Hi everyone, I'm one of Mike's (Sebrof) friends who joined in comparing the Zu Omens and the Tekton Lore speakers last night. I'd like to offer to you my impression of both speakers. I tried to not have any expectation bias affect my judgements, but I must say that I had heard the Omens and Mike's Katz Meow V1 a few weeks ago and I preferred the Katz in Mike's relatively small listening room. I told Mike then, that I thought the Omens were too boxy sounding to me. Regardless, I tried my best to be honest to myself with what I would be listening to last night.
First up were the Lores. I'm not going to comment on how they sounded with the first amp, but I was not impressed. Once we changed amps, the sound improved tremendously. Now, the Lores sounded great! They didn't have the deepest bass, but what bass they had was very musical. The midrange and treble were beautiful and the staging, both width and depth, were very good. I thought drums sounded very authentic and had the correct snap. The vocals were very good, with good air and texture, which gave a believability to the sound. What impressed me most about the speaker was the overall presentation was coherent, that is, one aspect didn't take away from the rest of the sound. I believe the designer made the correct trade off regarding bass extension with musicality for this speaker. In my opinion, this speaker is definitely worth the money asked for it and I believe that one would have to spend one or two multiples of the Lore's asking price to approach its performance.
Next, we listened to the Omens. The first thing I noticed was the the sound came from a darker place, like it was escaping. It didn't seem to be as open and airy as the Lores. But, it still seemed nice, with the first musical selection. As we listened to more and more music, it became apparent to me, that the bass sounded too "one-notey" or "thudy" (how do you like my technical terms?) Though the bass was deeper, it was not as musical as with the Lores. This same type of sound also appeared on a specific drum beat, that became annoying to me. In other words, it detracted from the overall coherency of the sound. To my ears, the designer of this speaker opted for maximum frequency range of the bass and bass wallop, instead of more musical, less deep bass, as in the Lore. I also believe the enclosure needs more stiffening, as it does have a somewhat boxey sound that it never quite escapes. The midrange and treble did not seem quite as revealing as with the Lores, but they were quite good. Imaging seemed good, also.
It may look I am being hyper critical of the Omens, but I'm just trying to be as honest as I can with my personal review of these speakers and to pinpoint the differences that I heard. Also, we set both speakers in the same position and this position may not have been optimal for the Zu. Also, the Zu is a bottom ported speaker and we did not play with the spikes to see what differences we may have heard. It is entirely possible that with much more time for placement and adjustment, the Zus may have sounded better to me.
First up were the Lores. I'm not going to comment on how they sounded with the first amp, but I was not impressed. Once we changed amps, the sound improved tremendously. Now, the Lores sounded great! They didn't have the deepest bass, but what bass they had was very musical. The midrange and treble were beautiful and the staging, both width and depth, were very good. I thought drums sounded very authentic and had the correct snap. The vocals were very good, with good air and texture, which gave a believability to the sound. What impressed me most about the speaker was the overall presentation was coherent, that is, one aspect didn't take away from the rest of the sound. I believe the designer made the correct trade off regarding bass extension with musicality for this speaker. In my opinion, this speaker is definitely worth the money asked for it and I believe that one would have to spend one or two multiples of the Lore's asking price to approach its performance.
Next, we listened to the Omens. The first thing I noticed was the the sound came from a darker place, like it was escaping. It didn't seem to be as open and airy as the Lores. But, it still seemed nice, with the first musical selection. As we listened to more and more music, it became apparent to me, that the bass sounded too "one-notey" or "thudy" (how do you like my technical terms?) Though the bass was deeper, it was not as musical as with the Lores. This same type of sound also appeared on a specific drum beat, that became annoying to me. In other words, it detracted from the overall coherency of the sound. To my ears, the designer of this speaker opted for maximum frequency range of the bass and bass wallop, instead of more musical, less deep bass, as in the Lore. I also believe the enclosure needs more stiffening, as it does have a somewhat boxey sound that it never quite escapes. The midrange and treble did not seem quite as revealing as with the Lores, but they were quite good. Imaging seemed good, also.
It may look I am being hyper critical of the Omens, but I'm just trying to be as honest as I can with my personal review of these speakers and to pinpoint the differences that I heard. Also, we set both speakers in the same position and this position may not have been optimal for the Zu. Also, the Zu is a bottom ported speaker and we did not play with the spikes to see what differences we may have heard. It is entirely possible that with much more time for placement and adjustment, the Zus may have sounded better to me.