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Zu Omen Def's, Tekton Pendragon SEAS, or Omega's?

After a ton of research, I've, more or less come down to these as my best speaker options. I am looking for big sound, even in my limited space. My room is 10x10, with a built in shelf, in front of which the speakers must be positioned. Listening distance is 5.5 feet, and the speakers must fit into an equidistant footprint 5 feet apart forming a triangle with the listing spot.

That hasn't presented issues with some larger speakers, as I've borrowed both a friends Harbeth 40.1's, and another friends Gallo 3.5's which both worked very well. However, both are too inefficient to work with the amplifier solution I want, and the Harbeth's are far, far beyond what my budget can handle.

I've communicated extensively to both Sean from Zu, and Louis from Omega/Hoyt-Bedford, each of who are simply great and incredibly helpful people who truly care about audio and music. Both have a number of speakers that they say will work exceptionally well in my listening space, and with the medium powered class of SET amps that I plan to use them with (12-16wpc)

I've also read many, many remarkable personal accounts and reviews of the Tekton Pendragon (clearly too big for my situation) and, much more recently the Pendragon SEAS/SE, which was designed for smaller rooms. I've not yet spoken to Eric at Tekton, but understand they are swamped with orders. I'm also a little concerned that people who have commented on the smaller Pendragons are using big power amps to run them, so perhaps they will not match up effectively, as I would have expected, for my intended SET amplifiers limits. They appear to be a spectacular value otherwise, so that would be disappointing if true.

I would greatly appreciate any commentary from those of you who have heard at least two of these speakers and can compare them. I have not had the opportunity to listen to any of them, and while they all offer an in-home audition period, it's still a great leap of faith to actually make the move and place an order for one of them.
nightfall

Showing 3 responses by nightfall

nightfall OP
185 posts
 
A couple people have mentioned the possibility of the Pendragon SE's bass overloading the room. Everything else about them sounds very appealing, but perhaps I need to cross those off the list? I know they were designed for smaller rooms, but possibly not as small as mine.

The other concern raised was that unlike the original Pendragons, they are 4 ohms, which I didn't realize, and that can cause issues for SET amps.
nightfall OP
185 posts
 
05-21-13: Morganc
"How about the Lores on one end of the price spectrum or the new Druid mk V on the other hand? Both are phenomenal in the nearfield."

The Lores, while an exceptional value, won't get me where I want to go. Especially given that I am looking for a soundstage, overall depth and presentation roughly along the lines of what I heard when I auditioned the borrowed Harbeth 40.1's, and Gallo REF 3.5's in my room. And you do have great taste. I would absolutely love to go with the new Druid's, which Sean and I discussed, but the over $5k price simply is beyond my budget. I can manage $3500-4k, max.
nightfall OP
185 posts
 
The Enzo's do look very interesting. There is virtually nothing out there about them as far as a review, or even commentary. Perhaps they are too new?
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