[allanf714]

My purchase of a JTR speaker system in late 2009 marked my first foray into higher efficiency speaker options for the media room. While I am very please with their media performance.... I've never been overwhelmed with their music performance. I understand that I am not the only one that feels this way. This grip is of little consequence to me as they are used pretty much for movies and the occasional game only. But, I have noticed the positive reviews Tekton is getting. The engineering chomps are there, the price is right, and they are definitely high efficiency designs. The direct radiating tweeter combined with pro-audio mid/bass may be the middle ground.... if they have enough output for media purposes. Just curious......anyone given these a try?

http://www.tektondesign.com/index.html

 

[A9X-308]

Make sure you give them a good listen first on a variety of demanding material well known to you. I gave up on parasitic (whizzer) cone speakers decades ago. I have not heard these, but the whizzer, no rebated driver reminds me of the Zu Druid. These also got lots of good reviews but I've heard 2 pair now and find them hilariously bad.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have one question. Do they have any kind of measurements like off-axis response or maybe on-axis response or something?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by allanf714  /t/1419490/another-high-efficiency-option#post_22203310


My JTR speaker system... I've never been overwhelmed with their music performance.

What do you mean?


They don't sound crystal clear with amazing details and resolution?


They sound kind of muddy sometimes?


What if you listen to music @ 105dB? Do they sound crystal clear with amazing details and resolution?

 

[donutfan]

I'm no expert in this particular category of speakers, but that basically looks like another system using a so-called full range driver + a "supertweeter".


I've never heard such a large full range driver myself, but have heard smaller ones in the 3" to 6.5" range and with music I thought the better ones could sound surprisingly good. They usually exhibited a rather mellow personality i.e. no "shimmering" highs and bass output wasn't anything special but everything else sounded fine to me (though I wouldn't have used them for a studio monitor).


The largest full range I commonly see used in the DIY community is an 8", and usually paired with a supertweeter (sometimes called a helper tweeter). The most popular seem to be the 5" drivers - decent bass (in the right enclosure) but still small/light enough to produce acceptable high frequencies with no tweeter needed.


The most cited advantage of these designs, when no tweeter is used, is their lack of a crossover system (crossovers do introduce certain distortions, but well-designed ones ccan keep them inaudible IMO). And when a tweeter is present, usually only one capacitor is needed since they are usually crossed over at very high frequencies, e.g. 10kHz, and simply don't need anything more complicated.

 

[allanf714]



Quote:
Originally Posted by AcuDefTechGuy  /t/1419490/another-high-efficiency-option#post_22203471


What do you mean?

They don't sound crystal clear with amazing details and resolution?

They sound kind of muddy sometimes?

What if you listen to music @ 105dB? Do they sound crystal clear with amazing details and resolution?

That simply means that they would not be my first choice for a system designed around music as a priority.

Quote:
Originally Posted by donutfan  /t/1419490/another-high-efficiency-option#post_22203575


I'm no expert in this particular category of speakers, but that basically looks like another system using a so-called full range driver + a "supertweeter".

I've never heard such a large full range driver myself, but have heard smaller ones in the 3" to 6.5" range and with music I thought the better ones could sound surprisingly good. They usually exhibited a rather mellow personality i.e. no "shimmering" highs and bass output wasn't anything special but everything else sounded fine to me (though I wouldn't have used them for a studio monitor).

The largest full range I commonly see used in the DIY community is an 8", and usually paired with a supertweeter (sometimes called a helper tweeter). The most popular seem to be the 5" drivers - decent bass (in the right enclosure) but still small/light enough to produce acceptable high frequencies with no tweeter needed.

The most cited advantage of these designs, when no tweeter is used, is their lack of a crossover system (crossovers do introduce certain distortions, but well-designed ones ccan keep them inaudible IMO). And when a tweeter is present, usually only one capacitor is needed since they are usually crossed over at very high frequencies, e.g. 10kHz, and simply don't need anything more complicated.

Not really sure. They do not disclose the crossover points..... we would not know unless we asked the designer. Interesting though.. the various models appear to have somewhat different design goals based on some of the reviews that I read.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by allanf714  /t/1419490/another-high-efficiency-option#post_22203963


That simply means that they would not be my first choice for a system designed around music as a priority.

How does a "music" speaker differ from a "movie" speaker?


Whether it's music or movie, don't you want the same crystal clear sound with great image/ soundstage?

 

[JEFFREY GTS]



Quote:
Originally Posted by AcuDefTechGuy  /t/1419490/another-high-efficiency-option#post_22204152


How does a "music" speaker differ from a "movie" speaker?

Whether it's music or movie, don't you want the same crystal clear sound with great image/ soundstage?

You would think that a speaker should do both. IMO if a speaker can't sound good doing both, then it's not a good speaker. I have heard though that some speakers present a "warmer" sound geared more towards music and that certain speakers geared towards home theater have a more, I wouldn't say bright sound but more geared towards clear dialogue and sound effects.


As far as this thread is concerned, I would LOVE to hear more opinions on the Tekton loudspeaker because I am VERY interested in this speaker as well as the ZU Audio. So anyone with ZU or Tekton experience, feel free to chime in.

 

[allanf714]



Quote:
Originally Posted by AcuDefTechGuy  /t/1419490/another-high-efficiency-option#post_22204152


How does a "music" speaker differ from a "movie" speaker?

Whether it's music or movie, don't you want the same crystal clear sound with great image/ soundstage?

Quote:
Originally Posted by JEFFREY GTS  /t/1419490/another-high-efficiency-option#post_22204287


You would think that a speaker should do both. IMO if a speaker can't sound good doing both, then it's not a good speaker. I have heard though that some speakers present a "warmer" sound geared more towards music and that certain speakers geared towards home theater have a more, I wouldn't say bright sound but more geared towards clear dialogue and sound effects.

As far as this thread is concerned, I would LOVE to hear more opinions on the Tekton loudspeaker because I am VERY interested in this speaker as well as the ZU Audio. So anyone with ZU or Tekton experience, feel free to chime in.

Given, this is purely subjective. I personally have found that a speaker favorable to music reproduction generally sounds pretty good with media as well. This does not necessarily work the other way around. I suspect that well recorded music is more "revealing" with regards to a speaker's characteristics. In order to do a very good job with music the speaker must genuinely create a wide soundstage/image and reproduce much of the detail in the original recording. I do tend to prefer a slightly warmer sound with music. But, a good sounding speaker for music usually is not required to have significant output. They may compress or break up at the higher volumes often required of media playback. A good sounding media speaker, IMO, must have dynamics. It must be capable of significant changes in volume and output without any distortion or compression. I find that the JTR's have great detail within the higher frequency portion of speech responsible for consonant reproduction. Speech, as a result is very clear without sounding edgy or bright. They obviously do very well on the dynamics front. When listening to music, however, they have a very "live" sound to them. Not surprizing given that they were factually designed and intended 100% as a PA speaker. It's not a very detailed sound for music. I also do not feel that they image particularly well. I suspect, although I really do not know, that some of my perceived drawbacks are the result of the compression divers... hence the interest curiosity with the Tekton products. They maintain that high sensitivity but utilize a more traditional direct radiating tweeter. This could, in theory, fall right in between. Then again, they could have great sensitivity and lack the necessary output for media purposes. They certainly have racked up some good reviews though.


Allan

 

[NewHTbuyer]

I had never heard of Tekton until I saw this thread, so thanks! They are now on my list for when I eventually get a dedicated HT room.

 

[AJinFLA]



Quote:
Originally Posted by allanf714  /t/1419490/another-high-efficiency-option#post_22204794


I suspect that well recorded music is more "revealing" with regards to a speaker's characteristics.

This could actually be true in some circumstances, but generally, it is because we are presented with more channels of information with HT/surround, whereas music is usually 2 ch. Our discrimination of loudspeaker problems diminish with increasing channels and rises with decreasing, to where we are actually most sensitive to some issues in single channel mono. IOW, some deficiencies are hidden by MCH, brought to the forefront with 2ch.

With regards to the Tekton and other similar HE designs with wide range drivers + (super) tweeter, this is often guided by the fact that many will be driven with low power..and more importantly, low feedback design amplifiers, like SET tubes, etc.

these type of amplifiers are highly susceptible to the reactance of typical multi-way/XO speakers, which have quite varying impedance vs frequency curves.

The wide range drivers + (super) tweeter (say above 10k) will have a very benign, gently constant curving type impedance, except maybe in the upper treble range, outside the "critical band" of 300-3khz, lending themselves to less EQ effect and nastiness when presented with a more typical multi-way design.


cheers,


AJ

 

[allanf714]

Makes sense AJ. Thanks for the commentary.


Allan