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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
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@teajay  Thanks for another great review.

The following from your review speaks volumes:

"You get the speed and velocity normally only found in horn speakers, which gives you the sense of "aliveness" of real music, without the colorations of those designs. And you get the micro-details, decays, and transparency normally associated with electrostatic planar designs without the etch or sharp, analytical edge. This speaker not only completely disappears like all great stand-mount speakers, but it creates life-sized three-dimensional players much more like a large floorstander. It renders beautiful, natural timbres and tonal colors with all instruments. The bottom-end extension is accurate and taut; you don't really need a subwoofer for music or everyday TV listening. Finally, these speakers have a silky-smooth, grainless signature that draws you into the music."


A completely unrelated question: Is the Line Magnetic DAC, the new DAC you are evaluating and falling for? Or is that another brand/model? Thanks.


dbass
29 posts
 
@teajay 

I echo that thought - thank you for your continued coverage of Tekton products.  This was a great review and answered my key question of whether I should get the DI's or the Impact Monitor - it appears my small room (12' x 12.5') would be much better served by the Impact Monitor.  Would you share the specific speaker stand setup you are using in your system?  I have been on the Sistrum site but wasn't sure which product you were using.  Also do you have any suggestions on a less expensive speaker stand that perhaps I should look at if I do not go with the Sistrums?  I do want to maximize the sound coming out of the Impact Monitors so I believe I will just have to budget in the $ for Sistrum.

Thanks!
teajay
1,691 posts
 
Hi dbass,

Thanks for the thumbs up on my review.  The Sistrum stand that I'm using is a three pillar design with a top and bottom plate plus spikes.  If it's not on their website, call Robert to inquire about this stand or if could offer you an alternative model.  I wish I could offer another brand/stand, but nothing came close to the Sistrum on the Impact Monitor.
lula
213 posts
 
Has anyone compared the Impact Monitors with the $2500. Tekton PMD Monitors? 
sedond
1,387 posts
 
hi  ky1mag (and everyone else),

this post is mostly directed to ky1mag, based on your comments regarding your returning the speakers.  (but i suspect it could be useful for other, since i have a suggestion that's not typically tried by most folks.) because ky1mag thought they did one thing nice - full sound - when toed out a bit, at the expense of soundstaging - hole-in-the-middle effect; and when toed in, the soundstaging improved, but at the expense of being too bright, w/the tweets pointed at the listening position.

now, i realize you returned the im's months ago, but for future reference, and for everyone else, something worth trying regarding speaker toe-in, is to toe the speakers so they actually cross *in front of* the listening position a foot or three.  this typically does a few things - it will keep the soundstaging cues w/o a "hole-in-the-middle" effect, while also ameliorating a hot treble w/the tweeter firing directly at you.  and, it will also tend to widen the sweet spot, as those not directly centered will have the speaker furthest from them pointing more directly at them than the speaker closest to them.  i have my present system set up this way, and it's sounding great, even in a big (26x38x8.5) room; the speakers are on the shorter wall; they're ~6' from the wall behind them, ~9.5' apart, and the listening area is ~12' from the plane of the speakers.  in smaller rooms, the benefits can be even greater.  in any event, it's certainly worth trying.  brian cheney (rip) actually recommended this for set-up of his will regarded vmps ribbon speakers...

ymmv,

doug s.
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