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Tekton Kat's Meow

I noticed a speaker manufacturer selling some very interesting open baffle full range hybrids on Audiogon. I checked out the web site and found out this speaker won a blue note award from Enjoy The Music. That peaked my curiosity so I spent some serious time on this guys web site. He has a speaker he sells for $1000 that he calls the Kat's Meow. I e-mailed him about them and told him that I was currently running B&W Cm7's. He said that he would pay good money to see the look on my face when I compared these Kat's Meow speakers to my CM7's. Seeing as he might be right, and I love a good challenge, I might just have to lab rat these speakers. If the Salk Songtwower sounds as good as pretty much any speaker up to twice it's price, why couldn't this Kat's Meow speaker sound as good if not better than a $2000 speaker.

Has anyone checked these out? If anyone has some spare time, could you check out the Tekton website and tell me what you think? This guy has some serious background with large speaker manufacturers (working for them) and has seen (probably mine) many speakers that some of us own being slapped together by 18 year old girls in China. He claims to be a mastercrafstman and is reproducing some really awesome classic speakers like the Dynaco A-25. He offers a 30 day trial period and a 5 year warranty which will certainly make it easier for me to add them to my cart.

Another interesting tid bit. He has a speaker called the Uruz and he direcly goes after the Zu Essence with after Zu published their ferquency response graph last fall. This guy really stands by his work. I think we might be hearing more about him in the near future. He also blasts rear firing ports on speakers and will gladly back up his findings.
donjr
9 responses Add your response
markaray
27 posts
 
I have not heard these, however I have owned some tekton fostex based speakers (as part of surround sound in home theater) Eric is a great guy and does great quality work. I live in Utah so easy for me to visit. He has said he would bring a pair of his new OB design to pop in my room for a listen. I am eagerly waiting. I will keep you posted
maddoggy
77 posts
 
there are so many great speakers housed in some really expensive digs.Wouldnt it be nice to hear them as designed ,outside of the box.I may drive from S.Cal to hear for myself there are some interesting products.Should not everyone hear the GOOD NEWS.Great sounds dont have to cost a fortune.At the prices being offered you know they understand that.It would be nice to hear from others,but only your ears will let you know how well they are.Good Luck
ludimagis
130 posts
 
I very happily ran the Tekton Uruz for 15 months with a Larry Moore 300B amp. The 1st 3 months I was actually doubting my ears "are they really this good at this price". Did a couple of shootouts with other well respected speakers and ended up with the Uruz. I never heard the human voice or acoustic instruments sound so natural. Eric is a gem of a guy and builds very good speakers to his price point. Don't know what your system is or your musical preferences, but can't imagine that you would be disappointed with the Kats Meow.
donjr OP
1,335 posts
 
Lately I've been listening to a lot of Brazilian popular music from the late 60's through the 80's because of the vocals. This music is also mostly acoustic. I also enjoy jazz like Joshua Redman, Cassandra Wilson, Pink Martini and also some Bluegrass. My B&W CM7's are less than a year old, and I would keep them unless I'm completely blown away by Fostex drivers. I've never heard them before but have been reading a lot about them lately.

I'll have to think this out a little while longer and maybe I'll bite the bullet and get a pair. My room is around 12 x 24 so I'll need at least the kat's Meow to do it justice. I'll let you guys know if I do it.
donjr OP
1,335 posts
 
Ludimagis, I forgot to mention I use a Rogue Cronus Magum tube integrated with a Rotel RCD-1520 CDP.
crankshaft
27 posts
 
Ludimagis, would you please give more info/your opinion on the differences between the Tekton Uruz & Druids.
Thank You
ludimagis
130 posts
 
Sorry Crankshaft, just saw your ?.

Don't know if this makes sense to you, but the druid are extroverted in nature with a good dose of introverted-ness; and the tekton are introverted with a good dose of extroverted-ness. The tekton are more resolving and allow you deeper into the music...where it becomes easy to be one with the music;..with the druid, you are the listener of good music.

As much as I appreciated the Druid, the Tekton are clearly superior with acoustic music and vocalists. More natural sounding & true to life. Especially with guitar, cello, woodwinds, saxaphone, piano, & vocalists.

On some recordings with trumpet or massed strings, the tekton ribbon tweeter just isn't up to the task, with occasional brightness at the top end. And on rock from the late 60's - 70's, the tweeter grabs the electric guitar with poor results. These issues were only on moments or sections of the music and generally on recordings with poor sonic quality (the tekton are very resolving and excel w/ sacd, vinyl, & good recordings.) With the druid ribbon tweeter this was even less of a problem, with only rare moments of brightness.

That being said, the druid were generally good with any type of music and bettered the tekton on R&R. Had the druid for a year & enjoyed them, but kept the tekton instead and never regretted it.

I think that the kats meow have a soft dome tweeter, so they will not have the same upper register issue's that I occasionally heard with the tekton.

Can recommend either depending on your tastes, system, & room;..but I preferred the Tekton. Enjoy, it's all good!
ekwisnek's avatar
ekwisnek
27 posts
 
I haven't heard the Kats Meow, but I have owned a pair of Eric's OB4.5 Open baffle/omni speakers for about four months. I can truly attest to the accuracy of his claims, as well as the quality of his work.

Being that the OB4.5 uses only two 4.5 inch Fostex full rangers, the low end is noticeably missing. At about 50Hz there is an incredibly steep drop, so using these in conjunction with a sub woofer would almost be a must. That would be if you like the low end. I prefer vocals, solo cello, and sparse recordings.

I have never heard a mass-market speaker come close to the intimacy, clarity, and spaciousness for my types of music than with these speakers.

I most certainly plan to upgrade to the Lore or Kats Meow once I find a suitable low-power tube amp. I'm currently running a self-made direct-heated tube preamp with a Rotel RB-1050.

I've heard reports of Eric's speakers singing with as little as 3WPC.

Good luck, but for my money, I can't see myself buying from another manufacturer.
guppy
133 posts
 
I had the Tekton 4.5 wide baffle and I thought they were fantastic speakers and a great bargain, but they could use a subwoofer if you desire more bass. Tekton gives you a great deal for your money and the workmanship, service and sound of the Tekton's is first rate. Eric is a very fine gentleman to deal with and his speakers deserve the more widespread acclaim they are starting to get. I only sold the 4.5's wide baffle because I didn't want to get a subwoofer and I bought the Merlin TSM-MXE's which are much more expensive, but worth every penny and GREAT monitors.
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