manufacturer that satisfies your needs.

   LP
Yep,nothing there for me....and just FYI I already have speakers that fit my wants...