mac48025
acoustic live, I love as well. Who are you listening to?
Greg
acoustic live, I love as well. Who are you listening to?
Greg
Tekton Double Impacts
Anybody out there heard these??
I have dedicated audio room 14.5x20.5x9 ft. Currently have Marantz Reference CD/Intergrated paired to Magnepan 1.7's with REL T-7 subs. For the vast majority of music I love this system. The only nit pick is that it is lacking/limited in covering say below 35 hz or so. For the first time actually buzzed the panel with an organ sacd. Bummer. Thought of upgrading subs to rythmicks but then I will need to high pass the 1.7's. Really don't want to deal with that approach.
Enter the Double Impacts. Many interesting things here. Would certainly have a different set of strengths here. Dynamics, claimed bottom octave coverage in one package, suspect a good match to current electronics.
I've read all the threads here so we do not need to rehash that. Just wondering if others out there have FIRST HAND experience with these or other Tekton speakers
Thanks.
I have dedicated audio room 14.5x20.5x9 ft. Currently have Marantz Reference CD/Intergrated paired to Magnepan 1.7's with REL T-7 subs. For the vast majority of music I love this system. The only nit pick is that it is lacking/limited in covering say below 35 hz or so. For the first time actually buzzed the panel with an organ sacd. Bummer. Thought of upgrading subs to rythmicks but then I will need to high pass the 1.7's. Really don't want to deal with that approach.
Enter the Double Impacts. Many interesting things here. Would certainly have a different set of strengths here. Dynamics, claimed bottom octave coverage in one package, suspect a good match to current electronics.
I've read all the threads here so we do not need to rehash that. Just wondering if others out there have FIRST HAND experience with these or other Tekton speakers
Thanks.
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Greg, some of my favs.....not all are totally unplugged. Rickie Lee Jones, Naked Songs Cowboy Junkies, Trinity Sessions Revisted The Howlin Jenny's, Live Nils Lofgren Live Loreena McKennitt, Nights from the Alahambra Alison Krause and the Union Station Live Sinatra at the Sands Sarah Jarouz, Live at the Troubadour Morgan James at the Coca Cola Club please feel free to share your favs as the DI's convey live music very well. |
Hi Tom, It's refreshing to read that you've established such trust and good relationship with Aric. As we've discussed before 300b SET circuits are many decades old (and proven when done right). Aric apparently has a good ear and building talent. Combine that with serious high quality output transformers, parts and very robust power supply and you should have a top notch SET amplifier. I have no doubt that this will be the case for you. I'm flattered the Frankenstein is your sonic reference measuring stick. I can't wait to hear your custom 300b SET amplifier 😊. Charles |
Charles, I'll let Aric discuss the technical aspects of the build as I'll most likely get it wrong, but yes I also believe he will create what I'm looking for in an amp. Thanks to you and your Frankensteins I had a lofty goal to aim for. I look forward to having you hear my new system....and bring more cd's as I love hearing music I'm not familiar with. I'm really enjoying the music of Bobby Hutcherson that you turned me onto. Thanks Greg, I enjoy trying new music and I'll be ordering cd's from your list later today. Im as surprised as you are that I went this new build so soon. I was so focused on either going with the KT 120 or 2A3 amp that I never really considered a 300B. Aric's KT 120 gets me a good way towards the SET sound I so loved from the Frankensteins but I decided to get all the way there and when Aric suggested he could build me a no holds barred 300B I jumped at it. At times I'm quite deliberate in my choices but I'm often very spontaneous.....and this was one of those times. My dilemma now is what to do with this exceptional KT 120. It's too good to not use, it's probably too new to sell at a decent price, so gifting it to my son makes the most sense.....the spoiled brat. Lol. Not really, he's a good kid, if one can be considered a kid at the age of 31. Tom |
Tom, I'm also a fan of live recordings (especially jazz) here's a recommendation I think that you'll enjoy very much. "Roger Kallaway At The Jazz Standard " It’s a 2 CD set. Kallaway piano Russell Malone guitar Stephon Harris vibraphone I don't recall the name of the bassist (but he's good 😊) Top tier jazz musicians in a very good venue. Wonderful music, these gentlemen can play! Your fine system will definitely extract the musical beauty of this recording. Charles |
Hi all, I just wanted to briefly outline the scope of Tom's 300B SET build. It will be a single chassis stereo amplifier, using dual 5U4G rectifiers (both in parallel to provide double the current capacity), and a 6SN7 per channel for the input and driver stages. Single capacitor coupled output to the 300B, running the 300B at 66% dissipation for longevity and to produce 8 watts per channel. A choke-filtered power supply, and robust filter stages after the rectifier will produce a very black background. In addition each 300B will have its own independent filament transformer. DC on the 6SN7 filaments will provide low noise for the input/driver stages and reduce the overall noise floor to nil (generally not an easy task for a 300B based amplifier). All power resistors will use Vishay chassis-mount/heat sinked units to reduce internal heat, and essentially the entire amp will be built to provide twice the current that the circuit requires for lower heat/better reliability. The amplifier weighs close to 50 lbs, and will be 17" wide x 12" deep, x 3" tall (minus the wooden side rails). Price is $3,600 including EH 300B power tubes, (2) Sylvania NOS 5U4G's, and (2) RCA 6SN7GTB's for the drivers. 2 year warranty on the amplifier as well. |
Hi Aric, Thanks for the additional information. This custom made 300b amplifier driving the Double Impact SE will be a fantastic pairing is my prediction. Do you have an opinion regarding electrolytic versus "film" capacitors in the power supply (filtration) and is one inherently better than the other ? Charles |
Jay, the speakers are 6' o.c. with the listening position about 8' from the speakers. Thanks for the recommendations Greg and Charles. I have some new CDs to look forward to Monday now. thanks Aric, you explained the amp build far better than I ever could! There are many here that will understand the build much better than I as their informed questions will demonstrate......as Charles has already demonstrated. tom |
Hey Charles, you're very welcome! With regards to filter stages, I am a believer in using good quality electrolytic bypassed with a high quality metalized polypropylene. To get a film capacitor of the correct UF ratings to effectively smooth ripple, size restraints come into play. Good low ESR caps can make for a very quiet power supply circuit. Aric |
I also wanted to add that in any build I undertake, I like to maintain a "form flows function" approach (and also follow the KISS rule), by keeping all power circuitry towards the rear of the amp near the AC inlet, and all signal paths towards the front and/or out to the sides. Then find the average operational points of the tubes, and design around that. Use transformers rated for at least 33% more than the duty cycles of the circuits.Then the use of high quality parts come into play (the sum of the parts gives a synergy- much like the blend of a good recipe), keep wiring paths short (twisting filament wiring to cancel AC fields, shielding signal wiring wherever it may encroach a power circuit, etc.). Lastly isolate the chassis from audio and signal grounds and use a star/single point termination for the ground reference. I’ve found that maintaining all of these aspects in any build yields a reliable and typically a great sounding piece of gear. |
Very interesting speakers! The stereophile mention of the Impact monitors had me searching around and I landed on this thread for the DIs as well a very favorable convincing video review of the DIs by Zerofidelity. The idea of the ring of tweeters as the "midrange" driver surrounding the tweeter in point source fashion is nothing short of genius. The properties of the SB acoustics tweeter made it possible- low mass voice coil for high efficiency, very low Fs for a tweeter that allows a relatively low high pass crossover frequency as well as linear response and very low distortion. Kudos to Tekton for a brilliant application! Seems to open the door for more possibilities too. The woofer to midrange crossover is likely around 1300 Hz or so (rule of thumb is to double the Fs of 680 Hz). 1300Hz is smack in the middle of the midrange and highly directional and a true point source driver would deliver more of the mid band, e.g. the KEF LS50 delivers down to woofer frequencies while the R-series midrange coincident arrangement delivers down to 300 Hz or so. In other words the handoff between the midrange ring and the midwoofers needs to be well engineered for phase and coherency. You then start wondering what if the ring of tweeters were replaced by a ring of smaller midrange drivers, e.g. the 3" Tympany drivers that can play down to 300Hz or so, If you can do that, then these speakers would be a tremendous candidate for bi-amping with a tube amp driving the midrange and up as a possibility. Another concern is level matching. The ring of tweeters acting as midrange have approximately 14 db more output than the tweeter they are handing off to (because of the number of drivers). The mid-ring needs some extensive resistor padding in order to match the level of the tweeter and because the difference is so great, resistor quality and value tolerance over time may become a concern because they are likely going to get very warm if not hot and capable of handling at least 320 watts at max rated power. For those of you that own these speakers, how is the quality of the sound in terms of cleanliness? Freedom from distortion, dirt, noise, grit, ringing, harshness, etc? Revolutionary speakers and could be world beaters if they are engineered right. Can't wait to hear them! |
Just my 2 cents. The L pad or power dropping resistor would not need to be rated at that high of a wattage if it’s placed after the mid-range bandpass filter, since most of the low frequency content is already rolled off by the capacitor in the high pass. Reasonably a 50 watt resistor would be more than enough there in the circuit. Additionally the midbass cones are much higher efficiency than standard Hi Fi midbass drivers so the tweeters nay not need quite that much padding. This is just based on my own speaker building experience- I have no direct experience with the Tekton speakers per se. Best regards, Aric |
DI update, the DI's have been running non stop since my purchase. So far they have loosened up and become more relaxed and fluid. the bass seems better to me. The only change that was made was in the first week when I decided to remove the anti-cable pc and replace it with my Zu Mother pc. big difference there. I am finding that my music is all discoverable again. Recordings are either good or not so good. Engineers tweak them. Some have too much bass, some are very compressed and need volume to kick everything up and out. Some are just incredible. These speakers are truly impressive, even without the grilles ; ). Addressing the posts about quality parts, service etc., could there be improvements? Sure ! We can see areas where they can be modified but for the money, for much much more money in fact, they can't be beat. This is the first time as one who listens to music and detail that I can really enjoy the sound, the sheer musicality of my system. The tone, texture, rhythm, nuances, and tremendous bass. Round punchy enveloping bass, unlike any other speaker I have heard. I could never afford what it would cost to beat these. BATvk500 amp BAT vk51se pre BAT vkd5se cdp Zu Mother power cords Speltz anti-cable silver reference balanced ic's Speltz anti-cable level 3 speaker cable, soon to be potentially surpassed by Cerious Technologies Graphene Extreme speaker cable no power conditioner Two 20amp dedicated lines for amp,phase correct All under ground electrical on grid zero noise |
Can anybody make a comparison between the Tekton 1812 and the Ulfberhts? They are both retailing for $12,000 - but obviously the designs are very different! Doubt many people would have heard both to make a comparison but you never know. Any happy 1812 owners out there? It's hard to find any reviews on these. Cheers, Luke |
Double Impact owners I need your opinion on bass performance. I want to know if your satisfied with bass resolution and texture? Can you pick up bass guitar notes easily or are they on the soft side? Either acoustic bass of electric. Do any of you listen to Jaco, Geddy, Jack Bruce, John Entwhistle, Ron Carter etc? Thanks |
Yeah, those tracks should be fine for testing bass. They have a steady bass line all the way through. I don't think dynamics has anything to do with it. They are studio recordings, which is mostly what I listen to, and it's also why I ask people what kind of music they listen to when choosing tube amps, because if it's open, airy, live recordings, certain tubes might not work well with polyphonic, dense studio recordings. @aniwolfe - I can test the same tracks when I get home and realign my speakers. I know them very well. Do you have your speakers on stands/platforms at all? I know you're using room correction, so you need to be careful that it doesn't suck the bass right out of the recordings. Chris Squire's bass has a lot of mids in it, while Sting has a much more traditional sound. It need not be "audiophile quality." I've found that there are audiophile elements in almost every recording, live, or studio. One just needs to know what to listen to, and what to listen FOR. In fact, one might not even know what their speakers are fully capable of if they are always listening to the usual suspects. I was talking to Aric and we both agreed that hear what your speaker/amp (possibly DAC) combo is capable of, one needs to put on some super dense recordings, with a lot going on. It's not that something needs to always be pure in its timbre and tone, merely that the instruments need to be pure within the context of the mix. Me, I like to be able to listen to every kind of music on the planet, so I know if my speakers and amp can fully "decode" Metallica, some of those early well-recorded Iron Maiden albums, some Prince, with those lo-res Linn drum beats, and YES' Tales From Topographic Oceans, then I know that my Mozart, my solo Neil Young, and my Cannonball Adderley will be in good hands. This method has never let me down. |
@evolvist My speakers are set using the provided spikes into Herbie Hush Puckies. I agree about the room correction. I seem to have enough bass in general. Was just curious if DI owners have bass with resolution? You need upper to mid bass otherwise its not going to be easy to follow complex passages. Most posters seem to comment on how Dynamic the bass is or isn’t. Another Track : Paul Simon’s "You can call me Al" Genesis "No reply at all" |
On Friday I pulled the trigger on a pair of upgraded DIs and Herbies gliders. Got the shipping notice today and they're scheduled for a Thursday delivery. I was not expecting it that fast, especially for a specialty color (not the expensive automotive color though). Eric said he was going to the store on Sat to get the paint and would have it shipped by Tuesday. He promised grills would be in tow as well. They should look like this: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208069651727928&set=p.10208069651727928&type=3&theater I was happy to hear Eric was using Parsound for his RMAF demos. I have a Halo A21 so that made me smile. Does anyone know if I need to be home to sign for these? I don't really want to take the day off while I wait, and then find out they are not arriving until Friday :( |
@greg22lz are you saying take them out of the box and inspect? Won't the driver be at my house for 30 minutes?No, he's saying to make sure you inspect the FedEx driver before he leaves. |
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