Tekton Electron has been released

Well, this is going to drive a lot of traffic to his site, me included.

Good low-end specs and small drivers for smaller rooms. But sensitivity is rated for 8 ohms, and this is a 4 ohm nominal speaker.
It’s not too tall at 46", and a small footprint; also good for a small room. If it has rear ports, I wonder how far it needs to be from front wall.

I like Tekton's ideas mostly, but man…no attempt to make these things look nice. Exceptions there of course, like getting an ebony veneer on some Tekton things, but when I sit to listen I like an esthetically pleasant looking speaker…maybe that's just me. Also, I've been led to believe that higher impedance along with efficiency is more tube friendly…maybe that's still just me, but I heard it from a real smart guy .

Ralph is a great guy!!  I also agree with you regarding the looks of the Tekton speakers. 

+1 on the looks department. Things as simple as the finish, let alone getting the look of the drivers to match, can be a big detraction to any potential buyer. I like my eye candy as much as the next audiophile.  

I've boughten smaller makes of speakers that, even as humble as they were, had nice finishes so we should all be beyond that point of contention.

All the best,
Nonoise

The custom paint makes a big difference in their looks. It's a much more polished and professional look. My next pair will be BMW Phoenix Green. Eric does an amazing job with veneers, but the wait will be quite long. 

The 4 ohm impedence does make them less tube friendly but they sound great with tubes. My 24 watt Decware gives me SPL levels in the upper 70's, which is a enough for me 95% of the time, but strains beyond that. I'll be going with a Linear Tube Audio ZOTL 40 tube amp which will drive my DI's easily......it's the same amp Terry London used to review the DI's. The Electrons would probably do just fine with a smaller tube amp. I'm assuming those smaller drivers would take less power to drive but I could be wrong. 

The Electrons are actually a little less efficient than the Double impacts.

Roxy is right,  and generally speaking you gain speaker sensitivity as the cabinet increases in size/internal volume. Lower speaker impedance load and steep phase angles aren't friendly to tube amplifiers. Tubes work better with higher and flat  (relatively) impedance characteristics. 
Charles 

Like mac48025 said the ZOTL40 will power them very nicely. The ZOTL is unlike any other tube amp made and in my system sounds better than than any other tube amp I've tried. My 87db electrostats have headroom to spare.

Roxy54 3-24-2017
Considering the high efficiency, how would the 4 ohm impedance affect the way they mate with low to medium power tube amps. I admit that I have no idea. Where are you Almarg?

Hi John,

I agree with the post by Charles just above. And if the specs are accurate, the 3.82 db lower sensitivity of the Electron compared with the DI means that about 2.4 times as much power would be required by the Electron to produce the same volume as the DI. Also, the 95 db/2.83 volt/1 meter sensitivity spec of the Electron, given its 4 ohm nominal impedance, corresponds to 92 db/1 watt/1 meter.

That said, how suitable the Electron would be for use with a low to medium power tube amp will depend (among other variables) on how its impedance magnitude (the number of ohms) varies over the frequency range, on how its impedance phase angle varies over the frequency range (impedance phase angle is a measure of how capacitive or inductive the impedance is at various frequencies, as opposed to being purely resistive), and on the interaction of those impedance variations with the specific output impedance of the specific amplifier that is being used (and output impedance varies widely among different tube amps).

So I don't think the answer to your question can be predicted until and unless further technical details and/or a substantial body of anecdotal reports encompassing a range of different tube amplifiers become available.

Best regards,
-- Al
 

Would love to see the impedance curve of the Electron and the actual sensitivity spec at 4 ohms nominal.

Great info, Al, was waiting for your input. My Android locked up, so my post was sorted after yours.

Thanks Charles and Al. I understand from what you said why it is impossible at this point, considering all of the electrical variables to make an educated guess about the suitability of low power tube amps with this speaker, except to say that the Double Impact would be a somewhat easier load.
As lowrider says, it would be very interesting and informative to see an overall impedance curve. Hopefully, there will be a review soon with some technical measurements. 

2 cents worth:

I had a descent 2' x 2' dispersion grid made of 2" x 2" wood of 5 differing heights in a random pattern and placed in the center of the wall behind my Soundlab U-2s. I built this years ago and stained it dark brown. So, in the new digs, it would look better in black. Stain with ebony or just paint with the black automotive paint I already have? Saved $7 by not buying the stain. WOW, it wrecked the sound. Apparently, the automotive paint is a really hard surface and the high frequencies went ballistic. So, I recommend you consider the impact of hard finish paints on the speakers - which may have a real effect on the sound.

Vincent Raptor

Good point. I believe that I have read before of the same speaker sounding different with different finishes. An old Dahlquist model comes to mind. It was a box speaker that came in a regular wood finish as well as a rough Nextel type paint, and it was said that the two sounded different. 

Read the review about the Tekton Double Impact. Like many of you said, the looks are not that good. But the reviewer preferred it over the Acoustic Zen Crescendo Mk2 and YG Caramel. Looks like the Tekton beat those 2 speakers by a significant margin. That seems to be a great achievement by Tekton. Has anyone compared these Tektons with other loudspeakers? These could easily overload a medium sized room like mine. But these are good affordable speakers, it looks like.

Its nice to have so many options to choose from but I find the Tekton product line (or business model) a bit difficult to follow. Several speakers in almost exactly the same sizes with different designs and varying prices. I guess a long conversation with Eric is a required first step in trying to figure out which model to pick. The model that intrigues me most is his OB Sigma open baffle. My finger is resting on the trigger awaiting a nudge. Anyone tried that model?

Yeah......what Al said! What amazes me about Al's explanations is how he makes it so that I can understand the more technical aspects of audio. I feel that I should be paying tuition. Thanks once again Al for your enlightening contributions.

milpai, the DI's will work very well in a small room as they perform very well at low volume levels. If they are physically too large that's where the electron comes in. 

kalali, I hear you. I call Eric the mad speaker scientist as he's constantly inventing new models. Probably more models than needed but it's in his blood to create. I've not heard the OB Sigma's but have heard nothing but good things about them. 

wgutz, interesting point. I've owned Tektons in both the satin and automotive finishes and can't say there's any sonic difference. Like you I have a decent amount of quadratic diffusers in the room, maybe they lessen any reflection issues.

I read the review and what is most important to me, and perhaps mentioned less in the review, is more about the tone and refinement of the DI speaker. Sure the bass is bombastic and it sounds live etc... Wonder if it is a tad aggressive for some and lacking the sense of ease and warmth of the AZ Crescendo?

It seems like a dynamic champ, but if it comes with the slightest bit of listener fatigue, then all is lost with my ears. Look forward to hearing them at a show perhaps. The review is certainly intriguing reading like we should all sell our speakers and buy the best valued speaker ever built since the beginning of mankind. That is the bottom line of the review right? Very nteresting and has me intent on wanting to hear them myself.

The DI's sound is highly dependent on what you have hooked to them. I went through two different amps and three different preamps to finally get the sound qualities that were most pleasing to my ears. They are very revealing. That said, they never sounded bad with any of my equipment, just emphasized different aspects of the recordings. For example, with a powerful solid-state amp they exhibited wonderful dynamics, whilst a tube amp give them wonderful texture. Changing preamps added and subtracted details from the music. I will say, however, that the midrange stayed nice throughout my equipment changes, just minor improvements here-and-there.

Good information. I have the same questions as Grannyring. It good to hear that a reviewer says they sound great, and he even sold his speakers for them, but sounds great compared to what? In this case it would be good to hear comparisons to speakers whose house sound we are familiar with, or at least more detail than I read in that review about the sonic character.  

Point well taken @roxy54 . I agree it's always good to have a frame of reference; and we can safely say that the reviewer's impressions may not match our own. But when he made the following observation, it really caught my attention: "The Double Impact is a qualitative shift from sounding like an analytical/electrical device to beautiful tonality/timbres ..."

I believe the "analytical/electrical device" reference was about Wilson Sasha's with Focal sourced tweeters. Having heard Sasha's both in show settings and in a fellow audiophile's home system, I definitely concur with that observation. Despite their high cost, I never really felt they made good sounding music. I think what the reviewer is saying is if you like Wilson's house sound, these may not be your cup of tea. Maybe?

BTW, when someone also shares my tastes in music, makes me pay a bit more attention to their impressions.  

Agree with all of the above.  I am cautiously optimistic about the DI.  However, I am not familiar with Home Theatre Review one way or the another.  Also, I don't give much weight to reviews written after only having an item a week or three.  From my own experience, I have purchased speakers which I thought were fantastic for a few months and then things I didn't like about them start setting in.  I am glad that all of you are loving them.  Just my two cents and I may end up with a ;pair yet.

I've found the DI's to have no listener fatigue in my system at all. They are very dynamic and alive.......and as subtle and refined as need be. As Jeffery mentioned they are very revealing and will bring forth whatever is upstream of them.

For a frame of reference I had the Magneplanar mg 1.7i's before getting the DI's and had the Legacy Audio Focus SE's at the same time. The DI's had pretty much everything the Maggie's but added a lot more dynamic slam and much better bass. The DI's had a much more realistic soundstage also, one more in scale with the music than the larger than life soundstage of the Maggie's. The DI's and Focus SE's were more similar than dissimilar but again the DI's had more dynamic slam. All three speakers are wonderful and I'm not knocking any of them, I just preferred the Di's. For me the DI's presented the most realism and dynamics while still at least equaling the others in most other sonic attributes. 

I listen to a wide array of music with jazz and female vocalists being my favorites. And yeah, every now and then I like to revisit my youth and rock out to the likes of ELP, Metallica, Bowie.....oh anything from the 70's or 80's. Mostly it's the likes of Holly Cole, Patricia Barber, Sarah Jarosz, Rickie Lee Jones, Cowboy Junkies, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett that I listen to. The DI's with my Decware Torii tube amp and PS Audio Perfectwaves provide beautiful music with all. 

Are they perfect? Nothing is but I've found no fault with them yet. 

Jetter, great point on the length of time.   I too have owned speakers that just dropped my jaw for the first couple of weeks to only later be sold. It takes time to really hear a speaker and come to grips with the sound personality. Yes all speakers have a personality. 

Thanks grannyring, I always enjoy your posts.

Hi Jetter,

I'm the reviewer from HTR and wrote the review on the DI's.  I completely agree that a "snap" judgement about any piece of gear can come back and bite you in the ears.  However, I spent many,many hours listening in the context of my reference system before I came to any conclusions about these great speakers.  I'm a tonality/timbres listener first, if these qualities are not in place in a speaker I really don't care about dynamics or bass extension.  

There is absolutely no "listener fatigue" at all with the DI's, just purity of tonality/color, plus great over-all dynamics and what I call a sense of aliveness you find in music being played in real time.  As I stated in my review, "garbage in-garbage out", so I believe if you drove this speaker with crappy electronics you would not like the end result.  Easy to drive yes, very inexpensive for what they offer, so I could see a music lover on a budget purchasing them and building around them for many years to get the total ultimate level of performance.

Well I am now most interested in hearing these. It does seem too good to be true😀

I  would want to upgrade with Jupiter or Duelund copper foil capacitors as well as the Duelund stranded copper wire. Clarity are fine caps, but not in the league of Duelund or Jupiter.  I have not tried the new Clarity cap replacing the MR line however. 

Roxy54, the DI's are the most transparent speakers I've owned and reproduce vocals better also. I've owned Legacy Focus SE's, Magneplanar 1.7i's, Revel Salons, Magneplanar 3.6 and Vandersteen 1, 2ce and 3a's. I had someone over today who owns Zu's and he was very impressed with my DI's. The DI's are the finest speakers I've owned and that's saying a lot as far as I'm concerned because all of the other speakers I've owned were quite good. 

Grannyring......I've had my DI's for over six months now and still can't believe they are as good as they. They have no business being this good! So I can definitely understand someone thinking the praise regarding them is too good to be true!
I'm somewhat handy, I did wire my dedicated lines myself, is replacing the internal wiring relatively easy? I have some Duelund 16g wire.....the WE replica....would that work? I have the Clarity caps, the Duelund caps are intriguing. Would they be best done in an external crossover? As you've probably surmised, I have no previous experience upgrading caps, but I'm good with a soldering iron.

Thanks for your clarification teajay.  I'm with you grannyring, I wish I could hear them also.  
I am sorry to be a broken record, but if a DI Jr could be made exactly like the current speaker but without the large space between the lower midrange and upper woofer I would have already ordered a pair.  I just am not interested in any of the other models.  Hint, hint.

You know, if you don't like the standard finish, you can spend a bit extra for a first rate  veneer or a gorgeous automotive finish.  I don't understand the criticism here. The point is, you have an incredibly high value speaker line that gives you a CHOICE.  So make it and be happy.  I am dumbfounded by what the Double Impacts offer for the money.  Me, I'm learning to love how the satin black finish fades away in a dimly lit room. 

These are NOT a love 'em and leave 'em speaker.  Quite the contrary.  I suspect the Electrons, with their similar tweeter array will have much of the magic of the DI's.

Mac48025, 

I have not seen the internal crossover and wiring so I cannot say how difficult it would be to work on these. However I do know form experience that the Duelund wire, Duelund & Jupiter grade capacitors can dramatically improve a speaker. If the DI has resistors, not sure, then more improvements can still be had. 

Yes external crossovers are best as you get all the parts outside of the bombastic cab. I just don't know what's inside these so I cannot really give you a difficulty scale. 

I am most intrigued with this speaker after doing some reading on them.  Very happy to see the builder making such great speakers at an affordable price. Very exciting stuff. 

Mac, realise that if you were to any mods inside the speaker, it would void the warranty.
An external crossover might be possible, but I think it best to have a schematic of the crossover network, and it would need to be bypassed.

Thanks grannyring. Maybe I'll just try my hand at re-doing the wiring for now. I already have the Duelund wire. Thanks for your input.

Yeah lowrider, I realize it would void the warranty but it's a chance I'm willing to take. In all the years I've owned speakers I've never had a warranty issue.....lets hope that continues! 

I have a pair of Tekton Electrons.  They sound amazing. I'm upgrading from Enzo's which I loved. The Double Impacts were too big for my room, so Eric made Electrons for people who want something smaller. I have not heard the Double Impacts, but I'm in heaven with the Electrons. Bass, dynamics, and all the other words audiophiles like to use. They sound like a real band is playing in front of me, and that is the best complement anyone can give to speakers. I've been chasing this sound all of my adult life, and I spent a fortune the last 40 years trying to get a concert sound in my listening room. I love these speakers. I live in the NY area. Hit me up if you want to demo them. If you use your imagination and come up with a color, Tekton will make it for you. Mine are an off white color. My wife says they look stunning.

Roxy54,

Over the years (not in order) I owned the Goldenear Triton 1 and the original Triton 2, Von Schweikert VR4, Proac 3.8. Triangle Genesis, Tekton Enzo, Tekton Electron, Snell Type B and a few bookshelves when I was in a small condo. However, in the early 90's I became very friendly with a high end dealer and heard it all, (in his store) Wilson Watt Puppy, Infinty IRS Beta, to newer setups.  

Audiophiles try to come up with terms to describe what we hear, bass extension, sound stage, imaging, liquidity, etc. I guess it's like trying to describe what makes a woman pretty. The Electrons have all of the elements of a great speaker, bass slam, sound stage, etc. However, they just sound "good", more like what I hear at a concert. It's hard to explain, but it has the most "live music" sound than speakers I heard in the past.

 Like I said, I did not hear the Double Impacts. They are huge, and my wife would have thrown me and them out. I called Eric at Tekton and told him my dilemma, and he decided to make the Electrons because of my inquiry. He sent the dimensions and a picture of the boxes as he designed them. I don't know if I bought the first pair, because I was holding out for a wood finish. After two months, I caved in, went to Home Depot, picked out a color and sent it to Eric. The Electrons were at my house 1 week later. The color is an off white and looks great. I can't imagine the Double impacts can sound much better than what I am hearing out of my Electrons. An absolute steal for $3000.

gb9746,
Thanks, that information gave all of us some valuable perspective. Your previous speakers were good ones, and in particular, I have respect for the ProAc 3.8. It is a great speaker. I would think that the Electrons would sound very much like the DI's, and maybe even have an advantage in the midrange, where the driver is more the size that many people think is more ideal for a midrange driver.
I don't have a size restriction partner-wise, but because my room is 13 x 11x 9. Eric says the Electron will be fine with that size.  

I am also in the electron vs DI camp; mainly regarding the room size; speaker height etc not so much an issue.  I believe Eric likely has been very busy, as I emailed him this question, though without a response-- And would like to know his thoughts before placing the order.  But based on what I have read here, the DIs may work just fine for my 15*22 space.  Awaiting a review from another agon member that just order the DI to pair with his LM 508, which I'm also trying to decide on my next integrated between the 508 and 219. 

@phaun16: The DIs will work well in a room your size.

@grannyring :

I second what @333jeffery wrote in response to your post. I’ve quoted it here since it is further back in this thread.

"The DI’s sound is highly dependent on what you have hooked to them. I went through two different amps and three different preamps to finally get the sound qualities that were most pleasing to my ears. They are very revealing. That said, they never sounded bad with any of my equipment, just emphasized different aspects of the recordings. For example, with a powerful solid-state amp they exhibited wonderful dynamics, whilst a tube amp give them wonderful texture. Changing preamps added and subtracted details from the music. I will say, however, that the midrange stayed nice throughout my equipment changes, just minor improvements here-and-there."

I’ve run the DIs with two different DACs, two preamps, and three different amps. In each case the DI is able to showcase the personality of the chain. I will be adding a third DAC/Pre to a fourth amp (HT components) and should have a feel for that combination in a couple of days.

To your points, there is"’proper tone," lovely in fact; "refinement"; "a sense of ease"; "warmth"; and "a lack of brightness" (which I am very sensitive to).

The best chains (so far) for my preferences have been the Exogal Comet - Ion which delivers big on ease and refinement; and the Schiit Yggdrasil - HeadAmp GS-X Mk 2 - Moon Neo 330A.

I find the Yggy - HeadAmp - SST amp combination slightly bright, but with great body, weight and fullness in the mid to lower range. This is likely due to the pairing being one of  'too much alikeness.’ I added this component combination yesterday and it definitely needs more play time before I know whether the slight brightness remains. The same component pairings worked exceptionally well with my Gemme speakers.

Hope this helps you and others considering the Electron or DIs.

Having read this thread from start to finish:

Does anyone own both the Double Impacts and Electrons?

Are any reviewers planning on covering the Electron, in addition to the Double Impact? : )

Hello all,
I just read through this tread and thought i would chime in a little.
I'm listening to my new pair of di's for the first day and I'm totally amazed.

The tweeter array plays down to 400hz with the 2 6 inch mids joining in at the same freq and maybe higher.The 2 woofers are crossed below 250hz.
Most defiantly as coherent as any speaker I have ever heard or owned in my 30 yrs in this hobby.Wonderful tone/Timbre and harmonics.

Just a quick post unfortunately I have a dentist appointment soon.

Kenny