Tekton 4-10 Subwoofer

@secretguy isn't this a subwoofer thread?

How many tweeters?

Looked at the Tekton site today and noticed a new sub. The 6-10 Subwoofer. Holy smokes that is a lot of drivers!

 

OP here....
Ended up selling that entire setup... both 4-10 sub towers, pair of HSU VTF-15H, Tekton Double Impact towers, etc. 

Now going to setup a Belles Aria integrated, pair of newly acquired Tekton Impact monitors (upgraded version) with some heavy Target MR60 stands, then a stack of subs on each side.... likely SVS.  I like being able to adjust the bass on-the-fly as a lot of music was recorded differently and sometimes needs more output (or less).  Maybe stack (3) SVS SB-3000 per channel.

I have owned/used AT LEAST 15 REL subs over tha last 20 years (Strata, Storm, Stadium, R-528, Q108, Q-150, B3, G1, etc. - great subs, but way overpriced now.  I had a buddy that paid nearly $2,600 for a new REL R-528... the amp plate was toast after only 5 years.... had to remove it, send to REL, paid almost $400 for repair.  I had a Storm III that was still working fine that was over 22 years old.  Those days are gone I'm afraid.

All my old "ST" series RELs latest like 15-20 years (or more), made in England.  Now they are all made in China and shipped over... even the reference No. 25 ($7,500 retail) - no thanks. 

FWIW, I went from a single sub (REL) & am very happy with my pair of 4-10's. Big improvement in bass (as expected) but also soundstage. I've never tried 4 2-10's though... So there is that. 

What would you do? 4 2-10s or 2 4-10s? I'm leaning towards 2 4-10s since it's $1800 (compared to $2400) and more bass per sub, but the DBA theory makes me think that the qty 4 2-10s might be better overall. Thoughts?

They are called the 4-10 because you are supposed to have four to ten of them.

Get smaller single or push-pull drivers and more of them to spread around the room. That approach simply works better than 1 or 2 big ones.

allexandar - whatever you decide, get two.  two is *always* better than one, regarding subs. better/easier room integration, better soundstaging (set them up adjacent to the main speakers for best soundstaging), higher spl's, and lower distortion for whatever spl's you're listening at.

shawn3997, you said:
"I just replaced a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 2's with a pair of Lore Be's. I'm shocked at how much better they are."

you compare $1300 floorstanding speakers made by a mfr known to offer extreme value for $$$ to a pair of small standmount speakers that retailed for <$400, and were often sold at a discount, and you're "shocked at how much better they are"? seriously?

ya, who'd a thunk? (btw, i'm not saying impugning negatively against tekton; i've heard the double impacts and think they're extremely fine sounding speakers.)

Having owned these now for a few months and several serious listening sessions, I can say that the 300-watts must be "plenty" to drive the 4 10" woofers.  Honestly, I think I have the gain set to maybe 2.  The driver efficiency along with how the 4 subs are wired maybe?  I don't know, but these push a lot of energy.  And mine are not jammed in the corners of the room, they are floating - set next to the double impacts.  I was actually considering buying 4 more 4-10s and stacking a pair in each corner and running those 4 sub towers cutoff really low - like turning the x-over all the way down to the lowest setting.

I've had their Cinema Sub on my radar for a few years now but never had a spot on my schedule to make it happen.

Between the 2-10 and the 4-10 I would probably request the latter. I don't recall seeing a sub like that before so it's right up my alley. At 300 watts it does seem rather low, but the specs say 100dB sensitivity so perhaps that's enough power to push all 4 drivers. The Brisance is intriguing as well - talk about unique - and so is the 21" subwoofer (although there's no information about that one on their website). Let me reach out to them and see if I can get any products.

Right now I'm putting the finishing touches on an article for a 5.2 system from a company most have never heard of (surprise!) and then I'll be evaluating a new subwoofer from a long established player, yet few people have probably heard anything they make (surprise again). Maybe I can line up something from Tekton to work on after that.

I just replaced a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 2's with a pair of Lore Be's.  I'm shocked at how much better they are.  These embarrass the MA's.  Clarity, separation, soundstage, bass, fun...  These are fun speakers.

If I were working for Monitor Audio and heard these I'd say "Guys, we need to totally reconsider how we design speakers.  What we are doing is no longer acceptable."

I’ve had double impacts with 410 subs for about a year now. I got pretty lucky from what I can tell I put this combination together on my own and I just got into audio about a year and a half ago. I think the two are an awesome combination and I’ve had no trouble with mine. I do have one problem though I ordered a set of MOABS and I need to find a new home for the double impact. I’m on the west side of Cleveland does anybody want a deal on a set of double impact?
Mine are the standard finish, dark blue, with the $300 upgrade for internal wiring and mounting posts, I believe.I have the original boxes and packing but I really don’t wanna deal with shipping them. I’m thinking 2300 is fair?By the way I wouldn’t be able to let them go until my new speakers arrived. That’s probably about four weeks

I do not see why it would matter if the 4-10 subs are on the inside or outside... the overall room itself will likely make more difference than anything. I love this room I have now, but of course would prefer a larger one.

I just added my virtual system w/ some pics of the Tekton setup.... hard to get a photo capturing the entire wall.  Then I added a sloseup pics also.  The speakers are about 9" from the back wall, towed inward for the tweeters to fire just past the sides oy head.  Distance between the speakers (tweeter to tweeter) is 10'-6" - room sounds awesome... lots of acoustic treatments in here.

You should experiment with placement. I place mine on the inside of the Pendragons. I had them on the outside, but found that the soundstage collapsed a bit when they were on the outside. 
Hope this helps...

Do you think I can get similar results with the 4-10s to the inside of my DIs?

Basically they are just to the outside of the DI's, maybe 3-4" apart, faces are aligned.  I sent a scaled drawing of my room to Eric before I bought them to show what I was intending to do.... he replied "That is exactly what we intended for people to do for placement".
I will take a few pics and get uploaded shortly.

audiofreak32, How do you have your 4-10s positioned next to your DIs since I will be doing the similar placement?

Also try,,,
Jason Mraz "I'm Yours" Live at the Charter One Pavillion, Chicago, IL. 8/13/2009

I will try to get a photo posted of my front setup. The 4-10s seem to be a great value as far as I am concerned. They fill in the lower registers well and blend with my upgraded DI’s to form a large wall of sound. I wish I could do the Encores... OMG they must be amazing. But running the stereo pair of HSU VTF-15H in the corners, crossed really low, like 30hz adds some RIDICULOUSNESS to the entire presentation...especially live music. I am just wondering if the police are going to come knocking one evening.

I made a playlist on Tidal called "THE HOUSE OF TEKTON"...
Broods "Conscious"
AWOLNATION " The Best "
Camila Cabello, Grey "Crown"
The Weekend "In Your Eyes"
Chris Cornell "Scream"

Talk about pressuring a room.... WOW.

I assume posting a pic cant be done via phone? ...its definitely not user friendly to figure out the process 

@audiofreak32 , if you’d like, post some pics under a virtual systems page!  I’d love to see them as I’m sure others would as well 😁

Seems like a pair of DI’s and a pair of the tekton 4-10 is audionirvana. All for under $6,000!!

I hope Eric stays true to his roots and offers these at the same price for awhile.  
How could 10 12” drivers not be incredible?

I love how the DI’s are really a big coincentric design!  
Bravo Eric, you are the Man!

I also ordered a pair of 4-10 subs in Teaberry Blossom color to match my upgraded DIs. They will be placed to the inside of the DIs which are 9' apart. I will use this placement for a start. Room is 24'x24'x22'h(A Frame). Its a tough placement since the speakers are on the 32 deg. angled wall.








is

I just placed my order for a pair of 4-10 subs with high-gloss obsidianschwarz (jet black) finish. These will accompany my Tekton Encores with same finish. I could have gone for the 2-10s but sometimes we do like to party and with our backyard patio adjacent to the listening room having open air access, it was a no-brainer. :)

My setup shipped today. Sadly, had to push pause on the basement build because of Coronavirus, I work for a major airline, so my career is in jeopardy at the moment. I’ve got a Parasound A21+ ready to go that I bought a few weeks ago, but I’ll be setting them up (DI upgraded, 2x 4-10, DI wide center) in my family room with my Marantz 6012 until this country and my industry unfcuks itself. Itll be a while...

Not surprised to hear these are great subs. They have three things going for them: 1) Four drivers. Four spread out beats one, every time. 2) High compliance. At least I think that is the word for it. When you tap on the driver it moves easily. and 3) Eric Alexander. There is no denying it, the man is on a roll.

So I have maybe 30 hours music on the subs now.  They are both sitting just outside the sides of the DI's and they are really great so far.  I was listening to "The Best" by Awolnation last night during a long 4+ hour music session.  There is just a wall of sound coming at me.  The bass is absolutely incredible.  I am letting the Tekton 4-10s run up to about 55Hz and the gain is at about 10% (if that).  The HSU VTF15H's in the corners are set to about 10% gain and are cutoff lower, around 35Hz.  If anyone reading is in the Phoenix area and thinking about Tekton and can get a hold of me through Audiogon somehow, I would be happy to audition.

I think there is definitely a lot of output down low, but I still need more time to test & evaluate... been really busy.

Great news AF32! Glad to hear of another satisfied customer (seems to be the trend here). Question: does it seem like the sub does well at 20hz (flat down to 20), or does the output seem to have dropped a few db at that frequently? I know may be hard without measurement equipment, but thought I'd ask any way

The pair of 4-10s are now in place, right next to the Double Impacts.  They produce copious amounts of tight bass. My room is just over 22 ft. wide by 13.5 ft. deep with 9 ft. ceilings and I have the gain on each sub at about 15%.  It took around 3 weeks to receive from the time of order.  For some unknown reason (even though they were picked up at the same exact time by FedEx), one was delivered one afternoon and the other the next evening - I will never understand FedEx.  We live kinda out-of-town a bit though.  They essentially look like the DIs, but a bit shorter.  I think I have them crossed over at around 55 Hz and the phase is at 0 degrees.  I only have about 10 hours maybe of play time on them, but I think they are really nice sounding subs, especially for $800 each.  To me, they fill in the gap between the DIs and my HSU VTF-15H subs in the corner.  I was not planning on using the VTFs as well, but I am experimenting with setting the VTFs x-over way down near 35-37 Hz and bringing the gain slightly up from where I had it before the Tekton 4-10s were introduced into the system.  And a reminder... this is only a 2-ch system - no home theater/surround.

"cheap drivers"

there's a helpful comment.  I've used SOTA drivers that did not deliver the superb sound of Eric's offerings.  All the while using "cheap drivers."  I really don't give a rip if the uninformed audio community continues to bash a product they have never listened to.  But I am thankful to Tekton for offering products that far outperform the competition.  I mean, for the love of Pete, any other money grubbing corporate would have tripled the price of the Double Impact by now given it's success.  But, oh crap, it's still 3k.  The same price it originally listed for.  Just can't be any good.

I just ordered a pair of 4-10's, Double Impacts upgraded and the Double Impact Wide center.  Looking forward to experiencing these, although it will be a while since basement lounge is just starting construction.

I'm sure that amp plate will be as reliable as any other, they are tried and true. Heck,  REL uses them in their "Speedwoofer" along with others. 

I have looked at a bunch of Tekton spec's.  Eric does fudge sensitivity,  but his other spec's look like they are fairly close and in the end,  I can usually see how he gets his sensitivity ratings.  Lets look at his sub. He rates it at 100db @ 2.83v.  Most of you know that it takes 2.83 volts to produce 1 watt of power when being delivered to an 8 ohm load.  Well,  anytime a load is less than 8 ohms,  2.83v produces more than 1 watt of power.  For instance,  it takes 2.0v to produce 1 watt at 4 ohms.  
This subwoofer is most likely quite good.  The question is will the amp he is using be reliable.  I am going to lay down some assumptions here.  Lets say that these 10 inch woofers are average woofers,  8 ohm and 88db sensitivity.  When you pair them up,  you have 2 pair @ 91db 4 ohm, when you do another parallel connection,  you now have 94db 2 ohm.  When you take put 2.83v into this 2 ohm load,  it adds essentially 6db which would make these 100.  
Or if they are 16 ohm 88db woofers,  you would end up with an output of 97db @ 2.83v.  Eric rates most of his speaker systems output @ 2.83v regardless of impedance and from what I can tell, typically adds another 3db to his rating for "In Room Response".... which is not crazy unusual. My reliability question would come into play If Eric had this down to a 2 ohm load.... Of course,  he could use Series Parallel wiring which would up impedance,  but then,  I can't imagine these being Excellent.  Sealed box woofer wired out of phase causes fairly funky bass.  I hope all of this helps a bit on what could be going on.  It would be nice if Eric would chime in.... He could answer this easily  

Audiofreak32  +1

I have a pair of Lore-S and they are fantastic. I plan on picking up some DIs or MOABS... Someday...  Only hope I can afford them before Eric sells out and the prices double. (I see some big company making him an offer he can't refuse.)

I am looking at a pair of 2x10 to compliment my Lore-S', if I do pick them  up, I'll chime in here.

To those who have ordered these lately. What kind of lead time are they giving on delivery?

Thanks Phas, besides center of gravity being a potential issue with the 4-10s, the 2-10s also have much better WAF. Interested in your impressions as well.

I just ordered a set of the 2-10 subwoofers. I was afraid the 4-10’s would tip over and start a domino event :)

Awesome Audiofreak, please let us know your initial impressions since there is still hardly anything out there regarding these.

Just ordered a pair to flank my existing Tekton Double Impact’s (upgraded).

mcreyn: sensitivity DOES matter when dealing with subwoofers, just like any driver in a speaker. The drivers he chose and the way the 4 subs are wired means that he does not need a huge amp with 600+ watts to make a potent sounding subwoofer. I think you are spewing a bunch of assumptions on here - have you ever owned a pair of Tekton speakers? Maybe try a product first instead of looking at a bunch of specs and making a decision that they suck.

He is making speakers that are straight up EMBARRASSING speakers that cost 10X more. I know because I have owned many of them and am now on my 5th pair of Tektons.

Another thing regarding the "cheap" drivers... yes, he is using pretty basic drivers, x-overs and cabinets, BUT I prefer my $3400 Double Impacts with cheap drivers, cheap wiring, cheap x-overs in a basic box WAY MORE than the $10k Sonus Faber Cremona towers I owned. Why? Simple... they sound far better on ANY type of music you throw at them AND they require very little power to drive loudly AND the electronics do not need to be super hi-end to sound great. I admit that the SF towers looked stunning, but the Scanspeak tweeter (one of them) costs like $600 I think. That speakers uses all Scanspeak Revelator drivers.... so likely $4k in drivers alone? then the fancy cabinet, wood & leather finishes, x-overs, etc. Did the SF sound good? Sure, sounded great.... one of the best speakers I owned, but it required very expensive front end to sound its best and it did not sound great on all types of music. There may be some music that the SF speakers sounded a little better on, but not enough when you consider the cost difference.
Take a look at the 4-10 sub in question.... you have (4) 10" woofers @ around $75 each, then some wire, a simple MDF box with glue and nails/screws (maybe $80), the amp plate (about $100) then someone to build it (labor $???), then shipping the almost 100lb box at no cost. $800 is a GD bargain for this subwoofer. Talk about value for your money.

Amen Jovial. Eric's got the magic sauce for sure. I don't care what drivers he uses

Oh, ok gotcha. I appreciate the clarification. I'll pass on your suggested search though. I enjoy my "cheap" Tekton system paired with Parasound components.  I've spent a lot more in my lifetime on expensive drivers that didnt sound nearly as good as these "cheap" drivers do. I'll continue to save money on these and smile knowing that others (not here or you necessarily) have spend thousands more and continue to search for their definition of sonic bliss.

Cheers and happy listening🍻

Tekton=4 cheap drivers in 1 box positioned at one point in a room.

Swarm=4 separate subwoofers scattered at different modal points within a room.

Search subwoofer + swarm on the forum and you'll find a bunch of posts.

"A line array is not swarm" 
Curious what this statement means?
Forgive me if your thought/comment is obvious, I just dont get it.

A line array is not swarm

I heard Eric might be sending these subs to a reviewer at AVSforum in a couple months. (I guess they are too busy filling orders right now for marketing).

I really need a frequency response graph on these.

Looking forward to it.

Ya know, I never thought more bass was necessary with the Pendragons. However, when I added the 1st 4-10, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of musical weight/depth (if that makes sense). I did notice that although my space is roughly 3000cf, there were some voids in different locations. Personally, I don't sit constantly when enjoying my system. My favorite thing to do is cook while jammin. Granted it's very early on, but adding the 2nd 4-10 is much more enjoyable throughout my entire space. The sense of realism is simply stunning at all volume levels. It's very inspiring, for lack of better phraseology. I'm having a lot of fun!
To be completely honest, I think I'm very fortunate with my room layout. I sense or feel zero "nulls".

With my previous system (SVS Ultras), I found that I was subconsciously listening to less and less music. When I received my first Tekton order (the complete Pendragon system), I literally got chills listening to some very familiar old music favs. I'm not what some refer to as a "fan boy" (too old for that nonsense). I just trust what makes me feel good. So I continued to acquire knowledge in personal experiences along with trusted social media sources and good friends. Which led me to the dilemma of subwoofers with my rekindled passion for music...having the SVS PB12 plus  was great for movies (I still use it for that purpose), but for music, it just didn't quite have that "I'm connected to the tune feel",  ya know?
At that time, Eric was introducing the new 4-10 sub. I figured, ya know what....let's give this a shot...heck I already built a relationship with him and my ears like what his products have brought to the table so far. Now I will say that these 4-10s aren't the best sub out there obviously. However, for 1600.00/pr. they outperform the 1400.00 PB12PLUS by 10 fold for music. These subs are a VERY strong contender at their modest ask of 800.00ea. In my space, I have (12) 10" drivers for 2 channel listening and I'm a very satisfied guy. When I have guests over, they leave with an infectious enthusiasm that can be very contagious to the average "audiophile"...that's coming from people who own McIntosh components with Double Impacts and DYI subs. Another buddy has Triton Reference series paired with a Parasound P6 preamp and the a21 amp. My system is a fraction of their costs and I can sense them both thinking that mine sounds better(as they scratch their heads). Grated completely different room acoustics, but still😁. 
Please keep in mind that I'm not really at liberty to give "reviews", just sharing my thoughts and experiences. 
Hope this helps!


P.S. be gentle with grammar errors (if any exist), as I find proofreading senseless and exhausting.🍻