Tekton Double Impacts

As far as cosmetics go, that’s up to the individual. I know they’re not the prettiest and some wives wouldn’t accept them, and went part of my thinking process at all. As far as sound goes though, I would disagree with your views of assessing a speaker. . Basically your way is seems to say that the vast majority of people who have actually heard them, are incorrect in their praise of the quality of sound they are hearing. I’ve seen speakers that “ measured” well in someone’s view that most did not seem to care for that actually heard them in person, and then ones that supposedly didn’t measure well that sounded great, and just the opposite. As has been said over and over, let your ears decide. If both the measurements and the reviews are bad, then chances are good they’d be a waste of time to investigate.  There will never be a perfect speaker, I agree. And what’s perfect to me, won’t be perfect for everyone. But I will never say that a speaker sounds bad, or great,  to me if I have never heard it. 

Here's my experience with Tekton, trying to be objective as possible here and only reason I post this is because had I read about a similar and recent situation with Tekton, I absolutely would have opted to go a different route.  I have a very hard time dealing with disorganization in a patient way, especially when I'm on the receiving end after spending thousands.

I purchased a set of DI upgraded, DI wide center and 2 4-10 subs in Feb. Everything was supposed to go in my basement lounge which I had to stop construction on because of this fcukin virus and the effect it will have on my job very soon.  I attempted to cancel my order with Eric (job worries) prior to shipment, but he wasn't receptive to that and I understand so I played on.  Received everything a week or so later after that phone call, with boxes arriving sporadically over a few days.  So here goes: one 4-10 was physically damaged during shipping and I received none of the grills for the speakers. Called Eric, had a long conversation about how FedEx sucks, sent him video of the FedEx guy delivering it on it's face on my porch etc.  He says he will get right on a replacement and have it sent out.  Ok great.  One month later, I email him as I haven't heard from him and no shipment info, and to add to this I still did not receive any of the grills for the speakers I ordered: I got no response. Sent another email few days later, no response. Another email, no response.  Phone call, no response.  Then he calls me back- during the first 30 seconds of the conversation it is very apparent he has no idea who I am or what I'm talking about with regard to the sub replacement- he forgot.  I refreshed his memory.  So, reset the clock on the 5 week build time for the replacement sub, and maybe I'll get the grills in a few weeks, who knows.  He did say he would prioritize, so I'm hoping this will be solved soon.
As for the speakers and how they sound- I'll start by saying they are in a temporary setup in an open backed living room with furniture crowding them.  They are being run by a Marantz SR6012 which is more or less garbage (it is running a small satellite 5.1 setup in the living room and another zone outside and I will never again buy another Denon product) to a Parasound A21+ which I bought specifically for the DIs (which has developed a faulty right channel on power up at the moment <this is how things typically go for me).  The end result at this point is: I'll withhold my opinion.  The room is not ideal and the Pre is Denon trash, we'll see once I finish the basement (maybe next year?) and have a proper signal path (starting with Anthem I'm thinking).  Another issue I'm trying to nail down is an intermittent rattle coming from within the undamaged sub which only happens at certain freqs/volumes.  So to summerize- I don't believe I would go the Tekton route again, simply from the standpoint of disorganization and difficult comms.  Aside from being hard to reach, Eric will let you know how 'slammed' he is with orders every time you talk to him: which I now interpret as a red flag and not so much a sign of success.  In my case, it seems that his business is under staffed and overwhelmed, he really dropped the ball on my damage issue, didn't fulfill the order completely by omitting the grills, and now I've got worries regarding quality control-which fits with an overwhelmed group of employees.  He's a nice guy, for sure, but $5600+ I don't feel I should be going through this.  I hope to report back soon that everything is solved satisfactorily. Ugh.

Dear Slickmachine,

I am sorry you feel this way. You and I spoke earlier this week about getting you a new subwoofer. I am sorry it was damaged by FedEx - I've offered to replace your subwoofer entirely free even though it was damaged by the careless actions of your local FedEx delivery driver - you have the video surveillance evidence of this fact. WE RUN better than 99% successful undamaged delivery so your situation is a rare one. I've said for years we've designed "damage proof packaging" and we have. I'm still working on the "idiot-proof" delivery boy design.

We are very busy here so the free replacement might not have come into you as fast as you've expected it. We'll have it shipped out soon. I believe it was painted last night. 

Sincerely,

Eric Alexander - audio designer 

Eric,
I appreciate the response here, and now that I posted this I've suddenly received an email response as well this morning. After talking to you yesterday, it was clear that the replacement wasn't in the works, amp was going to be a problem because of virus, what color was it? etc etc.  So if you've pushed everything through that quickly that is very much appreciated as I was left expecting weeks until anything happened.
 As for a free replacement...???  I clearly and deliberately asked you, upon receipt of damaged product, what I need to do on my end to facilitate reconciliation with FedEx, for both of us.  I absolutely don't blame you for the damage, and I certainly didn't convey that here.  You clearly stated that you would handle it completely on your end, which didn't happen.  I expect nothing for free and I assume I'm sending the damaged sub back to you as per our original conversation, where you mentioned FedEx would pick up and package.  I hope you hold them to that and get reimbursed.  There is no reason why you shouldn't, and I don't feel like I should shoulder it either.  You have the video and pictures, if you need something else, let me know.  Please understand where I'm coming from as a consumer/customer:  My situation seems a one-off, and I believe I was lost in the shuffle afterward.  For future reference I think most people would start to get nervous in the same situation.  I feel a lot better knowing the speaker is almost finished.  ... If someone would have just responded to one email over the last week... are you guys monitoring the forum and not customer email? 

It looks like Tekton is very busy, and unfortunately sometimes emails can get missed. It’s not ideal, but the added cost to each speaker sold when a full office staff is hired to answer hundreds of emails and phone calls, as well as folks that frankly need way too much hand holding(not present company, please don’t misunderstand), would be really high.

Let me say this about Tekton. For a company to be in business this long, and have a product that has a still growing fan base, they must be doing something right. No company would be in business this long if they were dropping the ball with customer service.

Slickmachine, your experience, unfortunately, can happen with any brand. I’ve had items simply not show up, and when I made enquiries found out that the company(not Tekton) somehow got my address fouled up. The Fedex experience can happen with all carriers too, especially with heavier items and delivery people that frankly should get fired.

Anyway, that the owner of a company would come onto a forum and speak directly and be up front with a customer, that’s a rare thing, and is a mark of a respectable organization. Keep the faith, I’m sure it will end well.

Sorry about your basement project, that sucks. You’ve got a bit of a challenge there. Hopefully in a year you’ll look back and chuckle about the whole thing.