I have Tekton Lore B's with the beryllium tweeters. Nice and smooth highs with great mids and bass.
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@jaudio1 The Ascends offer smoother highs than the Be tweeter and the soundstage is more articulate and larger. In many ways, there is just a more neutral/honest presentation of the sound. I really like the Carreras, and I like my Salk SS6M, but as I listened more — especially to classical symphony, piano, and various acoustic instruments, the Ascends were better windows onto what seemed to me the "real" character of those instruments. Plus, again, larger and more detailed sound field. @jtcf Thank you! Well, I just know how they sound in my situation, but I was really looking for something with multiple drivers with either an AMT or other ribbon tweeter. The Legacy speaker I heard was too huge and not that engaging. I heard an Apertura which sounded divine but it was $11.5k and, well, no — not yet. The Ascends had multiple drivers, and the RAAL, and the reviews and online comments I read just said to me to try them for 30 days and eat the shipping if I didn’t like them. Well, they were tested with various amps and compared with other speakers, and they were never harsh, even with my low ceilings. They blended perfectly with my Rythmik and Rel subs. So, I kept them. I’ll try to write this up, soon. @jonwatches1 You offer a great list. I’m saving this! Personally, I wanted a tower with multiple drivers and in a $4k or less price range. The Ascends’ efficiency was proved to me by the way my lowest power tubes handled their load. Again, it’s about the speakers not dipping down and calling on the amp to produce sudden bursts of power. This is what I think makes the Fritz speakers work so well with tube amps. Salks do fine but I think they like a bit more power. Look around 1.5k and 3k hZ on the graph on this page: https://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=SS+6M |
I have seen a couple of references to Fyne speakers here. I have a pair of F702s, made in Scotland. I am driving them with a McIntosh MC2120 (120 wpc, refurbed about 10:years ago) from a Rogue Audio RP-1 preamp. Sources are Apple lossless and an NAD 658 CD player, both fed through Shiit Bifrost 2. The room is about 13x22x8, with a 10 foot wide open area to the dining room to the left of the listening area. I rarely have to turn the volume on the RP-1 beyond about half-way to achieve the volume level where the speakers really “open up” in terms of instrument placement and separation. I am very, very pleased with the F702s, and I am considering a Rogue Audio Atlas Magnum III to either supplement (bi-amping) or to replace the MC2120. The recent upgrades from an NAD. integrated amp and no separate DAC were an “ear opener” for me. |
If you are willing to do the audition at home and return if not satisfied routine, you should audition the Tekton Double Impacts. In their price range they are pretty good--reasonably full and rich as well as being clear and detailed. I personally don;t care that much about how something looks, so I did not mind that fit and finish is not in the class of the very best speakers. Near that same $3,000 price range, and also quite efficient are the Rethm Bhaava (has powered woofers, amp built in). |
we might need a definition of horn here. Are we talking about a system with a midrange compression driver, or do all of the drivers have to be horn-loaded? Does a woofer with a front waveguide qualify as a horn system? What about systems that have a quarter wave backloaded horn structure? I like a lot of systems with old school vintage midrange compression drivers--Western Electric, International Projector Company, YL, etc. drivers, and a small handful of modern replica drivers (mainly G.I.P. Laboratories replicas). These systems may or may not have compression tweeters and woofers can be of all sorts and in all kinds of enclosures--open baffle, sealed enclosures, infinite baffle (particularly like Onken versions), or horn-loaded bass cabinets. But, I don't think that good high efficiency systems necessarily have to use compression drivers. I've heard a number of systems using full-range dynamic drivers in either single-way or multi-way systems that are terrific sounding. Whether some of these are also categorically horn systems depend on how one defines horn (e.g., Charney single-way systems use quarter wave back loaded horn cabinets). The fact that OP asked about non-horn systems suggest a dislike for "horns." I suspect that this is the result of hearing some more common horn systems that were not to that person's liking. This is a bit regrettable because there is a vast array of horn systems with quite different sounds, including many that don't have a peaky midrange or tendency toward a nasal coloration that one often hears in more common horn systems. |
So.... I have interviewed the Ascend Acoustics sierra towers in my own home against another speaker system about 3 years ago. The Sierra Towers gor sent back but they were picked as just one of 2 systems I was interested in. If your budget is 3 to 5k, I would absolutely go that route. They are wonderful speakers but you will need a good subwoofer (s) to go with them as the base is the weak spot against others; and don't let the Ascend fan boys impress you with all of their graphs and measurements and all on that last point. They are a loyal bunch and anyone who says anything negative about this $2700 speaker is a heretic. So again, this is a good choice. That being said, I have since moved out of this price range and into a completely different world. And I do mean..... wow, huge difference. At 96DB sensitivity my Legacy focus XD speakers are unbelievable. (no subs needed for sure). The ribbon tweeters in this system are mind blowing. I think you would be happy also with the SE version (without built in woofer amplification) and the Legacy signature (the little sister to this speaker that I have also spent some time with, just before stepping up to the XD..... just because I could). As to the rest mentioned in this thread. I have heard none of them so check them out also. Good luck |
I agree that the towers benefit from a sub, but I find they’re pretty good down low. Unlike some other two way speakers, I find their bass to be honest, not boomy. Sometimes, I find speakers’ attempts to do it all results in bass that is bigger but not better. The Ascends' bass is clear, accurate. A string bass sounds pretty great with no sub. Subs add more down low and open up the soundstage a bit. To do better than the Ascends, you went up a price class. That’s probably something I’ll do, too, in time. Logical move. FWIW, I’m not a fanboy, though I don’t think you were calling me one. Here is what matters about the graphs -- they indicate something real about performance. The Ascends just take a lot less power and play evenly. As one real-world correlate, see this.
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The reasoning is Physics. Hofmann's Iron Law three parameters that cannot all be had at the same time. They are low-bass reproduction, small (enclosure) size, and high (output) sensitivity." Hofmann stated that designers could pick two of these three parameters, but in doing so, it would compromise the third parameter. |
Another option: Sibelius by Pearl Acoustics. I have not heard them. They have reviews on the web, though. Just received via email from Harley at Pearl Acoustics (owner and maker of the Sibelius line): "I can absolutely assure you that the impedance of our drivers, in their enclosures is a true nominal 7,5ohms. The lowest it goes is about 7ohm at around 5hz. It rises and drops sharply around the resonant frequency at 38hz. And rises up to about 16ohm at around 20KHz. But there is absolutely nothing to worry about here. The Sibelius is easy to drive and very forgiving for the amplifier, from this perspective.” https://pearlacoustics.com/sibelius-sg/ |
I’ve had the Tekton Double Impacts, the Ascend Acoustic Towers with Raal like you’re looking at and currently Legacy Focus SE’s. For what you’re wanting I’d go with the Ascends. The only reason I upped the ante to the Focus’s was SPL and headroom. The Ascends are a fine product and Dave and Dina are great people to deal with. |
I've not heard the Tektons, but am aware they get a lot of (+ & -) talk around here. So, when I saw a Stereophile review of the DI recently, I skimmed through it. They did get a good review and I believe made the Recommended Speakers list. However, on the test bench their sensitivity was estimated at 87.5db, which is quite a bit lower than claimed. Perhaps this is one of the reasons there are such varying opinions on these speakers. If you're buying them because you wish to use a low power amp and need "highly efficient" speakers, you may well be disappointed by what appear to be speakers of average sensitivity. |
I have Living-Voice OBX-RW speakers (94db 6-ohm nominal) and have used them with an 18WPC SET amp and First Watt SIT-2 8WPC solid-state amp very effectively ! They sound terrific and play plenty loudly in my modest listening-room. I also had a Pass-Labs 30.8 stereo amp (30WPC) that would play these speakers very loudly seldom moving the VU-meter. Highly recommended if you're not wanting to buy horn-speakers... |
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If you're into transparent, refined, audiophile sound for jazz, classical, country, all things acoustical, etc. - definitely... Legacy Calibre stand mount monitor, or Legacy Focus, or Legacy Aeris depending upon how big a sound you want and how much you want to spend. They're "semi-open baffle" (Calibre and Aeris) and are efficient enough to be driven by tubes... and... are often shown that way at the shows. Very little can match them for efficient speakers... unless... you're considering something with horns. Though... if you have the space... you may like the best sounding speakers on the planet - restored Quad ESL-57's, which sound superb with tubes. Just depends on what type of music you prefer and how big of a sound you want. If you're into Rock, Hip Hop, etc... you might as well get Tekton's, or Zu, Golden Ear, or something like that. |
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An audiophile friend just bought a pair and is raving about them, unbelievable bass, extended highs, super efficient need only 2-3 watts to drive them. A couple of caveats though; packaging from manufacturer is not sufficient and speakers being heavy need better packaging/cardboard, etc., cabinets do not exhibit the best craftmanship as they have some flaws in the cabinetry. |
A friend has some older Lii Audio Crystal single driver speakers from Decware with a Riviera Audio Labs Levante Hybrid Integrated amp, one of very best amps we heard at any price and we both love these speakers a lot. They are one of the best speakers I've heard at any price. I like them better than Cube Audio they have deeper bottom end and better total balance and are more musical engaging. This guy likes them better than Cube Audio too. Lii Audio and Riviera Audio Labs could be my end game system. |
A few videos on the Decware Lii Audio Silver S-10's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVez8PTTeAI&t https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMoVCjLN4DY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKAk1pmWpi4
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