Tekton Double Impacts

Alright guys, I sent my Double Impacts, 4 ohm w/ Upgrades back. I ran them continuously for a couple weeks. Sorry to say, they just ain’t my cup of tea......I'm attempting to give people seeking opinions an honest evaluation from a previous demo’er.. I’m not going to claim to be some sort of professional magazine editor or something, so I will just tell you in laymen's terms my observations. Ok .....My Equipment . 1) Marantz 8801 Processor.. 2) ATI Signature Series 6005 300 Watt (450 @ 4 ohm) x 5 Channel Amp.. 3) OPPO 205 Player.. 4) Bang and Olufsen Turntable.. 5) (2) Furman Elite 20 PFI line Conditioners..6) All Blue Jean Cabling ... 7) I was using my current surrounds and center .. Ascend Acoustics Raal Ribbon Horizon Center and Raal Ribbon Sierra 2’s...8) I also have 2 PSA 18 inch ported 750 watt subs. Room is a 16 x 24 with 8 1/2 foot ceiling with a listening position of 9.5 feet.. Like a stated, I’m retired now so I was able to continuously play with the system for a solid two weeks.. The last 2 of those days at high SPL’s ...One day by myself, as my wife was out of town, and the second day with her helping me. She had the final “they gotta go”, but I was thinking the same thing and was in total agreement . I was comparing them to my Ascend Acoustics Raal Sierra Towers.. We made the following conclusions .. If I was looking for something for home theater only,....The Tektons are a clear winner.. bingo, jackpot, YIPPIE !... Much fuller than my Ascends, and the soundstage was the entire front wall. Imaging was better than the Ascends. While I was breaking them in, I had the center channel shut off and was just running the cable TV, which is Spectrum, in Stereo mode ... you honestly could not tell the center speaker was not on. My wife thought it was . When I told her is wasn’t, she didn't believe me, so I had her get up and come over to the center speaker and check that it was indeed dead . The Tektons were so “solid sounding”. They ARE big, they sound big,... and they sound solid . One thing I noticed and so did she,was the nasally sound the voices have. I don’t know if that’s what you call coloring..? Like Tom Petty was doing all the talking. Very noticeable at first, and irritating ... but by the end of the second week I was getting used to it, and it was not as big a deal. Movies in 5.2 with Audessey in command, sounded really,really, nice. Better than the theaters. Dynamic is not a big enough word for the wall of sound these speakers put out .. BTW,the Tektons blended with the Ascends fine, at least we thought so .. Eric told me they would, and he was right .. By now your thinking, what's the catch, what's the rub, why send them back ? The answer,,,,music . First let me tell you why I tried Tektons in the first place. Movies are not my bag. Their alright, but I’m a music lover first and foremost. And one of my favorite things to do, is sit down in front of the system, put in a CD, crank it up, and listen to, and watch video concerts. Maybe invite another couple over, or maybe with my wife, or sometimes just me and a good stout drink .. I grew up in the Bars of Ohio. Back then just about every bar had live rock bands every Friday and Saturday nights.. Went to many, many concerts when I was younger also. Still do, we are heading to “ Get The Led Out”, A Led Zeppelin copy band, in a few weeks ... My Ascend Towers (along with those subs and surrounds), do this chore extremely well. Extremely . Like being in a live recording studio. The problem was SPL’s. I like about 110 –112 dB at that 9.5 LP. I like to feel it, as well as hear it.. Problem is, those volumes are wide open for the Ascends. In talking to Dave at Ascend, he told me NOT to exceed 110 dBs.. He figured my listening position,amplifier and so forth and gave me these boundaries, which I must live by, if I want no damage... BUT, I don’t like the idea of running ANYTHING, right on the edge of clipping. Just puts my speakers on the edge of damage the entire time we are enjoying them... So I was looking for a speaker that would sound like the Ascends,maybe even better, but be idling at those volumes .... The Tektons have quite a bit better sensitivity for higher volumes than the Ascends,,So enter the Tektons .... Bottom line, they are no ways near as clear as the Ascends. But the Tektons have there high points. The drums sound like you are on the seat, hitting the drum yourself. I credit that to the twin 10 inch woofers, and in my next speaker choice I will certainly look for that.... But the mid ranges are,,,as my wife stated “compressed, cramped up, like their all mixed up”. Really forward, and in your face. It’s a WHOLE LOT ...of nothing.... Just too much mid range and not enough clarity. And yes, we tried to EQ it out.We always use EQ on music anyway. Don’t like the bland feeling Auddessy provides in music. Problem is, it strips everything else in that band while your doing so ...EQ’in just won’t work.. A couple of hours of Tektons and my left ear actually hurt. At the same identical SPLs I had listened to the Ascends many times over .. BTW.We were using a Triplett Sonicheck MC meter ..We listened to many of our favorite concerts we knew quite well. Eagles, Floyd. Jeff Beck ..etc . Well recorded disc. Didn’t listen to poorly recorded ones, as I very seldom ever listen to them..   For instance, the Pretenders have a concert recorded in LA called “Pretenders...Loose in LA.”.. It’s mixed quite well and I recommend it for you rockers.. Crissey Hynde’s vocals, when coming thru the Ascends, are breathtaking, give ya chills..On some songs you can kind of hear her breath between notes...Keep in mind this is a live recording of a  rock and roll band, and a lot of other “stuff” is happening at the same time she is singing, killer lead guitar riffs, impacting drums, a heavy bass guitar... But even with all that going on, utter clarity where it’s needed.   Not so with the Tektons, you can’t pick any of that out... Its gone, and you have to “hunt” for those things we took for granted ..I guess I shouldn't say its gone, more like its “masked” .. I’m assuming these issues are that tweeter array, and the way they cross over... I don’t know all the technical reasons.. but we were not liking it . You know, everybody says the Tektons sound like live music. Maybe their right. But most concert's I been to are distorted as heck . I try to sit as close to the mixing board as I can, whenever I go to live performances. That’s where I have found it sounds best. But live performances usually suck as far a clarity. But then again I’m attending Rock venues.  I want the clarity of a studio, with the impact and dynamics of a concert. I was not looking for a speaker that resembles a PA system ...When I talked to Eric, he informed me I must be one of the “Warm Freaks” or something ... LOL . I guess I am. I have learned I really like a good ribbon tweeter. They are so crisp, and non fatiguing even when turned up loud. .... So, I'm looking for a good, dynamic, warm, speaker that has a real crisp tweeter and big inch woofers, and can play loud... Know of any ? !!!... I hope this review didn’t rub anybody the wrong way. Everybody likes different stuff. And in Talking to Eric, I was told his returns are about 1 in 30 .... That’s tells me I’m in the rarity, so take this review for what its worth....whatever that may be ..    ...

@nitrobob

Thanks for your honest and interesting write up on the Tektons. I don’t think you rubbed anyone the wrong way at all. You seemed like you tried everything you had at your disposal. For me though I had to make a decent amount of changes in my system to get what I wanted from the Tektons. Some people (grannyring) had to modify the speakers. Some just placed them in the room and magic!

Have you thought about trying Model 3a signature Vandersteen speakers? Not the most efficient but they have 10" woofers. When I heard them I thought they had a warm natural character, but the highs had nice amount of detail. Not only that, but they have tweeter and mid controls on them, to fine tune them. There is a fine line with warm and super crisp highs though, so keep that in mind. You can’t really have both...sorta a middle ground. At least that is from my experience. Anyways Vandersteen came to mind, I am sure others might have other examples for you to try.

Best of luck and thanks.

My takeaway is "no" audio product will please every listener. The Tekton Double Impact is no exception to this fact, 
Charles 

I'm looking for a good, dynamic, warm, speaker that has a real crisp tweeter and big inch woofers, and can play loud... Know of any ?

Very few audiophile-oriented speakers can generate 110 to 112 db SPLs at 9.5 feet and be in their comfort zone, if they can do so at all.  Especially speakers that are in the price range of the DI.  Perhaps some Klipsch models would be suitable candidates, although I don't know if they would meet your other requirements.

In any event, thanks for providing the thorough writeup.

Regards,
-- Al