“Invest” in Tekton?


I’ve been a member of Audiogon for a while but haven’t really had the need to utilize the forums until now... I’ve perused the forums pretty extensively the past couple of days but haven’t really found my specific question.... First some background: I’ve had my current system for quite some time (PSB image: 5t, 9c, 2b, subsonic 6; Denon AVR3311 as preamp; and a NAD T955 amp) and have been pretty happy with it... yes, I tend to hold on to my stuff for a while.... I recently decided to explore the option of upgrading/updating my speakers and was pretty interested in some midlevel stuff (SVS Prime, Emotiva, PSB X2T, Paradigm 8, 9, or 10 something…) but ultimately decided the $2000-$3000 price tag wasn’t worth the investment as they were all roughly in the same league as my PSBs... Somehow, I stumbled upon the review of the Tekton double impacts... don’t even know how I found it but there I was... I kinda chuckled to myself when the reviewer started comparing them to $20,000 speakers and then started calling them better at some things... I was a little pessimistic about the review because in my aforementioned research every speaker was the greatest thing since sliced bread.. (To be honest, in my eyes, the professional reviewers lost some credibility because every speaker was just great, couldn’t find a bad review no matter how hard I tried...) Anyhow, the comparison to speakers 7-10x in price piqued my curiosity so I started snooping around for any Tekton reviews I could find and lo and behold, everyone loves them and the comparisons to speakers multiple times their price were plentiful. Ok, so the Tektons are good and now I’m more interested than I should be…

So here’s the rub… I’ve never even considered spending $5000-$6000 on a speaker system (5.0-5.1). Never in my wildest dreams… I’ve always had a theoretical limit of $3k and never gave anything above that a thought. Along comes Tekton with speakers that are in the 5-6k price range (5.0-5.1) but are being compared to speakers $20,000+ and the fact people are putting them in the same league as speakers in that price range, and saying they are better in some instances, is intriguing…

So here’s where I am asking for some assistance. It seems the Tekton lineup is a unique opportunity to acquire reportedly superior sonic performance with apparently unparalleled value. However, $5-6k is a TON of money in my world.. It won’t break the bank but admittedly, it bends it pretty significantly and spending this kind of money on speakers definitely wasn’t a consideration even a week ago… Personally, I am seeing this as a once in a lifetime purchase (am 43 and would expect these to be the last major speaker purchase of my life) but I do need to justify to my betrothed. My original sales pitch to her included the analogy “it seems they are selling Lamborghinis for the price of a Mustang…” and “I really don’t think there will be another opportunity like this” (when did I start selling timeshares???!!!) There are other barriers with her as well (e.g., “They’re how big?!”) but she does have somewhat of an understanding of how much I like music and stereo stuff.. somewhat…

So my actual questions:

  1. To those that have actually heard the speakers, (transducers?)… do you really feel they are leaps and bounds better than typical speakers in the 3-6k range (generally speaking…)? For comparison, I liked the SVS Ultras but due to price and size (yeah, I know how big the Tektons are..) I put them in the “maybe someday” category. To be clear, I’m not asking is “x better than y?” but rather “Do these $3000 speakers really belong in the same class as $20,000 speakers????

  2. In your humble opinions, is this really a rare/unique opportunity with unparalleled value that is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” or are situations like this (incredible value for the money) more common?

  3. I can’t even claim to have a basic understanding of electronics, I’ve read up on ohms and what not and my eyes glaze over.. I spoke with Eric and he, without hesitation, stated my NAD T955 would be plenty sufficient to run whatever options I went with. Thoughts? I intend on using the NAD until it dies (hopefully no time soon) and will deal with next steps when the time is right…

  4. I am super nervous about ordering something so expensive unheard, If anyone is interested, I would like to have a discussion relating to my type of music and listening environment/levels.. (not including in this post to keep size down..)

  5. Any other relavant information I haven't considered, particularly in the area of justifying a purchase such as this?

There are probably 100 other little tidbits I could include in this but I am trying to be as brief as possible and I still wrote a novel… Anyhow, any productive assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

la10slgr
@ la10slgr, pm me if you want to know about my good friend's experience with this company.  I don't want to start a war with the fanboys out here.
@david_ten

thanks for the suggestion. I might just try to get ahold of him.

 

@helomech

re: life story.. yeah , got on a roll and by the time I was done didn’t feel like reviewing.. good point though (oddly I hate writing but I seem to get on a roll within forums.. you know, the place you are supposed to be brief…)

re: floor standers vs. stand mount. I’m really into floor standing speakers over the stand mount.. I like the concept of individual drivers taking care of more specific tasks. Particularly if they are anywhere near similar pricepoints. I will look into your recommendations though

re: tekton business model. Yeah, the website itself and the variety of speakers could both use some clarity.. However, if the speakers are up to par I’m willing to give a flyer on the others as I have some of the same tendencies (focus on a good product but realize my strength is not the business/marketing aspect…)

@david_ten (2nd time)

re: ceiling height.  correct, it will be in the basement so only so much height as well..
re: headphones. I have a set of headphones that I love (Audio Technica ATH-M50x) sound great and everything!!! I’ve actually been doing exactly what you recommended the past couple of years but it’s just missing something that speakers give…

 

@hddg

I think I am getting the gist that these aren’t necessarily 20k speakeers but at their pricepoint most comments indicate the DIs seem to perform very well. I will look into those XTZs

 

@mofojo

pure speculation at this point.  I did the math and aside from my time, the trip to Utah would cost about the same as shipping so if it gets to that point, I would head out there,, audition, and bring home if they fit the bill…

 

@nitewulf

the new set up will be stereo.. maybe 2.1 depending on what ends up happening.


Invest is not the word for it consume is. Buying any new audio is not a good investment sure a chance exists that what you bought may have future value but if ones takes the entirety of audio production since the beginning you would find that little has held value let alone increased. But if wanting high quality audiophile playback and at the same time hoping to conserve orignal investment then vintage audio is the best choice Western Electric RCA MI Vitavox Mottiograph Altec JBL Lansing Garrard  Marantz etc if one buys wisely many of these increase in value and when used with some modern gear sing. Otherwise your just buying a loudspeaker to use for sometime till it fails is obsoleted or you tire of it you may recoup a small amount of its purchase on resale you might not.
@la10slgr, You said: "re: headphones. I have a set of headphones that I love (Audio Technica ATH-M50x) sound great and everything!!! I’ve actually been doing exactly what you recommended the past couple of years but it’s just missing something that speakers give…"

Th M50x is good. I'm not sure what you drive them with, BUT...have you heard a well put together reference level headphone system?

a reference TOTL headphone system (cans, components, and all cabling) will deliver for around 10K (purchased wisely) what 20K in a speaker system will struggle to, especially given your room,  and that's if you go with something like the Tekton DIs which don't dent the budget like other higher end speakers will. And I'm being extremely conservative with the 20K favoring the speakers and realistic with the 10K on the headphone system (it can probably be done for less).