Stereophile review of the $30,000 tekton speakers

Well, the issue being Tekton has review videos of the speakers Eric reviewed and guess what they had no feet on them when, for example, Steve Guttenberg reviewed them,

Why threaten to sue one and not the other - they both didn’t have the feet on.

It just makes the audiophile business look petty.

Also, there is a Federal Law to protect reviewers from being sued companies for bad reviews.

We always offered 1/16" thick x 1.5" diameter neoprene pads for clients that aren't using the feet - I'm confident Steve Guttenberg's pair had pads on them and weren't leaking high pressure air in-and-out of the cabinets.

@tektondesign did he?

so let's assume that Erin had no reason to suspect it was designed like an IKEA cabinet and didn't expect holes in the bottom. And that in your eye, questions his credibility. His 100s of thorough, professional reviews means nothing to you.

@deep_333 ,

4 gaping holes?? Quite the exaggeration. And they're on the bottom of the speaker.

Well, they are drilled through the wall open to the inside.

Eric speaks:

Box losses [4 leaking holes] are easy to predict and measure. Furthermore, once we get into the 5-10 watt range the air pressure jets in and out of them at speeds above Mach1 and they get audible. Hard to fathom a top-notch reviewer not discerning audible jet sounds coupled with Nora Jones and Diana Krall!

ouch. the hole not deep enough?

too many holes :(

Box losses [4 leaking holes] are easy to predict and measure. Furthermore, once we get into the 5-10 watt range the air pressure jets in and out of them at speeds above Mach1 and they get audible. Hard to fathom a top-notch reviewer not discerning audible jet sounds coupled with Nora Jones and Diana Krall!

I guess the size of the holes matters but won't a few holes create a vented bandpass design? I am familiar with M. Dzurko's Sub's which utilized this design. Also called a symmetrical load. Obviously if some speaker designers are using this intentionally, it makes an audible difference.

"Hard to fathom a top-notch reviewer not discerning audible jet sounds coupled with Nora Jones and Diana Krall!"

Hard to fathom a top-notch speaker maker purposely drilling 4 leaky holes in his speaker cabinets.

If you thought it through for 30 seconds you’d discern the advantages to this approach.

@deep_333 Refreshing to see someone look at it factually rather than emotionally.

"If you thought it through for 30 seconds you’d discern the advantages to this approach."

And if you thought it through for 30 seconds you'd discern the advantages of not posting anymore.

@tektondesign "If you thought it through for 30 seconds you’d discern the advantages to this approach."

and earlier "Hard to fathom a top-notch reviewer not discerning audible jet sounds coupled with Nora Jones and Diana Krall!"

this does not make any sense, except shooting yourself in both feet.

I used specs as minimal guidance but to decide what to buy i used statistics on users impressions... If they are enough users impression we can draw a "portrait"...

When i had taken the time to do it it worked...

Save in specific synergy case where the specs are not enough and no users reviews can help ...

There is way too much parameters associated with the potential of a piece of gear to be described well in a single review by someone using this piece of gear completely differently ..

I bought vintage products because it is way easier to buy good gear at low price... The numbers of users reviews through time tell all the story...

For new gear people use price tags more as an indicator ...At the highest level of the high end gear they use the specs and the number of zero behind the decimal points ... 😊

In all case acoustics room condition and body measures matter more than the choice between two amplifiers in the same price brackett or not too far of one another in the scale ... But people ignore this because it is way easier to change an amplifier than to change our living room appearence ... And a dedicated room may cost more than the high end system...

Do the $30k speakers have holes in them?  Inquiring minds want to know.  

It’s an interesting topic but in the end who cares? It is what it is. Everyone has their own approach and let the cards fall where they may. Just all take a chill pill or two and  keep the reviews and all forms of useful information coming. Bring it on! Hifi drama is really pretty insignificant on the grand scale of things. Good listening and cheers!

I have to ask, does anyone actually buy these speakers? They are amongst the ugliest I have ever seen.

Oh my goodness what a pathetic video. Dude you are not doing yourself any favors. Why you cant step back and see this is beyond me.

@laoman 

Lots of people have purchased them. I have a pair of Enzo XL's (though they are currently in storage). I purchased them because I wanted a custom color (in my case, "Frog Green"), the unique design, the price and the front ports on the speaker, which (at the time) better served the room they were in than a rear-firing ported speaker.

I've spoken with Eric Alexander via phone and email a couple of times. Nice guy who is always willing to help.

I don't get the hate, the guy knows what he's talking about. He's earned a right to be proud of his company and his products.

Don't like Tekton? Go buy something else. I doubt you're going to keep him up at night.

I do think that if you haven't heard or owned a pair, you probably ought to stay out of these kinds of arguments. You bring nothing to the table and all your opinions are based on supposition.

Carry on with the flame fest....

@tubeguy76  Nice sealion move.

After reading through 7 pages of this thread, I definitely will not ever consider Tekton speakers again. The fact that the owner of the company is quite pompous (hope I don’t get sued for saying that) and my previous purchase of Pendragons which I returned in 2012 makes me want to run the other way. I don’t care who is right or wrong but the owner of Tekton needs to acquire a much thicker skin to stay in the game.

Perhaps but inexpensive boxes are often problematic enclosures. In many cases more expensive boxes presuppose some additional processes to reduce resonance. There is often much more to an expensive cabinet  than what is actually visible. 

@audition__audio Indeed, the box is part of the system and the designer has to take that into account. 

Simple boxes can be a problem for amateurs making DIY speakers.

Jerry

@stereo5 realize that you ar sitting in the living room of the Hatfieds and forming a negative opinion of the McCoys.

@carlsbad2 I don't know what that is.

@carlsbad2 ,  Good analogy.  I said what I had to say from the heart.  There are so many manufacturers of speakers, probably thousands and life is just too short.  I don't even like the looks of the speaker line and would not put them in my main system which is in our living room.  My wife has been extremely silent over the years of all the equipment that has gone through our living room, not to mention changing speakers in there 5 times over 30 years.  The only comment she made was that my T Refs are almost as tall as I am, but that's it.  

@coralkong

It would appear that you do not know the meaning of the word "supposition". I do not "hate" these speakers, what a silly comment you made. I could not buy them even if they sounded fantastic as every time I played them their looks would upset my stomach.

It’s an interesting topic but in the end who cares? It is what it is. Everyone has their own approach and let the cards fall where they may. Just all take a chill pill or two and  keep the reviews and all forms of useful information coming. Bring it on! Hifi drama is really pretty insignificant on the grand scale of things. Good listening and cheers!

@mapman ,

Take a day off from being so annoyingly level headed and rational! 😉😄

Simple boxes are simple boxes regardless of who is designing them. Right angles, parallel surfaces, large speakers fronts, etc all involve simpler manufacturing techniques that are less expensive to make. They affect the sound and are done not because they are better but because they are cheaper. Not surprising considering the retail prices of Tekton speakers. The only reason I am still commenting on this thread is because of the responses of the owner and that ridiculous video. 

@thecarpathian I will try.  

@mapman the story for me is about Erin and the future of reviews, not Tekton. It's legal drama, bullying of an individual by a corporation. I have been a victim of this type of nasty intimidation several times as an employee, a real estate buyer, I think the hype generated around this review and the forcing of taking it down has been more than appropriate. We live in a democracy (for now), it's good that we can support the little guy and empower him to stand his ground. He had sleepless nights, he lost weight, it's been one of his most stressful weeks of his life. It's not just "drama", it's someone's pain and suffering. 

@grislybutter I am with you.  I support earnest reviewers and am not a fan of drama queens. 

@grislybutter Wrote:

@mapman the story for me is about Erin and the future of reviews, not Tekton. It's legal drama, bullying of an individual by a corporation. I have been a victim of this type of nasty intimidation several times as an employee, a real estate buyer, I think the hype generated around this review and the forcing of taking it down has been more than appropriate. We live in a democracy (for now), it's good that we can support the little guy and empower him to stand his ground. He had sleepless nights, he lost weight, it's been one of his most stressful weeks of his life. It's not just "drama", it's someone's pain and suffering. 

I agree!

Mike

I support the little guy if he makes a good product and doesnt act like a tool. Is Erin the one who is so stressed out? I thought that Eric was the victim? I am so confused about which adult male I am supposed to feel sorry for.  We are just generations away from a society with a 60% suicide rate.  

I cannot contradict @grislybutter

+1

@mapman the story for me is about Erin and the future of reviews, not Tekton. It's legal drama, bullying of an individual by a corporation. I have been a victim of this type of nasty intimidation several times as an employee, a real estate buyer, I think the hype generated around this review and the forcing of taking it down has been more than appropriate. We live in a democracy (for now), it's good that we can support the little guy and empower him to stand his ground. He had sleepless nights, he lost weight, it's been one of his most stressful weeks of his life. It's not just "drama", it's someone's pain and suffering.