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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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zd542
5,339 posts
 
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.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,213 posts
 
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.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
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:)
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,213 posts
 
Timhru,

The upward tilt of the Meadowlarks might be helping with soundstage and imaging by changing and delaying reflections somewhat, especially in a modest to smaller size room.

The isoacoustics stands I use with my Triangle Titus monitors also provide optional upward tilt (in addition to decoupling the speakers from the floor which cleans up the bass and enhances all the rest as well accordingly) and the difference with and without those stands in regards to both detail and imaging/soundstage is night and day in my wife's 12X12 with cathredral ceilings, acoustically challenged sunroom.

The larger Isoacoustics stands might fit/work with the Tektons...not sure about the size specifics. if so might be worth a try.
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Thanks Mapman. I meant to address your comments but ran out of time.
I have the M-lores placed on 2.5 inch MDF plinths. The plinths are firmly spiked to the floor and the M-lores are stick to the plinths with blu-tac. I tried the speakers tilted back a few degrees but preferred them with about .5 degree tilt.
Oddly though, my room is also 12x12 (within a few inches) with a 3x6 ft bump for entry door. The room was very disappointing when I first set the system up. Even with room treatments the room was just bad.
I read a thread on another site talking about square rooms and how to make them work. The solution I found was using a diagonal set up for the speakers. Amazing results. If you have some spare time and haven't tried it, give it a shot. I'd love to read your reaction.
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