2. speakers
  3. 130593-97088

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
travbrow
277 posts
 
Also moving them a little at a time doesn't seem to change the sonic character that much to me. I have ceiling and sidewall absorption panels so I don't think reflections are causing much issues. They just sound a bit too forward for me at higher volumes and don't have the dynamic scale I'm used too. 

 I can see how folks like them though they have plenty of resolution and detail and maybe better suited for tube amps which I don't have. 
aniwolfe
761 posts
 
For me personally they needed close to 200 hours to smooth out.
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@travbrow The most important point is that you are working through various setups/pairings, etc. If you have been running them constantly, you certainly have enough time on them to give you a good feel for what they are about, given your system and room.

Sometimes a speaker doesn’t match our preferences or does not have the kind of synergy one is looking for, given one’s component set ahead of them. Just what it is. And nothing wrong about that.

Keep us posted on how it goes and if you have specific questions, ask away. For example, you mentioned tubes perhaps being a better fit....I had the DIs in an all solid state system and truly enjoyed them as part of that system. What works for you may be quite different.
teajay
1,705 posts
 
Just got through writing the rough draft on this speaker for hometheaterreview.com and will send it to editor in the next couple of days.  For those of you who already own it, congrats it's a mighty fine speaker, indeed. Nothing is perfect, however, if you set it up right and drive with excellent upstream gear I don't know if there is another stand mount monitor, regardless of price, I would want to own.  It just does not sound like a small speaker, but like a floor stander regarding dynamics and overall imaging.  It's a "BABY DI" for smaller acoustic spaces!  One thing I noticed is that it is VERY important to use high quality speaker stands, otherwise you greatly negatively effect the IM performance.  I used Sistrum speaker stands that teamed up great for ultimate performance.  
333jeffery
122 posts
 
I've had the PMD Studio Monitors for a little over a month now, and they are very impressive. They produce a surprising amount of bass for a small speaker. The XA-25 pairs very nicely with them.
More to discover