New Tekton Pendragons On The Way


I am quite thrilled and also quite nervous in having ordered a pair of the Pendragon speakers this afternoon. I am doing this mostly on the reviews and also after receiving communication from Eric Alexander, owner of Tekton Designs.

Let me go back a little. I recently changed the tubes in my Rogue Cronus Magnum integrated from the KT120 to EL34 tubes. I have fallen in love with the EL34 sound and now my present speakers sound thin unless really cranked. I attribute that to it's 89db sensitivity whereas the Pendragons have a 95 db sensitivity. This should give me a much fuller sound at lower volume levels.

This is my secondary system in my home office and I play it 8 hours a day so it gets much more use than my reference system downstairs in our living room. Many of the reviews both pro and consumer say it's the speaker for someone who loves music. So now the wait begins to receive them. Supposedly they keep this in stock now in the basic black finish which is what I got. I would be thrilled if I got them by the end of this week but that is pretty unrealistic I guess.

If anyone has experience with these speakers, I would especially like to hear. If anyone reading this has any thoughts, kindly post them.
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" I attribute that to it's 89db sensitivity whereas the Pendragons have a 95 db sensitivity. This should give me a much fuller sound at lower volume levels."

I don't see why that would be true. You're not just buying more efficient speakers like the ones you now have, you're buying something completely different. There's really no way to tell how the new speakers will sound next to your old ones, until you put them side by side and do some listening.
I'm currently demoing a pair of the M-lores, not anywhere
near the Pendragons in the Tekton line, but still following
Eric's design philosophy. My impressions pretty much mimic
the review published by Stereo Mojo. They are extremely
dynamic and have a natural tonal balance. They spread a
soundstage just beyond the outside edges of the speakers.

My biggest problem with the M-lores is they don't render a
three-dimensional image. The image is at the plane of the
speakers and doesn't extend behind or in front of them. The
very much remind me of the Magnepan MG12s and 1.6s I had,
great tone and detail but a very flat image. I don't think I
saw this in any of the reviews I read but on closer readings
I'd say it is between the lines.

As for the dynamics at low volume, the M-lores don't really
sound fuller, but they do highlight the dynamic shifts in
the program material. I pulled out my db meter during my
last listening session to check them. What I noticed when
listening at an average 65db level was when the music jumped
up a bit, instead of going to 70 db, the meter would hit
higher peaks up to 75 db. It did seem to accentuate the
program differences. My measurements are not scientific and
really should be taken as anecdotal; just used to make my
point. Hope that makes sense.

I said I'm demoing the speakers but I bought them used,
that's how I demo equipment lately. At the price, the M-lore
is a bargain, at the used price I'll sell mine for, they're
phenomenal. It all depends on what you find important in a
speaker.
How do you know its the speaker that won't give much image depth and not another component? I'm not saying that you're wrong, I've just had components that would do the same thing. Any time I put it in the system, it went from 3d to 2d. And it didn't matter what the system was, it always flattened the image.
Depending on room acoustics, placement and setup of speakers is critical to having the best results including sound stage depth.

In general, speakers like the tektons that emit all sound via the front will likely sound better closer to front wall than others. Room acoustics will come into play as always though here.

Also, I have found that that the foundation the speaker sets on is a key to best sound stage and imaging overall. Ideally you do not want to be able to detect any acoustic energy being transmitted to the floor.

In lieu of a solid concrete foundation or equivalent, isolating speaker stands might be worth a try. Most speakers and stands inherently couple to the floor. Some focus on decoupling from the floor.

For example, in most rooms with typical suspended plywood floors, I would want to hear speakers like the Tektons setting on a pair of isolating stands like those from Isoacoustics available on AMazon.

The imaging and sound stage difference with these under my front ported Triangle Titus monitors is night and day, the only way to get the Triangles to image like I knew they could in that room.
How do you know its the speaker that won't give much image depth and not another component? I'm not saying that you're wrong, I've just had components that would do the same thing. Any time I put it in the system, it went from 3d to 2d. And it didn't matter what the system was, it always flattened the image.
Zd542

I have two other sets of speakers (check my system page) that I use and both of them throw a very deep image in basically the same location. Also had both the Maggie MG12s and 1.6s in this basic spot and neither of them gave me much depth. The MG12s had more depth than the larger 1.6s. Could be the room size or the tilt the MG12s had.
My system page doesn't show the amp I'm using now which is a First Watt M2 which provides 25 watts of class A power. You should hear this amp with the Meadowlark Kestrels. Talk about image depth, wow.
I'm not saying the M-lores are bad. They definitely are not, especially when price is figured in. They have amazingly accurate sound. We all have our sonic priorities. And I'll admit I'm crazy for 3d sound. Maybe it comes from the 80s when I owned the Bose 901s:)