Tekton Impact Monitors


Hi All,
I'm relatively new to Audiogon but have trolled the discussions for a few months. I have been listening to Spendor LS3/5As driven by a Quad 34/306 combination since the late 1980's and decided that it was finally time to upgrade my speakers. I love the Spendors but they are very limited in dynamics and scale. I auditioned the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers and while they brought some additional scale they simply didn't have the sweet midrange that I can't live without. I listened to some open baffle speakers (Emerald Physics) and loved them, but their size and need for space worried me, and I found them less satisfying at moderate and low volumes, where I do a fair bit of listening. I was fascinated by all the discussion regarding Tekton speakers and was considering getting a pair of Enzo 2.7s, but after a short discussion with Eric I followed his recommendation of the Impact Monitor with upgrade. They have the 7 tweeter array and a pair of 6.5" woofers and are rear-ported. I use a pair of SVS subs (the sealed variety). The Impact Monitors are simply amazing. The midrange is oh-so-sweet (very similar to my Spendors, but with more air) and the detail, even at low and moderate listening levels, is superb. The imaging is even better than my Spendors managed and the scale is huge and is much more music-appropriate. My system is really quite modest but now when I walk into my listening room (doubles as our living room - thankfully my wife appreciates Hi-Fi) I get the audio-show feeling of "being there". I have a Denon DP59L turntable with a DL110 HO moving coil cartridge running through an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp and the Tektons are absolutely incredible with classic rock on vinyl. I'm not sure how Eric managed it, but these speakers are superb, even with my 30 year old Quad electronics. I believe they are basically the top 24" of the Double Impacts, but are rear-ported rather than front ported. I can heartily recommend them and Eric and his team are great to work with. I'm not sure how many other Impact Monitors are out there since the pair I have are S/N 0005 and 0006!  
ky1mag
Hello ky1mag,

Congrats on your new monitors,I own the DI's in my main system and I have considered the monitor version for my smaller room 2nd system.

Here is a little explanation of the magic in sound that you are probably experiencing.

Even though these are tweeter transducers the six of them that form the circle, based on what frequencies they handle, radiate acoustically as if they were one six inch mid-range driver.  The transducer in the middle is being used as a tweeter and handles the high end frequencies up to 30Khz.  So, acoustically you have a six inch mid-range driver with a coaxial mounted tweeter which means it functions as a single point source.  Now, by Eric figuring out how to make this work you get all the advantages of a coaxial driver, however the mid-range array weighs close to nothing leading to blazing speed/dynamics/micro-details compared to a regular six inch driver, regardless of what materials it is made out of it cannot be as light in weight.  Yet, you still get not only remarkable transit response, but great control because each driver is small and well behaved.  The closet you could come to this regarding weight/control would be a ribbon or AMT which cannot be used as a coaxial design as a single point source.  Brilliant on his part!

The more I listen to the DI's regarding mid-range and high frequencies they easily rival any panel design/ribbon/AMT I have had in my system and surpass them in low end extension/dynamics and overall macro-dynamics,micro-dynamics and brings out realistic nuances from the music.Truly a magical sounding speaker at any price.



Enjoy,

Kenny.
ky1mag I realize I'm a bad influence and I'm proud of it! At least I don't have the $20K speaker wires... yet.
The SEs are not on the site yet. They are a model Eric is likely to route through exclusive dealers at some point. They will have totally different components from the standard DIs. I actually don't know what those components will be, honestly. Working on a level of trust with Eric. I'm trying to imagine how they could improve a whole lot over the DIs I have right now, but Eric says it will be night/day difference. He told me the DIs would be better than my B&Ws and was correct. I REALLY doubted that, but took the 60 day trial. So no reason to doubt his analysis vs his own product.
ky1mag and kdude, thanks for the"tech" on the impact set up. I talked to Eric about writing a review, but I'm just not good with superlatives. I actually did write one, but said a swear word as an adjective and Agon nixxed it. Anyway, they just put out details and nuances that just keep me saying "wow, that was cool" (That is the P.C. vesion of the deleted review) This is my 5th pair of spekers and they are staying! 
The new Schitt DAC just arrived. Already have it on the audio treadmill trying to whip it into shape for listening tonight. More Schitt in the system is a good thing!
I have considered upgrading my KEF LS50's, however they are part of a large desktop system, (4' x 6'), and the Tekton monitors may be to large for a desktop system. Does anyone have any experience with both the LS50's and the Impact Monitor?