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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
pawsman
29 posts
 
I have just moved my Impact Monitors a little closer to the front wall (the front of the speaker is 2 feet from the front wall now). Also moved my listening position a bit more out into the room. The mid/upper bass has filled out, the sound is better balanced and the imaging is just as good, if not better. Speaker placement can indeed make a BIG difference-

pawsman
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@danoroo   Looking forward to hearing about the comparisons with the terrific Usher Dancers. 

@pawsman  +1 on improving your system's performance via placement. Now I need to start playing around with the DIs placement.
sbayne's avatar
sbayne
493 posts
 

"Speaker placement can indeed make a BIG difference-"

Oh yeah. I spend hours listening to where a new pair of speakers sound best in my room. I've owned a lot of speakers over the years and I can tell you even if a speaker designer tells you a certain placement is ok that doesn't mean its best for your room or musical tastes.

Also pay attention to your listening position. Moving your chair closer or farther from the speaker can make as big a difference as moving the speaker itself. The same is true for listening height. In the past, I've actually used an office chair so I could easily adjust the height of the chair.

david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@sbayne  +1   Great advice.

My listening couch and desk/chair are aligned to the speakers. Everything is on footers that glide which makes my listening position very flexible in terms of what I'm using: couch or chair. As you point out, the height adjustment of the chair comes very handy.
sbayne's avatar
sbayne
493 posts
 
Thanks @david_ten .  Just thought I'd add, when going through this process I use a track from Holly Cole that I'm VERY familiar, I make sure not to change the volume level and I certainly don't change any equipment. That way I can hear the results based on the speaker or chair positioning (not some other variable) - it's like having constants in an experiment. 
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