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Tekton Impact Monitors

Hi All,
I'm relatively new to Audiogon but have trolled the discussions for a few months. I have been listening to Spendor LS3/5As driven by a Quad 34/306 combination since the late 1980's and decided that it was finally time to upgrade my speakers. I love the Spendors but they are very limited in dynamics and scale. I auditioned the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers and while they brought some additional scale they simply didn't have the sweet midrange that I can't live without. I listened to some open baffle speakers (Emerald Physics) and loved them, but their size and need for space worried me, and I found them less satisfying at moderate and low volumes, where I do a fair bit of listening. I was fascinated by all the discussion regarding Tekton speakers and was considering getting a pair of Enzo 2.7s, but after a short discussion with Eric I followed his recommendation of the Impact Monitor with upgrade. They have the 7 tweeter array and a pair of 6.5" woofers and are rear-ported. I use a pair of SVS subs (the sealed variety). The Impact Monitors are simply amazing. The midrange is oh-so-sweet (very similar to my Spendors, but with more air) and the detail, even at low and moderate listening levels, is superb. The imaging is even better than my Spendors managed and the scale is huge and is much more music-appropriate. My system is really quite modest but now when I walk into my listening room (doubles as our living room - thankfully my wife appreciates Hi-Fi) I get the audio-show feeling of "being there". I have a Denon DP59L turntable with a DL110 HO moving coil cartridge running through an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp and the Tektons are absolutely incredible with classic rock on vinyl. I'm not sure how Eric managed it, but these speakers are superb, even with my 30 year old Quad electronics. I believe they are basically the top 24" of the Double Impacts, but are rear-ported rather than front ported. I can heartily recommend them and Eric and his team are great to work with. I'm not sure how many other Impact Monitors are out there since the pair I have are S/N 0005 and 0006!  
ky1mag
lpretiring
473 posts
 
@missioncoonery 

Congratulations on finally auditioning the product line that you have been criticizing on multiple threads extensively. 

I have owned the Electrons, and now the D.I.'s and find the product line to be the most responsive to adjustments of any audio product I have ever owned going all the way back to 1968. Therefore, I find it interesting that your audition resulted in "several attempts by the owner to tighten things up made no headway." 
Was the owner aware of this shortcoming prior to your audition, or did this issue come to light for both of you during your audition?

Either way you should be comfortable now in knowing conclusively that Tekton is just not your cup of tea all the way around, and you can now focus on finding the speaker manufacturer that satisfies your needs.

   LP
missioncoonery
1,237 posts
 
Yep,nothing there for me....and just FYI I already have speakers that fit my wants...
sbayne's avatar
sbayne
493 posts
 
These are some of the highest value speakers on the market today.  Remarkable the music they convey. Kind of shocking. 
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@sbayne 

I saw your system listed in the main 'Recent Posts' page the other day and took another look. Sweet!

You may have answered this earlier in the thread...with your subs and how the IMs are stacked above them, I'm curious about your reasons for not going with the Double Impact towers? Thanks.
sbayne's avatar
sbayne
493 posts
 
@david_ten - thanks for checking out my system. It’s the place I go to decompress.

I went with the Impact Monitors after reading the various threads and reviews on the Double Impacts. There seemed to be universal praise of the tweeter array but some conflicting opinions on the bass. Some people thought it was perfect, others thought it was a little weak, some thought it was almost overwhelming, etc. People were using one watt up to hundreds of watts with the Double Impact so it made sense, to me, there were varying opinions on the bass. My overall conclusion was the tweeter array truly is something special and if I could control the quality and output of the bass I’d be in hog-heaven.

I’ve owned Salk/Philharmonic speakers and Jim Salk designed a very, very nice high sensitivity monitor around the Seas Exotica drivers. When he decided to go full range with the Exotica he chose something very close to the Rythmik F8s direct servo subs that I’m using. Here is a link: http://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=Exotica+3 I’ve heard these subs in a number of systems, including open baffle, and have always been impressed. Also, aesthetically, the F8s look very nice with the Impact Monitors. So, that’s why I went with those subs.

My only concern with this set-up is vibration control since the monitors are sitting on top of the subs. I’m currently using spiked maple platforms with IsoAcoustic pucks between the sub/platform and sub/monitor. They sound very nice but that may be an area I keep messing with.

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