Considering the New Tekton Design Encores? AND Owners Group - Experiences/Questions


I am the very happy owner of the first pair of New Tekton Design Encores and I thought I would create this thread to answer any questions anyone might have regarding the Encore speakers, room considerations, and associated equipment. If you’ve order your pair already, please chime in. I really want to hear what other people’s experience are with these unbelievable speakers.

I drive my Encores with both an Art Audio Diavolo SET 300b Tube Amplifier with 8wpc and I switch in my 700w Nord One-Up SE Monoblocks for non-critical listening and some big pieces of music that benefit from the extra power.



  • Made under U.S. Patent 9247339 with multiple new patents pending
  • Proprietary loudspeaker design
  • Ultra-linear frequency response with ±.5dB deviation from 70Hz-20kHz
  • One single crossover element placed within the tweeter path
  • Ultra-linear, entirely time-invariant minimum-phase mid-range section
  • Proprietary patent pending 15 dome radiating hybrid MTM high frequency array
  • Two 6.5" mid-bass patented ’overtone & harmonic’ transducers
  • Dual 11" low-frequency transducers
  • ​96dB 2.83V@1m sensitivity
  • 4 Ohm design for optimum performance
  • 20Hz-30kHz frequency response​
  • Dimensions Width 13.25" x Depth 15.25" x Height 62"
  • 800 Watt power handling
  • Weight 175 lbs​
128x128jcarcopo
Anyone have any experience with the Schiit Freya+ and Aegir for the Encores?  I read in another thread that 2 Aegirs in monoblock mode was a good match for the Tekton Double Impacts, but I also hear that running the Aegirs in monoblock mode is not a good match for 4 ohm speakers and can trip up the protection circuit on the Aegirs.
Jcarcopo, do you like the XA25 with the Encores?  I am thinking about the X25 too after your previous reply to my original question about power amps, but $4,900 is a big jump from the $1,600 for the Schiits (or $2,400 for 2 Schiit Aegirs and a Freya+), and with the XA25 I can't go all balanced with the XA25 using the balanced out from my Chord Dave.
@jsoku I come from SET Tube Amplifiers for over 21 years. I love them for their glorious midrange. The XA25 was purchased from Moon-audio.com on a 30 day trial with a 10% restocking fee if I returned it, but my good buddy whose an audiophile said I would really like the sound of it. I read a few reviews by Terry London et al and his equating the XA25 to a SET amp really floored me.

When I got it setup and heard the first 30 seconds even cold out of the box I was speechless and instantly smitten. There's a tonal purity and inner detail in the midrange that leaps out at you with an immediacy that gets your attention right away.
The bass is very tight, the highs are sparkly. It begins to open up as it warms up and relax it's presentation becoming more and effortless as bloom on the instruments increases. The midrange is now starling realistic and as good to my ears as the best SET amplifiers.  THIS is the cheapest PASS Labs amp XA amp and it has the best damping 500, slew rate 100v, noise 50v, and it's 50w class A power envelope is at only .1% distortion which is incredible into any impedance .  It can even do 200w into 2ohm momentarily too.

Only 4 massive matched transistors per side, a completely singled ended class A topology through and through. It's a definite keeper for me. 

You can find them used for $3000 and you might find one on Hifishark on there right now if it's still there. 

I highly recommend the XA25 AMPLIFIER. IT'S PURE MAGIC! 
@jsoku I have been using a Freya + with monoblock Aegirs for a year now without any problem with my DIs. I’ve seen people posting that they have the same setup with Moabs without issue too. I just ordered Encores, so we’ll see if the Aegir monoblocks work with them. Sadly, I honestly am expecting that they won’t. The Schiit people said the Aegirs don’t like much below 3 ohms. And Eric told me that the Encores are the most demanding speaker in his lineup. So we’ll see. Either they will work, and that’s great. Or they won’t (at least a single stereo one should) and I will look at other amp options. I wish Jason @ Schiit would design a powerful monoblock Aegir that is stable below 4 ohms, because the Aegirs are really fantastic sounding amps.
Thank you both.  I'm going to wait to purchase the power amp until the Encores arrive which--given Eric's busy backlog--who knows when that will be--I placed my order at the end of June and he told me the lead time was 6-8 weeks but I remember from my previous Tekton order that that can skip.
@sid-hoff-frenchman, when you get your Encores, please post whether or not the monoblock Aegirs work out with them.  If you just ordered your Encores, I may get mine before you get yours, but in any case, I'd still be interested.
@jcarcopo, using the XA25 with the Encores, do you feel there would not be not be significant benefit to adding a tube pre-amp to the mix, like the Schiit Freya+?  I was thinking about adding the Freya+ to try out some tubey sound, but if the XA25 sounds good enough by itself, I can just use my Chord Dave as a digital preamp and skip getting a preamp (which would help dull the pain of the $4,900 XA25).
@jsoku I have been running source direct from a DAC happily for 20 years! I did try a Ayon Audio Stealth DAC which has a Tube Preamp in it and I felt like it robbed me of too much detail. That's entirely up to you, some people like to fatten and sweeten and warm up the sound more. I personally want my source pure and only have 2 digital sources and never needed a preamp anyway.  That's just me.  If you save money and gain resolution, even better IMHO!