Considering the New Tekton Design Encores? AND Owners Group - Experiences/Questions
Hi sedond, I'm curious. Were the 3 other 4 watt amplifiers bigger/heavier than the 4 watt Decware amp? I suspect the more capable 4 watt amps had beefier power supplies as well as larger and better quality output transformers. Were these amps SET, SEP or push pull? A 'good' quality well built 4 watt amp should be able to drive a 14 ohm load/ 97 db sensitive speaker to at least reasonable levels (As the 3 other amps were able to do). Charles |
hi charles1dad, amps i used to drive the coincident victory’s to loud enough to drive you out of the room worked because they were not 4 ohm only amps. a true 4 ohm 4wpc amp (like the decware amp i tried) will put out a little over 1wpc into a 14 ohm load. two amps were custom-made home-brew amps i got off ebay - one made by a hobbyist in germany; the other by a chinese gentleman living in australia. (if you do a websearch on "mcchanson Web Page" you’ll find the aussie’s work; the german has a webpage - http://www.goldstrom.de/ ) the aussie amp is ~4.5w set w/6v6 valves; i had the builder add 16 ohm speaker tap from the x-former (add’l speaker tap not shown in builder’s original pic: https://photos.google.com/search/custom/photo/AF1QipNFC9OKiWe8u2-mHtNG1bf4GZ1Qtw3IbGCTLrVh the german amp is 3wpc el84 set amp; it was built w/5 ohm x-formers; w/info from the builder, i swapped them out w/16 ohm x-formers: https://photos.google.com/search/custom/photo/AF1QipM5chUDTvm2YJ7APEN684nrbqaupF96Iv4zRmRf these ~4wpc el84 set amps were pulled from an akai m8 r-2-r tape deck; 8 ohm taps: https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipM_-qPgUAuLEbhBym1VjgNTE0xZHO95-3rMarKp finally an el84 sep commercial product - almarro a205a mkii; ~5wpc; output tap rated 8/16 ohms: https://photos.google.com/search/_tra_/photo/AF1QipMWSYxNls1meOmyBbt1PW7vqjX97ZguaGm5gXWG digging thru my old records indicates it’s the zen taboo amp i owned; rated 6wpc into 4 ohms, not 4wpc; which means that it’s putting out something like 1.7w into 14 ohms. even srajan ebaen, who reviewed this amp, said it didn’t drive his 12 ohm zu’s very well, much preferring the 6 ohm model. pricewise, the zen retailed for ~$1k, the almarro for ~$800. my other amps were way less; $300 shipped for the german amp being the most expensive. they all crushed the decware in performance, all sounding absolutely fabulous. they all also sound great on my oris 150 horns, w/fostex drivers... doug s. |
hi
charles1dad, yes, good transformers are important. but it's not like the transformers in the decware zen taboo were shoddy. https://6moons.com/audioreviews/decware/taboo_2.html it was simply that they're set up at 4 ohms, and have unusually low input sensitivity. this should have been a red flag, and steve deckert could have been more forthright when i queried him about how they'd match w/my 14 ohm speakers. but in fact, it seems his answer will depend on who's asking the question, and what steve wants them to hear. i have emails from steve about this; when i told steve about my results, he said he knew why my set-up wasn't working (w/my high-gain preamp), and added: " The Taboo is ideally suited for 8 ohm speakers. It will do 4 ohm and 16 ohm, but would rather see 16 ohms then 4. I’m not sure how the 6 moons review got listed as lower is better. While that is true with many of our amps, it is not true with the Taboo." i explained to him that srajan got those results w/the taboo working better on his 6 ohm vs 12 ohm zu's, and that steve told him it was to be expected. so, i asked him i'd love to hear why he thinks the taboo's didn't work in my set-up. i never heard back from him. ;~) doug s. |
Anyone out there have their Encores and wish they had more from them? Or found nitpicking issues with them? I've seen a few people who have traded them in for the Ulfberhts, which I guess is understandable given that is Eric's top of the line offering. I've heard from some of those people who comment about how the Ulfberhts seem to produce more of that live sound Tekton is becoming known for compared to the Encore. Not sure what that means as far as the Encore line however. Or what kind of sound they create comparatively. My only hesitation on the Ulfs is their size obviously. I can probably manage it, but how much more performance are you getting for that size trade off? Out of curiosity, I looked at the tweeter arrangement and noticed a few differences and am curious how that pans out for soundstage, imaging, etc. To me it seems the Encores, being slimmer, use a different tweeter housing which has a smaller diameter than the Ulf. (5 screws opposed to 4) so Im guessing the tweeters are spaced out more in the Ulf/Moab line. What effect that makes for placement differences, idea listener positioning/seating height, etc. between the two. Basically how much more performance can you really get out of the Ufs over the Encores in a reasonably setup room with high quality, highly reviewed electronics/amps/connections?? Or is it just a a slightly different overall sound presentation. More than a personal taste difference? I called Tekton the other day. Haven't had a chance to talk to Eric himself to see what he would recommend for my situation, or what he would say about Encore vs. Ulfberhts (If anyone has had that conversation and cares to comment, please do) but the lady on the phone said someone recently sent back their Encores in exchange for the new Moabs, which are also getting a lot of critical praise for their ability. Yes, as a current double impact owner, I think you I cant go too wrong with any option. Just waxing details here before I ultimately buy one of theses to upgrade the DIs. |
