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Former Tekton owners: What have you moved on to?

I owned the Tekton Lore Reference for about a year and a half and they were great for the price. I ran them with a 50w tube integrated and it was a nice combo. For $750 I had no complaints except perhaps that the paint was cracking on one of the rounded corners. I ended up buying a pair of Gallo CL-2 for an office system on closeout direct from Gallo for $390/pair. After they were broken in I found myself listening to them more than the Tektons after awhile. I was getting addicted to the CDT tweeter.

Based on that experience I ordered the CL-3 refurbished for $650/pair shipped (crazy steal) and they were on a different level than both of the above. Sonically, one defining moment for me was listening to Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now. (I think the Track was You’re My Thrill. )
During the intro there is a brief flute soli. With the Tektons it sounded like a really nice flute section that was very homogenous sounding and blended. With the Gallos I could hear each individual flute player and their unique tones and vibrato. The bass was also deeper and tighter on the gallos and the imaging was just amazingly holographic and wide and deep.

I know the timing of this is interesting as the Tekton hype train seems to be at full tilt right now with some of his higher models and I am curious to hear them. The 2 things that would give me serious pause and keep me from moving up the Tekton line are 1) the size and aesthetics 2) The very much "in your face" house sound that can get tiring to me.  Just wondering what others have moved on to from Tekton and what they heard that moved them in that direction.
128x128clarinetmonster2
clarinetmonster2's avatar
clarinetmonster2 OP
201 posts
 
james_w514

very interesting. Did you have to change the crossover on the D1X to work with the new drivers? Also curious to hear the Special 40. I did love the dynamics and unrestrained nature of the Tektons also, but as you say the refinement wasn’t there for me in the upper mids and treble esp.
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clarinetmonster2's avatar
clarinetmonster2 OP
201 posts
 
They are ridiculous performers for the price. Srajan's 6Moons review from a few years back gives a good idea of what they can do.

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gallo11/1.html
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
I own a pair of the Gallo CL-3's. To look at them you would never expect such big, deep sonics to be produced. Very tight bass, wonderful midrange, and a huge soundstage.
 My only fault with them is the CDL is like a super-tweeter, highs are very extended and revealing.

I've been toying with the idea of trying the Tekton Enzo's. My setup is in my living room (16' x 12'), and I need to limit the speaker height to about 40 inches. Reviews state that the Enzo images well and provides transparent and realistic sonics. I'm using all tubes.
clarinetmonster2's avatar
clarinetmonster2 OP
201 posts
 
lowrider57

Are you running the Cl-3’s reverse polarity? Makes an enormous difference for the better in terms of smoothing out the freq response. Actually everything is better across the board. Anthony Gallo recommends trying it that way. IMO he should have made that mandatory. Run like this, the CDT tweeter is more revealing and smoother at the same time than the one in the Lore Refs. I found the highs in the Tektons to be pretty unrefined. Not sure which tweeter he uses in the Enzo.
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