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Tekton Impact and Double Impact

174K views 998 replies 114 participants last post by  bfisherjr 
#1 ·
Hello,
Just wanted to see if anyone had any first hand experience with either of these speakers? I know Terry London of Home Theater Review has a review for the Double Impact coming soon, but I'm still interested in getting as many opinions as I can. I think the regular Impact will suit my needs and leave me a little scratch for a sub, but have only seen good reviews of the DI's and the DI's a also pretty large. I'll be doing HT and Music 50/50 and room size is 3000 cubic feet sitting about 14' away.
 
#2 ·
Oh my.

... Our revolutionary U.S. patent #9247339 (issued January 26th, 2016) allows us to literally align the moving mass of speaker cones to the harmonic spectra of the musical instruments being played. This means that, in theory, we’ve now made every other high fidelity loudspeaker on earth obsolete in one fell swoop! ...

... For example: the plucked and resonating low ‘e’ note (41Hz) on a Fender Jazz bass guitar has a moving mass of 19 grams. The highest reviewed and well-regarded subwoofers of today have cones with an average of 200-300 grams of moving mass to reproduce the same low ‘e’ tone. This is the equivalent of a Formula One team showing up on race day with a special new race car that has 15,000 pounds of sand added to it! Our competitors are building subwoofers in this exact way today. A subwoofer with 300 grams of moving mass can only give you a dulled out response down to 15Hz. The laws of physics prove the subwoofer cannot be musical nor can it even begin to produce the harmonic spectra of a Fender Jazz bass guitar (or any other bass-producing musical instrument) – period.

Simply put, if the moving mass of the speaker cone is not the same or less than the original source (i.e. the violin, guitar, trumpet, etc.), the musical instrument’s upper overtones and upper harmonics when played back through the loudspeaker system will sound diminished, lowered in volume, progressively damped, and lower in sensitivity when compared to the original sound source or musical event. In my mind, I see this relationship as a mathematical algorithm and I design loudspeakers in a new and innovative way that keeps this in mind.

So what do these new loudspeakers sound like? Imagine being in a symphony hall with a dozen lights in the ceiling turned on and then having the ability to turn on 6 more lights at the flip of a switch. We all know what you get: better focus, more intensity, more energy, clearer views, and better discernment of colors, distances, and objects, etc. This is what I’m doing with sound. ...
tektondesign.com/company.html
 
#3 ·
#7 ·
Well, admittedly, I am put off by the extravagant claims. At the same time though, it seems difficult to find a high efficiency speaker with larger drivers for this kind of money. I'm not sure why, (inexperienced opinion follows)but it seems that a lot of the sub $3000@pair speakers are using 5.25"-6.25" drivers. To me, those may measure well, but they just don't have the fullness, body, or impact that a 8"-10" does. Their high efficiency and the ability to push more air seems like these could be a good speaker for double duty with HT and Music. Just a guess, but the fuller sound and ability to go lower than most speakers could be why they seem to hold their own when it comes to reviews. I'm sure that with those drivers and at that price they are not the end all be all of hifi, but I don't think they are supposed to be.

Another speaker I'm interested in is the Tyler Acoustics Halo 1 and 2. It's a fairly similar in size and drivers. Tekton's drivers are a little higher grade with the cabinets being very plain and the Tylers have nice wood veneer cabinets with cheaper drivers. Unfortunately, there are not many reviews on either.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Here is a link to the patent -- I didn't read all of it, but my eyes glazed over pretty fast and my mind started saying, "this doesn't seem very compelling...it smells like a lot of b.s. and probably should've been denied."
The problem with the claims is that in order to function as it specifies each instrument being played would require its own speaker. And that means it's own separate recorded track, pre-amp, amp and so forth. And yes, it should have been denied. This is the critical claim: the mass of the moving element comprises a mass of less than twice the mass of the moving and sound generation portion of the musical instrument. In most musical instruments the moving and sound generating portion mass is extremely low. A violin string, for instance, or a saxophone reed. And what of the instruments that have no moving sound generator, like all brass instruments? Or is he referring to the player's lips? And if so how did he weigh them? Is his assistant named Igor? :rolleyes:

The patent office will give a patent for anything, so long as the fees are paid that's all they care about. If it later comes to a legal issue with regards to infringement, they don't get involved anyway, that's a problem for the courts to deal with.
 
#560 ·
Have had the Tekton Design Electron mid-tower speakers for about a week now and thought I would give my impression of them. I am a lurker on AVS Forum, this is my first post, so many of you can stop reading right now since that would be your clear bias. Others might be interested though if they get past my limited experience, newness to AVS Forum and are interested in my initial impressions.

My background in AV is quite limited. In the late 1990's my wife and I traveled between Seattle, Washington, and Eugene, Oregon to listen to nearly 70 brands/models of home theater speakers, all costing less than $10K. The speakers we absolutely fell in love with for their sound (sound tracks as well as music) were the Linn AV51 series speakers: AV5140 towers, AV5120 center speaker and upgraded Linn bookshelf speakers for surround. We added a Velodyne 12" subwoofer which matched the musicality of the Linns (to our ears at least) and, over time, drove our home theater with an Anthem D2 prepro with Primaire amplifiers. We loved that setup and the Anthem representative and Audio store technician were quite impressed with the in-home sound achieved for the price. We were extremely pleased for many years. We retired, moved to a small town in South Eastern Arizona, technology changed and our retirement income grew limited. The Anthem D2 did not support the newer technologies so we decided to swap it out with an AVR with a bit lesser sound quality, the Yamaha AV3160 which better matched our budget. This new combo sounded decent but several music pieces made the tweeter too shrill and not tiresome to listen to. Additionally, in our new great room (15' x 22' x 9' with one side wall totally open to our beg entry) we were never able to position the Linn towers satisfactorily to optimize their sound. We decided to replace the Linns but had limited dollars in our budget. A lot of research, much through this forum, we thought we would be safe and pleased with either the RBH bookshelf system or the Tekton Design speakers. Tekton Design speakers had great reviews by those who actually have them and I did not find as much info about the RBH speakers. Tekton Design speakers more in my budget wheel house as well. Talking with Eric at Tekton Design, we decided to upgrade to the Electron mid-tower speakers (still larger than the Linn Towers but smaller than the Double Impact Towers which my wife would not have approved of). Have to say that Eric and his staff were very helpful, good to work with, and everything was delivered to us in perfect condition through FedEX. The speakers were easy to unpack and set up.

My impressions of the Tekton Design Electron speakers. The Linn Towers look nicer, the Tektons boxy but not bad. Sound quality a big step up over the Linns. The Linn towers have now become my surround speakers. The Linn center speaker and bookshelf speakers moved to our smaller Home Theater setup in the family room. They do sound much better than the Definitive speakers that they are replacing. First thing that impressed us was the Electron Center speaker. So clear, sound so clean, and dialogue more understandable and more life-like than the Linn Center Speaker, a major upgrade in sound quality that immerses. Second thing that impressed us was the greater musicality of the Electron speakers over the Linn towers. Big upgrade to our ears. Sound stage much larger and more cohesive. Instruments and voices very natural sounding and overall sound not compressed as from the Linns. Until the Electrons are burned in I will not try to fine tune the placement of the Electron speakers. Where as the Linns were difficult to place and did not work as well in our new home, the Electrons are sitting 2 feet out from the back wall, five feet from one side wall and no wall in proximity on the side of the other speaker, yet sound sensational to our ears. Base, mid-range and treble sound cohesive, natural, musical and easy to listen to for hours. Music fed through our James River Media Center are the best we've heard it (if the original recording was decent) and higher resolution recordings sound amazing, almost life-like, something we never achieved with the Linns. I purposefully fed some of the tracks through that had the shrill treble and they were surprisingly tamed when played through the Electron speakers. I love to sit and listen to music of many genres and now have a wonderful smile on my face rather than critiquing the AV system. My wife is a worker bee who is not a particularly critical listener and is usually listening while working through the house. When she first heard the Electron speakers she was in the kitchen and come out to say, "Wow! Those speakers sound really nice." Later she stopped on one of her frequent trips through and told me that no matter where she was in the room or passing by, the Electrons sound so nice and didn't drop off in sound quality like the Linn speakers which had a definite and limited sweet spot. The Electrons seem to have a huge sweet spot. To date, I have only leveled the sound from each speaker. I will do the fine tuning and run the equalizer software when I have the speakers sufficiently burned in. Let me say, my wife and I already love these speakers, think they are a significant upgrade over the Linn speakers which had been our favorites we have heard over the years. I would have loved to listen to the RBH speakers but that was not possible from our location. I would be hard pressed to think they could be any better. Count me as tickled pink with the Tekton Design Electron speakers. Eric did tell me that the Double Impact and Electron speakers would sound great even closer to the wall though 3 to 4 feet would optimize their sound. 2' was the best we could manage and whereas the Electrons sound beautiful to us in that location, it badly impacted the Linn tower performance. One of the big differences was that I never could get optimal base out of the Linns and the Electrons provide wonderful musical base. There is a very smooth transition from the subwoofer to the bass of the Electrons that I was not able to achieve with the Linns despite the crossover setting.

Miscellaneous notes: We listen a tad louder than most but not at wall shaking volumes, we can still converse. These speakers sound just as good at low volume as at our normal listening level. When I moved the Linn towers to the surround position (they are 90 db speakers), I had to up there level nearly 6-7 db over the Electron fronts and center just to level the volume between all speakers. The Electrons seems a highly efficient design. The Linn towers are not a perfect match to the Electrons when I play stereo signals in 5.1 but somehow the combination works and I am so pleased. Tuscon has a limited number of audio stores. We listened to several speakers but the selection was limited. We listened to some $2500 Martin Logans which sounded nice but were not an improvement over the Linns (to our ears), We also listened to some B&W speakers in the same price range. They sounded a bit shrill to our ears on some tracks and overall seemed missing "strength" or drop off in the mid range.

This post is my (and my wife's) honest but totally subjective impressions of the Tekton Design Electron speakers. We were a bit leery of purchasing speakers we had not heard but the AVS Forums helped ease that concern as did talking to Eric Alexander (Tekton Design) who seems a friendly but square shooter with lots of excellent experience in speaker design. We could not be more pleased with our new Electron speakers. I have always trusted my ears over technical specifications (for good or bad). Doing so is very subjective with no right choices, no guarantee others hear/assess any speakers the same way we do. Key thing is to be very pleased with your speakers (equipment) and not wish you had purchased differently. I will say that I was not particularly pleased with the Yamaha A3160 AVR when the Linns were the attached speakers. The Anthem D2 audio performance sounded so much better to us (it is in a different audio class). Now, with the Electron speakers, that dissatisfaction with the A3160 has changed to genuine listening pleasure. We love our setup. I would note my only regret is that I wish the A3160 had additional 5.1 analog input but that was a trade off based on overall budget.
 
#13 ·
For that price, there are a number of proven, measured speakers to choose from: JTR 228HT, JTR 212HT, JBL 4722N, PSA 210T, etc. If you're barely handy, I'd looked at some of the DIYSG offerings, which only require the ability to glue. I own and have owned a number of speakers, including Tektons. As folks have pointed out in this thread, the company's claims appear to be pseudoscience. The patent would likely be invalidated by a court of Tekton ever tried to enforce it.
 
#14 ·
For whatever reason, I've noticed that the brand's owners thread here consists in large part of people without a lot of prior speaker ownership experience or general knowledge. I think some of them at least are drawn to the brand because they like the notion of a pair of speakers with larger drivers and more substantial bass output so that they can avoid the potential can of setup worms that subwoofers can sometimes entail.
 
#20 ·
I have no idea how speakers work, but the regular Eminence drivers make me wonder how much potential these have to be good.
Why did you think they're so inexpensive, relatively speaking? Not that there's anything wrong with Eminence drivers, but the ones used here are musical instrument/PA drivers that have high sensitivity at the expense of smooth frequency response. Rule #1 of Loudspeaker Design: There's no such thing as a free lunch.
 
#21 ·
Patent and Bold claims aside what kind performance would you expect from the Tekton Impact? Appropriate performance for the price?



A Stereophile measurement of the Enzo XL seemed to think the guy could build a good crossover and didn't seem to think some of the poorer measurements showed up as strongly in listening. They rated it a B class recommended speaker for a year or so.

I know I can't get everything I would like for this price, but if I can get a few characteristics that I like the most then that's a win.
 
#23 ·
Patent and Bold claims aside what kind performance would you expect from the Tekton Impact? Appropriate performance for the price?
It's probably not bad, though I'd never use a tower myself for HT.
 
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#24 ·
Even if these speakers are OK for the price I always assume that companies that throw around wildly pseudo-scientific claims backed by meaningless patents are appealing to the subset of consumers who are most susceptible to such marketing nonsense. On the other hand there's another subset of consumers (to which I belong) with sensitive BS alarms that tend to go off rather loudly when reading same. I'm neither an engineer nor a scientist, but you don't really have to be as long as you maintain a healthy skepticism of all marketing claims. Given comparable product at comparable pricing I tend to go with the vendor that doesn't annoy me by triggering my BS alarm. :)
 
#25 ·
I think this is incorrect. I am strongly considering Tektons and one of the things that puts me off, along with the disorganized Tekton website and the number of online complaints (generally much older) about Tekton service is in fact the hyperbolic marketing copy. I would much prefer objective measurements and response graphs. BTW, the whole patent thing that some take offense to is relatively recent and Tekton established their rep well before it.

The reality is that, as far as I can tell, you don't read such rave reviews by owners at this price point for full range speakers, period. Is there confirmation bias, sure, but that's true for any product. Truly expensive speakers, by which I don't mean Tektons, are more often than not as much (and likely more) BS, voodoo, pseudo-science and especially snob appeal as they are good materials, craftsmanship and engineering. At least with Tekton products you would be hard pressed to make an argument value isn't part of the equation relative to many other brands, something I find sorely lacking in many cases.
 
#42 ·
He probably didn't get paid for the review either, but since there's not an iota of objective data in it that would be appropriate.
 
#43 ·
I have had my Impacts since early December and would be happy to comment on their performance. To my ears, they are quite detailed and lifelike in their sound reproduction. I have a pair of Goldenear Triton 5 speakers and have demo'd them side by side. Frankly, the Impacts are in a different sonic league and the Tritons have been retired.

Next to the Impacts, they appeared veiled and much less detailed. Their bass was not nearly as tight and articulate as the Impacts. The best way to describe the difference is that the Goldenears sounded like speakers where the Impacts sounded like live music. The Impacts have a much wider soundstage and their micro dynamics are vastly superior.

I know that the Triton 5's have gotten some pretty rave reviews and, no doubt, they are well deserved. However, at least to my ears, the Impacts are materially superior in their sound reproduction. For the money, the Tekton Impacts represent an outstanding value and deliver a wonderful sonic experience.
 
#49 ·
He doesn't post them because they will get shredded even more by the measurement nazis. Some things that a speaker does well just won't show up in a graph(that a regular person can read) and speakers that do measure flat won't necessarily sound better. Some speakers like B&W don't measure well, but I have heard those in person and it's one of the few I've heard that I was able to really notice something substantially better was happening. However, science and physics don't lie, but what is the comparison, what is the standard? If this speaker sounds good with it's "mediocre" measurements, why couldn't another?

In all the things I've ever taken interest in, hifi and mid-fi audio has to be the most frustrating. With almost anything else, I can see the specs and know what I'm getting. When I was buying my tv, I never saw a review that said this tv is as good as a tv that cost 4 times as much. But with speakers I see these types of comments regularly. "These $2000 speakers sound as good if not better than many $8,000 speakers I've heard." Plug in whatever dollar amounts you'd like, but it remains a constant theme in a lot of reviews. I'm sitting here thinking, "Why if I had created something that was equal to $8,000 would I be selling it for $2000?" If this is true, why is everyone not buying these speakers since they are obviously 4 times better than anything else at this price?" This guy should have the market cornered! He must be rich because no one would ever buy any speakers except his because they are so much better! What makes a good speaker good? What are the requirements? Also subjective questions. What is the standard? Not one.

The audio world wonders why they are still a niche type market. It's because no one knows what you're selling. I live in Little Rock, AR. By no means a big town, but it is the biggest in the state and we have no where to shop for mid to high end audio. Don't post a link to shops you found in Little Rock on the internet because they are either fly-by-night internet drop shippers or they are a installation shop that has a very limited demo room, if any. What does that say? Not many people are buying it.

It leaves the casual mid-fi shopper dazed and confused and feeling like they need to spend as much as they can or they may be disappointed in what they end up with. Oh and don't forget that anything mid-hifi will drop in value by half or more the first year you own it.

Rant over, Frankhenry out
 
#53 ·
Still doesn't speak to the idea that there are no real standards of comparison. Take computers for example. I don't have to be a Programmer to go out and buy a decent computer. I really don't have to be all that well informed because I'll still get something that's quality and value is relative to the price that's being asked. I'll see the specs I need and that will be it. There's no "how will it perform at my house?" It's a known commodity. There will be no $2000 PC's that perform like $8000 PCs. There may be marginal improvements as time goes on as there is with all technology.

I'm frustrated as can be to say the least. Not with Tekton by any means, just with mid-fi and hi-fi audio in general. Very loose claims all around with no objective means of knowing if I will like the sound characteristics when I put it in my house. All I can do is read reviews and hope for the best with whatever decision I make.
 
#57 ·
I get what you're saying. There's just more room for variation in systems with mechanical aspects, like speakers, than purely electrical, like computers (for the most part). Plus, there are dozens or more ways to make transducers that produce sound, tons of different cabinet designs that will effect the way those drivers perform, and as many different crossover designs as you can shake a stick at, plus all of the various brands of various components and different lines within those brands all of which make different trade offs, so you end up with a huge amount of choice.

That can make things confusing, but it also makes it fun.

Think of it like cars - they may all have four wheels, but beyond that you have electric vs ICE engines, naturally aspirated vs forced induction, 3 to 16 cylinders, four doors or two doors, many different suspension designs, all sorts or different interior design choices, prices from $12,000 to many hundreds of thousands for new models, and hundreds of designs that balance space, comfort, power, efficiency, price, material quality, and many other factors all differently. You can read a lot of reviews and get a general idea of what you're looking for and what will suit your needs, but until you actually go out and test drive a few you won't know for sure what you like and what you don't.

Speakers are in many ways the same - you just have to go listen to a bunch to find out what you like and what you don't. Of course, living in an area without a lot of shops makes that hard, and with ID companies you just have to jump first.
 
#62 ·
Fix, no, but some designs will sound better in an average room than others. Especially designs that have controlled dispersion and excellent off-axis response. With these two things, the amount of energy "sprayed" into the room is more controlled and the energy that's coming off the uncontrolled reflections of a crappy room is at least very similar to the on-axis energy.
 
#64 ·
is this thread about the speakers or the patent? I was so happy to see a new tekton Double Impact thread and then I started reading and got so disapointed to see it was a bunch of people that have never heard the Double impacts and where just talking about the US patent. This is supposed to be a tool for someone looking for information about a product. I can care less about what the patent says or what the numbers are, if a speaker sound good it sounds good. If its a ****ty sound then its a ****ty sound. When I go to a concert I dont take any measurement instruments to tell me if what im hearing is good or not. I JUST LISTEN!!! and let my ears be the judge of it. I own the DI impacts and love them, I owned the pendragons and loved them. I could have owned any speaker in the 3k to the 15k and when looking never took numbers into consideration. I just went and listened to speakers and made my choices. Every speaker had its flaws, tekton included, but I learned that implementation and design is as or even more important than the deivers used. B&W makes and use one of the higher end material I can remeber in speaker and for me they sound like ****. I would never buy B&W other than for it looks. Tekton is not everyone's favorites cup of tea, and yes I heard a better speaker but I would have to sell my house in order to buy them.
 
#66 ·
It's great that you love your Tektons; it's great that you could find a place to audition them.

But, I must say, broad brushing an entire brand and implying that every single one of their speakers sounds the same to you, top to bottom, and they all suck is a bit farfetched.

Klipsch is a brand that gets hammered, but generally for their entry level speakers, but even the critics concede they make some fantastic speakers further up their lines.
 
#65 ·
To anyone looking for a speaker, tekton included. Do your self a favor and just go and listen. Take your music and test the speakers, if the speaker gives you the emotion you want then who cares about the specs. Only a fool buys a pair of speakers because of the specs or for what the patent says.
 
#68 ·
wasnt talking about their whole line. Only the ones under 15k. I owned klipsch reference RF82's and Still own a pair of rb61 for my garage listening when Im working. They are very good speakers. amazing for double duty just like the Tekton's. But little too revealing for my opinion. And all I was saying is that in this thread they are just talking about a patent and bashing a brand that havent even listened yet.When I started this hobby I could only dream about some b&w CM 9's or some 800 series. But bought klipsch because at that time it was all I could afford. Ive been blessed with a new job and moved to vegas, so before I bought my dream speakers under 20k I spent 2 years searching for the right one and desided on pendragons then DI came out and I did side by side comparision. Kept the DI sold the pendragons in about a week .
 
#70 ·
Hey Canillo, thanks for chiming in. There's a "professional" review coming out on the 20th for the DI's, but would love for you to take a shot a just telling me what you like and don't like. I know that I can't get everything I want in a speaker for this price(and $3000 is a boatload for me to spend on a speaker), but from what I hear about them, their strong points seem to line up with a two or three things things at the top of my wants list.
 
#71 ·
When it comes to audio everything is very subjective. I like a lot of things about this speaker. Im currently writing a very detailed review of them to share. Ive always loved to listen to music very very very loud, that is the reason why I owned klipsch. But as a performer always listened to the audio on concert venues and loved how loud and CLEAR some speakers could get. And in my opinion Tekton is the only speaker that has a consumer look with a mix of hifi and pro audio at an affordable price. Exactly what I was looking for. Solid mid base that feels like you are getting hit on the face, smooth highs and very very deep bass. The thing I like the most is that their are very sentive to source and power, so you can get different sound by changing equipment.( I will never get bored of them) Negatives are: Not the finest finish( that would increase the price at least x3 more)They may not be the best fit for a small room( I would recommend 10 feet distance from listening)for rooms with less than 10 feet I would recommend seas pendragons or single impacts. You will prob have to wait 2 to 3 weeks before toy get For HT duty this speaker is ONE of the best you can own AT ANY PRICE POINT... PERIOD!!!!!! I am a movie freak.. These are soo good....Sorry I cant even find a way to explain it. You have to hear them. My wife doesnt carenfor speaker and evey time I play a movie she says they are like being in a real cinema.
 
#73 ·
Let me make sure you dont think I was comparing the Klipsch with tekton. They both perform well for double duty but they dont sound the same at all. You have to know very little about speakers to think that horn will sound anything like ring radiator tweeters. The fact that a person likes 2 different speakers, does not mean they sound the same. If you think you wont like the tekton's, then dont buy them!!!That is part of the beauty off this hobby, everyone has different taste.
 
#74 ·
Apparently you have very broad tastes if they sound dramatically different and yet you like both.

Clearly I have very different tastes than you as I would never suggest that all B&W speakers below $15,000/pair sound uniformly awful...despite substantial differences in cabinet design and driver design.
 
#75 ·
For what it's worth. I have had the Double Impacts for about a week now and they are outstanding. I will say that I do not believe there is anything even close to 3k that can get in the same time zone as these. I had GE Triton 1s for about 6 months and liked them quite a bit. The Double Impacts have better bass, more natural tone, more detail, are more dynamic, and are more natural sounding IMO. They check all the boxes for me. I was very skeptical of these as I have mentioned on other sites such as Audiogon and AudioKarma. I was ready to send them back if they did not perform. They have totally exceeded my expectations. I'm done looking and threw the boxes away.
 
#84 ·
I'm curious about what you mean by better bass in comparison to the Triton Ones. The one thing that really stood out from the Triton One demo I had was the enormous amounts of clean powerful bass they put out, and I'd be gobsmacked if a passive speaker could compete with the powered sub sections those have. Are you talking extension, volume, mid-bass punch, or something else?
 
#79 ·
yes I have a very broad taste not only in speakers but in a lot of things. So do all the professional reviewers that like more than one speaker. Never seen a reviewer that only likes ONE kind of sound. That would be very boring in my opinion. We listen to many speakers and like a lot of them. But we buy the one that meets most of our requirements and that we can afford.
 
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