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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
teajay
1,691 posts
 
Hey Guys,

On Friday I received a pair of DI Monitors from Eric for a professional review that will be put up on hometheaterreview.com in the next couple of months.  At this point, after reviewing the DI's, Ulf's, and having extensive experience with the SI's I'm not shocked/surprised from what I'm hearing from these monitors at all.  In my smaller system/acoustic space they are replicating what my Ulf's do in my very large acoustic space.  I'm using a pair of very inexpensive subwoofers that are x-over at 55 and they blend perfectly with Monitors.  Even without them I still get excellent bass extension with accurate tonality.  With the subs I got that last ambient aspect of hall space/imaging if its on the recording.

I have experimented numerous times with super tweeters and have never really got any differences that made a difference to me.  Yes, on Quads or speakers that roll-off much below 20kHz I have heard them make a positive change.  However, other speakers that extend to 30kHz or beyond have had no change for me at all.  So, I don't think you will get much benefit in using this device with the Tekton's because of their already "super tweeter" range. 
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
I don't think you will get much benefit in using this device with the Tekton's because of their already "super tweeter" range.

Well put, Terry. : )

Great to hear you have a pair of Impact Monitors in for review. 

@teajay  Is your Pass XA-25 review going live on Monday?
teajay
1,691 posts
 
Hey david-ten,

Great question! I don't know, but I hope it goes up quite soon.  It was submitted a good time ago.
sbayne's avatar
sbayne
493 posts
 
@teajay - I agree the Impact Monitors are very good by themselves.  I’m crossing my subs at 50hz which, as you indicate, seems fairly seamless. The subs just add a touch of “foundation” to the sound which you don’t really notice until you take them out of the chain.  How do you have the Monitors set-up? You using stands?
teajay
1,691 posts
 
Hey sbayne,

I have the monitors placed on a pair of Star Sound Technology reference Sistrum speaker stands. The bottom of the speakers sits on three brass cups that are sitting on three brass spikes.  These screw into the pillars that are solid metal which connects to a top metal plate and finally a lower metal plate which the brass spikes screw into that go into the floor.  I have never found a better isolation stand then the Sistrum pair, and also use this company's speaker platforms for my reference Ulf's.

I have the monitors slightly toed-in, 6 feet off the front wall, 4 feet off the side walls and about six feet apart.    
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