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   Having listened to the 2.7s about three weeks now, their characteristics are becoming evident. But, before I get to how the speakers sound I want to mention a couple of things that happened after I got the Enzo 2.7s.  The first afternoon I had them, I put on Beethoven's 9th symphony just to get a quick listen before working on placement and spacing.  The next thing I knew,  the final movement was drawing to a conclusion as I sat there pondering Beethoven's genius. Loudspeakers? What loudspeakers?  The other thing that caught my attention was on the second or third evening after they arrived, my charming wife, who is a music lover but prefers to spend her evenings in another room watching TV, suddenly came into the room and asked me to play a couple of songs she liked.  Shortly after that she was grabbing the remote and wanted total control of the music menu!  She never does that!
  The 2.7s, like other Tektons,  are decent looking speakers but no where near the polished look of the Usher Mini One.  They are rather industrial and would probably be eye catching if painted in a nice metallic silver or industrial gray.  But I didn't buy these speakers for their looks, so I'll get to how they sound.  I'll say up front the DMD tweeter in my Ushers are more convincing than the 2.7s.  I just listened to an SACD of 2Ls "The Nordic Sound".  The first piece on the disc is Mozart's Violin Concerto #4 in D Major.  The DMD tweeters in my Ushers render the violins in a convincingly sweet yet resonant way.  The 2.7s not so much.  They come across as slightly harder.  The same thing with a ripped FLAC file of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung Live" CD.  Ian Anderson's flute is more cogent via the Ushers as there is a transparency the 2.7s can't quite match.
 That being said, once the frequencies descend into the mid range the 2.7s shine.  Human voices sound awesome through the 2.7s as does percussion and I don't mean just drums. The leading edge of a note from a sharply struck piano key has a percussive sound that many speakers can not render. The Enzo 2.7s do it well.  The percussive properties of the leading edge of the guitar notes in Dire Straits' "You and Your Friend" from the "On Every Street" album are stunning. In that same song there is a series of soft, rhythmic rim shots behind Mark Knopfler's singing that sound real, which is impressive considering they are not loud, just pleasantly crisp and correct sounding. Did I mention vocals?  The 2.7s have vocals down pat.  On Paul Simon's "Graceland" CD the song "Homeless" started playing and I just sat there in astonishment.  It sounded like these A Capella singers were performing in my living room!   The 2.7s do a very good job in the bass region as well.  Not only do they go reasonably low, they do it with speed and tightness.  The two 8" bass drivers seem to start and stop on a dime.  Referring back to the "Graceland" album, the 2.7s present the bass line on "You Can Call Me Al"  in a tight, staccato way with obvious space between the notes......beautiful!
  Another nice thing about the 2.7s is the fact that my amp has never had it so easy.  My amp is probably thanking me for buying the 2.7s given the fact that I sometimes howl at the moon and crank up the volume.  My Ushers are far less sensitive than the 2.7s.
 The combination of excellent imaging, the ability to just disappear and the properties I have already mentioned, make the Enzo 2.7s a real bargain.  They have certainly made listening to music a lot of fun again!
@danoroo - Thanks for the great review! I was surprised by your use of classical music. Based on your previous posts I thought we were going to hear a lot about rock and SPLs. You think a subwoofer is needed or are the dual 8” woofers sufficient? The specs show 40hz but that doesnt seem right - not low enough.  My Impact Monitors are also rated at 40Hz but they only have 6.5” drivers. The Electrons have dual 6” drivers and are specified at 30hz on the bottom end. So all that is a little confusing to me. Since they are front ported did you try them close to the front wall?  What did you use for an amp? Thanks again.  
I have used the 2.7s with and without subs and have come to the conclusion in my smallish room they are not needed. I have the speakers positioned on a long wall with about 2' between the wall and the front baffle in a 16 x 12 room that opens to other rooms on both ends.  The listening positions on the opposite wall are also pulled out into the room about 2'. I haven't tried them closer to the wall because the right speaker sits in the alcove entering another room and I didn't want the unbalanced wall reflections.  I have pulled them farther out into the room though and the imaging is excellent either way.  The speakers are positioned about 7.5' apart and toed in so they are facing the sweet spot.  Even though the bass is good I'm thinking about buying a couple of Rythmik F12G subs, not because I really need them but because I am an audio junkie. The subs I have now are an HSU ULS 15 and two 10" Dayton DIY sealed kits, none of which are state of the art.  The Enzo 2.7s will flat out rock!  You can't make them distort no matter how loud you play them.  Your ears will give up long before these speakers will.  AC/DC has a 1978 live album called "If You Want Blood You've Got It".  I bought this CD many years ago and have listened to it more times in the past two weeks than the previous 10 years. It sounds great over the 2.7s as does almost all my music collection. The front end of my rig is modest equipment consisting of a PC I built specifically for playing audio files. This feeds into an ifi micro iDAC2 which is connected to an Emotiva XSP-1 preamp which is connected to the power amp section of a Harman Kardon HK990 solid state amplifier rated at 150W per channel into 8ohms / 300W per channel @ 4ohms. I use JRiver MC as my player and Dirac Live room correction suite to clean everything up.   I have also thought about getting a modestly priced tube preamp (under $1200) to try in front of the HK990, but I know nothing about tube gear so I have refrained.  Anyway, I am happy with what I have.....at least for now.
@danoroo  Thank you for the details and impressions of your Enzo 2.7s. Great to hear that these speakers are working out for you and your wife and that both of you are enjoying them.