Tekton Double Impacts

@pro-audio

I rarely get good to great demos / auditions at the dealers I have visited. There have been some exceptions and some exceptional dealer setups. Anyways, I’ve learned to extrapolate from a not well set up or paired speaker demo.

It was VERY CLEAR that the Refs were much, much better than the Ones. After hearing both head to head, I would only choose the Refs.

I wasn’t overly impressed in my original demos of the Ones (this was when the dealer offered an attractive trade up deal if I went with the Ones while I waited on the Refs) and I was very happy I chose the Double Impacts at that time. For me, the DIs were and are superior to the Ones. Even after I heard the Refs (this is when I had the DIs and was still working on improving my system) I did not feel I wish I had gone with the Refs.

You are correct in pointing out that a home audition would be ideal. As I said in my previous post, I would be happy having the Refs in my system and I would make choices to tune them to my preferences. I would love to hear the Refs in a system that makes them sing, as I am sure there are rooms out there where they are doing so.

It’s just that I would do the same for the SEs (as I am in the process of doing) and I believe after optimizing both speakers, and listening to them head to head, the SEs would be the more natural, engaging, musical, emotionally connective and the more enjoyable speaker. I also believe these differences are not minor nor small.

The Refs present life like images, a wide and deep soundstage, have very good frequency extension (I find the bass overdone per my preferences though I realize it is tuneable), very good detail, and sound ’big.’ I am also partial to ribbon tweeters. They were enjoyable and are a very good speaker.

I find the SE more refined, more transparent, and more resolving. The significantly important differences for me exist around the SEs superiority in texture, palpability, richness, correctness of tone, timbre, color, trueness of voice, etc.

If this is a major choice for you, I encourage you to reach out to Mike Kay @audioarchon to demo them or to do so in an owner's home where the SEs are in place. It’s far easier to audition the Refs and I encourage you to do so as well, if you haven’t already. If you are close to New Orleans, you are welcome to take a listen.

Ultimately, it is your ’ideal’ of music reproduction that matters.

Thank you @david_ten for your detailed explanation of your findings.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences as well, much appreciated!

Aren't we fortunate to have so many good speaker choices? I feel fortunate to have owned many very special speakers over the years but none have brought me as much musical enjoyment as the DI's......until now that is,as the SE's have taken things to yet another level. While I'm sure my SE's aren't fully broken in yet I feel I have a good handle on their attributes after about 100 hours on them. Initially I could tell they were sonically superior to the DI's in all of the normal audiophile qualities but they seemed to be slightly less emotionally and engaging than the DI's. I no longer think that's the case. As the SE's have settled in I find myself more engrossed in the music than ever. I'm thinking that will take another step forward when my Aric Audio 300B is back in my system tomorrow. Seems like all I've been doing is waiting for the last four months for my system to finally come together.....probably because that's how long it's taken for my SE's then my 300B to get here! 😀 As impatient as I am, the wait has been well worth it. 

@pro-audio  Keep us posted on what you choose and how the speakers work out for you.

@david_ten It’s probably going to be a few months before I take the plunge as I’m still in the research phase, plus I just moved in to my new home and everything is a mess...

To those that purchased the SE’s, did you guys buy them directly from Tekton, or through a dealer such as Audio Archon? Is there an advantage price wise buying from a dealer? I’m thinking since the SE’s are priced to be sold through dealers, would I be able to get a discount if I buy from one?

Thanks again!