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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.
clarinetmonster2
213runnin
914 posts
 
Here's another question.  With the lower budget build quality of Tekton's speakers( basic MDF, lower cost off-the-shelf woofers and crossover components), how far off their original sound will they drift in say 10 years.  

Now your typical speakers that cost double or more, with far superior quality cabinets and components, will last far better.  You get what you pay for.
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,414 posts
 
Maybe the Lore don’t have the popularity as much as the array design, my friend told me , he did not care for them.i have the impact monitor.iam happy The way they are built very descent..I bought them because of their musicality...And they are very good..,I heard Magico speakers they are excellent but they are not for me.I prefer the Tektons...will they last 10 yrs? Yup.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,646 posts
 
Truth is the crossover parts found in many Tekton speakers are the same quality level as most speakers costing up to $21,000 that I have modified. This is the truth of the matter. A sea of $10,000 - $25,000 speakers with $10 caps and $ .50 cent sand cast resistors. Common. All these speaker can, and should, be upgraded to hear what they are capable of.

As as far as drivers, many speakers costing up to $30,000 use “ off the shelf drivers” that you and I can purchase today. No big deal here. This fact alone has nothing to do with quality.

Lastly, many like the sound of paper drivers over synthetic materials. Many ways to build an excellent mouse trap.
dguitarnut
136 posts
 
It’s all in the music imaging.  If you listen to electrostatic you get this large life size representation but you have to have a big room which becomes an extensionof the stage. Also the types of music that sound great on them are narrower. Bass ported speakers sound great but loose out on the big stage presentation and placement can be critical.  Magico are built with particular emphasis on their cabinet construction and the results are a fast imaging like electostats and without the ported bass constraints.  
I am sure the better Tekton offerings will give you as much enjoyment as a good pair of Magicos at a more expensive price point specially for pop, hip hop, rock and other similar genres.   Electrostats would not be as good. 
Put on some great Classic music and then the electrostats will blow them away and the Magicos will give them a good run for the money.  
IMO the more expensive speakers and the more expensive amps,preamps,etc all add into a more life like representation of the original recording if that’s the end result you are looking for. You also have to have the proper amplification, room size and treatments.
Final analysis after listening to a system costing say 10 to15 K with top notch Tektons and competent amps etc you would proclaim this is an awesome system and that it would be hard to beat.
After listening to 100K Magicos with another 150K in support system you would proclaim this is an awesome system , hard to beat, and you would add that it sounds a “little” more ‘live” and “real” than the other awesome system next door.
This is what the price of admission is in Hifi.  
It’s like cars. Compare a Subaru Wrx Sti to a Mustang Shelby to a Corvette to a Porsche to a Ferrari to a Lambo to a Bugatti to an F1 race car and to a sound barrier breaking experimental vehicle.
What are you trying to achieve? 
Disclaimer: All of this is In my opinion only. 
 
213runnin
914 posts
 
Granny, that's nonsense.  How many Wilson, Focal, B&W, Magico, etc., have you "modified"?  I"m sure the first thing an owner of $30,000 speakers does is look you up for modifications.  

And these expensive speakers sure don't have the cheap MDF in a super boring design with silly color options.   
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