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
sbayne,

I have the sb acoustics SB29RDNC-C0000-4 ring dome tweeters in my DI's and I haven't compared the 2 tweeters but I seriously doubt any big differences.

Even though neither tweeter is made from exotic materials,they are most definitely always in the sweet spot of very low excursion in this speaker design and I would also say that they sound "Natural" and never fatiguing to my ears like some designs can,and on the detail side of things I do not feel like I'm missing anything and only have gained a more Engaging sound overall.

You mentioned the band "Gov't Mule,I haven't listened to any of their music in awhile and I hope Tidal has them because I misplaced or lost my Cd's when we moved 3 yrs ago.I like them and think they are quite a unique sound.

Kenny.
Yeah, Govt Mule is a classic band founded by Warren Hanes and Allen Woody of the Allman Brothers. Lots of stories with this band.  Great musicians. (Tidal has them. Check out the Dose album!)
@sbayne 

Terrific review. Well written, easy to follow and understand, and very informative.

It's interesting that your Impacts are similarly positioned as my Double Impacts are, and in similar sized room.

I also agree on the flexibility of amp pairings. It's great that you are using a higher powered amplifier. There has been a lot of discussion vis a vis the DIs, at least, with very low powered amps...good to see a happy pairing and recommendation with higher power output tubes.

Looking forward to hearing more about your journey with your Impact Monitors.

@david_ten - Thanks. I’m in North Carolina and was honkering-down for the tropical storm this weekend so I had some spare-time to work on this review.

As to liking the higher powered amps a little more, I guess that is turning into a personal bias of mine. I have a pair of 100db horns and listen to SET but it just seems that extra power fully fleshs-out the sound on most speakers. That’s obviously a big generalization but that’s where I’m at for now.

I continue to tweek the Impact Monitors and I’m getting better and better sound. But, I go through a lot of equipment so I wouldn’t be surprised if I own a pair of Double Impacts (or higher) at some point. Let’s stay in touch.

Anyone has a pair in SoCal? I am intrigued by hearing the Electron or the Impact Monitors.

Thanks, Stefano