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Tekton Double Impacts

Anybody out there heard these??

I have dedicated audio room 14.5x20.5x9 ft.  Currently have Marantz Reference CD/Intergrated paired to Magnepan 1.7's with REL T-7 subs.  For the vast majority of music I love this system.  The only nit pick is that it is lacking/limited in covering say below 35 hz or so.  For the first time actually buzzed the panel with an organ sacd. Bummer.  Thought of upgrading subs to rythmicks but then I will need to high pass the 1.7's.  Really don't want to deal with that approach.

Enter the Double Impacts.  Many interesting things here.  Would certainly have a different set of strengths here.  Dynamics, claimed bottom octave coverage in one package, suspect a good match to current electronics.

I've read all the threads here so we do not need to rehash that.  Just wondering if others out there have FIRST HAND experience with these or other Tekton speakers

Thanks.
corelli
james_w514's avatar
james_w514
286 posts
 
If anyone has the chance to try DI's, Ulfs or Mini Ulfs with a Naim Supernait 2 or 250DR feedback would be appreciated. 
evolvist
167 posts
 
James, I think there's one Ulf owner and no mini Ulf owners, as of 08-11-2017. I could be wrong, though. But maybe those folks have Naim gear. 
333jeffery
122 posts
 
I have the Ulfs, but no Naim gear. Just BHK monoblocks and BHK preamp with Yggdrasil dac.
brotw
103 posts
 
@ Mac48025/Charles -  I wanted to provide an update on moving from ss and class D amped Gallo Ref 3.1's to the Tekton DI and tubes. Only the speakers and an old Parasound remain. Is it just me or have these DI's caused many used speakers to come on market?

On the amp choices, I'm looking at Decware Torii and Jr. as well as Raven pushpull amps but am leaning toward SET. Buying new would steer me toward the 3.5w triode lab 2A3S-III but I see a LM218ia set integrated used at a much more reasonable price. What's the dish on the 218?

While I want to get off the upgrade merry go round and start settling down, the value of a used LM218ia is hard to ignore and my wide range of music may like the power. Keep in mind otherwise I may be driving the triodes with a W4S dac-2 as preamp, yikes! I'm guessing that mz2 would be needed at some point. Thanks.

Brody
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Brotw,
I believe that you’ll be very happy with either the Triode Labs 2A3 SET or the Line Magnetic 218i a 845 SET amplifiers. It seems that the 218ia is a scaled down version of the 518ia. Some people have some hesitation about LM because it’s a Chinese product. I believe there’s ample evidence that LM is a genuine high quality line.

Triode Labs has earned a very good reputation for being a high quality manufacturer. I can see the attraction to the higher power offered by the 845 tubed LM 218ia. It may be a question of what sound do you want? Well implemented 2A3 or 845. I happen to like the sound of a good 845 SET, Teajay on the other hand doesn’t like the 845 sound. As is usually the case it’s a matter of preference.

I have no doubt the 2A3 SET driving the DI sound as good as Teajay described. Factoring in value/-performance, a used LM 218ia would be tough to beat. Putting better quality tubes in the amplifier (particularly the 12AX7 in the preamp section) would be very cost effective. I’m not sure if the preamp section is by passable for use with a separate preamplifier. I believe that both of these manufacturers pay appropriate attention to power supply and transformer quality which make or break when it comes to a  sucessful SET amplifier design. 
Charles
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