Quality issues with Tekton speakers....

I just saw the photo you posted. Absolutely unacceptable to let that pair of speakers leave the factory. I'm a Tekton speaker owner btw, Initially, the OP should have been offered free shipping back to Tekton and he should have been offered a courtesy fee of let's say $100 to have the OP spend his time packing up the speakers and arranging the return. I imagine Eric's profit margin is quite small so that there is little financial margin for error when incidents like this happen. Business is not for sissy's, man up or get out. Do the right thing the first time. If the manufacturer, Tekton, doesn't take responsibility and offer a great return option then the consumer should negotiate a reasonable return arrangement.

I work for doctors. there is no one pickier, more demanding , higher maintenance, and more abrasive than a doctor that believes they are not getting what he/she paid for. When I install an instrument that costs $30k or $40k they expect perfection, and that's what they get as my customer. I guess as an "audiophile" I expect the same when I drop 2 or 3 grand on a component.

Last year I bought a pair of Revel speakers, each of which had a tiny hole in the grills. Although the grills were backordered with no firm date Revel came up with a new pair and got them right out to me. I've had equally great support from c-j, Magnum Dynalab, and NAD recently. And while sound is paramount it's a company's support that keeps me coming back.

If you like the speakers I would get him to replace them with cabinets that are drilled for the grills he just sent you......If not return them and press PayPal for all of your money back.

After reading Tekton's "mission statement" I would say Erik is a real piece of work. Here's his take on his competition:

"Not built by girls in China…
5 years have transpired and things really haven’t changed much – originally posted on October 4th, 2009

TEKTON DESIGN: Not built by girls in China1 – WHY YOU SHOULD BUY FROM US

First: Tekton Design loudspeakers are not built by 18-year-old girls on assembly lines in China who have the very minimum skills to do a single menial task in the name of hi-fi.

Second: Our products are something we are proud of. We’re doing our very best to bring you precisely hand-crafted and perfectly executed systems, and we do this at a price point that we can proudly say fits within truly affordable hi-fi!

Third: We’re truly setting ourselves apart. In the under $1k price range for speaker systems, we’re offering products that compete in a market in which 90% of our completion literally has no bona fide or legitimate argument/explanation for its presence as one of our competitors. One of my closest friends stated it perfectly: “The greatest thing about speaker building is that anyone can do it and be successful, but the worst thing about speaker building is that anyone can do it and be successful!” This paradox is real. Think about it… Asian manufacturing coupled with big marketing is king. Their stuff is produced in the tens of thousands and is offered to the masses. Where are their personal skills and talents? Nearly all of my competitors have no real background in loudspeaker design and innovation… they aren’t acoustical brainiacs, nor are they craftsmen. They lack the intellectual property and patents. They’re simply entrepreneurs that specialize in what lawyers and insurance companies have coined best: “One call… That’s all!” That is, the “entrepreneur” calls an international vendor, places an order for the “best sounding” and “lowest possible priced” speaker systems that the vendor can produce. Quality sacrificed.

Please spread the word about Tekton Design…

Best regards,

Eric Alexander
CEO & President, Tekton Design, llc

Footnotes

I’ve worked in China. The top 10 consumer brands are built on assembly lines made up of girls in China. I’ve watched their stuff come off the assembly line and be stuffed into boxes bearing the labels of the brand logos you know."

I would bet anything that his drive units are not made in USA.

I'm all for buying made in USA and try to whenever I can, and you can bet I was pretty surprised when I discovered my Revel speakers were built in Indonesia. Regardless of where they were built the fit and finish is incredible. It only makes sense for Harmon to make them there, SB Acoustics is the OEM for theirs and many other companies drivers.

I would love to see the Build Of Materials for their products, I'm sure everything but the cabinets are sourced overseas.....

Maybe Erik should focus on delivering quality products and customer service instead of ripping on his competition......not to mention the huge set of balls he has implying he has no competition in the already overcrowded $1000 range.....my only concern would be if they are going to be around to honor their 5 year warranty.....

" And while sound is paramount it's a company's support that keeps me coming back. "

Customer support is the biggest differentiator between companies IMHO in that there are many that offer really good sound but not all offer equally effective customer support when needed. If it does not work as it should, that defeats the whole purpose. Things break, accidents happen. CS is paramount with most everything. High end audio is not so special or unique in that regard.

I've followed this thread from the start, and I have no doubt about the poor communication with the manufacturer as I have read this before, however a couple of things just don't make sense to me. In the original post, the following is stated,

I described the issue again and he offered to exchange the speakers.

Then later in a comment the OP states,

Ship back? The boxes ARE HUGE!!! And weigh almost 90 pounds each. Even if he were to offer to to that, the cost would be in the hundreds of dollars.

So, what is it? Did he offer to exchange or not? If he did, the only trouble would be boxing them to be shipped. You could have requested a call tag for them to be picked up, and the manufacturer would pay the shipping.

In the original post,

I really feel that grilles should be included in a $2,500 price tag however.

and then in a comment,

Grilles should absolutely be included for $2,500 as almost EVERY manufacturer includes a grill with their speakers.

and then this comment,

I really wanted to have grilles and I asked more than twice about the grilles with no answer.

Then why didn't you get the grills with the initial order, and they would be a $2500+ pair of speakers? Is there some buyer’s remorse about not getting grills on the initial order?

As far as the system picture, the top is much darker than the bottom. Even the black cabinet at the top looks faded gray at the bottom. Identical woofers would not even come close to looking the same in that picture. Makes me wonder if the lighting in the room is causing the bottom woofer in each cabinet to show this slight difference, or was the picture staged to look this way? I don't know, I'm not there. But how is this evidence that something is wrong?

I'm sorry, but all the above causes me to question the validity of the claim, and if I am wrong, again, I'm sorry. It's just my opinion, and I’m not trying to side with the manufacturer. I just like to see things black and white, and this one just seems to be all gray. I do hope you can end this soon, and get back to enjoying the music.

I'll finally add my two cents since I have also been following this thread. I feel similar to Tls49. There is a lot of grey here. Eric did offer to exchange the speakers. The OP's reason for not doing so initially is a bit weird. The OP could have done as Tls49 suggested (get a call tag), and return the speakers. That was simply the right thing to do.

On the other hand Eric should be much, much, better with his customer service. Eric's speakers are real bargains and sound great; he is very innovative. I own several of his speakers, they all look great and play better. I have never had a problem with his service. Again, he offered to take the speakers back and to send you another pair. Why didn't you take him up on the offer?

I suspect we are not getting the complete story.