Tekton Double Impacts

@mac, I wanted to note this inconsistency in how Eric specs his speakers since it has been commented on in other forums. It looks like the majority of the speaker line is 8 ohms nominal, but a few models are 4 to 6 ohms and are measured using 2.83 volts @ 1 meter and rather than 1 watt @ 1 meter/8 ohms. An important spec when choosing a tube amp.

Interesting points that Al has raised on how specs can be manipulated, (not saying that there’s any cheating going on). Regarding Stereophile’s findings with the Enzo XL, the Tekton’s seem to have resonant cabinets, even measurable on the impedance/phase curve, although these resonances should not affect performance.
I found several high-level resonant modes on all cabinet surfaces, with one at 301Hz the strongest on the sidewalls level with the bottommost tweeter and on the rear panel. Another mode, at 262Hz, was strongest on the top panel, while a mode at 414Hz dominated on the bottom half of the side panels.
All of these modes are of high Quality Factor (Q), so may measure worse than they sound. Also, the Enzo’s high sensitivity will work against these resonances being as fully excited as they are in my measurements.

Also an easy speaker to drive. That’s good news, as I am becoming more interested in trying out one of these speakers.

Mac, I see your room on the Audiokarma website. Looks like you have a whole lot of room treatment. Just curious did you come up with what needs to go where, how many etc on your own or did you have some consultation to help you figure it all out? I currently just have some owens 703 in basically random places but am interested in doing it right but don't really have a clue how to start.

Thanks for the explanations Al and lowrider. While I don't have a lot of technical knowledge regarding audio equipment, I enjoy learning about it. All this time I was focusing on sensitivity specs without giving thought to impedence. That explains why my tube amp is having a harder time driving the 4 ohm DI's than the 6 ohm Enzo's even though they're both about 98 db sensitive. I'm told the impedence curve also influences how hard a speaker is to drive? The flatter the impedence curve the easier it is to drive? Thanks for your help. While I care more about sound than specs understanding how the electronics and the speakers react to one another is very helpful in choosing the products that will work well together. Thanks again. 

Mofojo,

Steve Deckert of Decware helped me with placing the quadratic diffusers at the first reflection points on the ceiling, one side wall and on the back wall along with building floor to ceiling bass traps in each corner and hanging heavy velvet curtains on the side wall without the diffusers. We also decided to cover all of the exposed ductwork with acoustic foam. The room sounds great. Building a dedicated room was one of the best audio investments I've made. I wish I could share some specific wisdom for your room, but I pretty much followed Steve's advise. My room is in the basement with low ceilings, 7'6", so I guess the bass traps are more necessary. Placing diffusion at the first reflection points seemed to really help along with carpet and padding on the concrete floor. After that experimenting with absorption throughout the room, especially where the walls meet the ceiling would be the extent of my advise. Hope that helps. 

My most excellent audiophile brethren,

I couldn't pass up on an opportunity to chime in on such an interesting thread, such as this one, concerning the Tekton Double Impacts, especially since I have heard them perform 3 weeks ago in TJ's system and 2 weeks ago in Allen Richard's system.  First let me say that anyone just starting up a system, and have not decided on speakers yet, the Double Impacts should definitely be on your short list.  I can't think of anything better at or around its price point.  If you are looking to upgrade speakers at around that price point, and maybe up to $5K-8K, they still should be on short list of speakers to consider.  You get an awful lot of sound and performance from the Double Impacts that's very hard to beat by anyone else's speaker.

The Double Impacts sounded really good in TJs system, though as I told him then, as much as I like how they sound I would have to get more familiar with them before I decided whether I wanted a pair or not. When I heard the Double Impacts in Allen's home, he really drove the heck out of the Double Impacts using a $3400 PrimaLuna 26 watt tube integrated and easily reached life-like levels of volume and dynamics with all kinds of music.  I don't recall if TJ used a sub-woofer or not but Allen did use one.  After hearing them in Allen's system, I was more convinced of the great achievement Eric made with this speaker.  Mike Kay (Audio Archon) puts on a good demo and will show the Double Impact's sonic capabilities with the Linear Tube gear as well as with the likes of Pass Labs.

It would be interesting to see how our planar speaker brethren, especially those who love electrostats feel about the Double Impacts.  I want to reiterate, before I'm called a heretic in this thread, that the Double Impact is a wonderful sounding and performing speaker, especially at its price-point and beyond.  Personally, I like my Wilson Sashas much better, especially for doing audio reviews with, but in my opinion, the Double Impacts are one of the best values in what's available today for speakers.