Well gentlemen,
Take a look at Clement Perry's review on the Encore's (Stereo Times). He went "ga-ga" over them. Virtually, all his staff reviewers now have Tekton speakers in their systems. They all had much more expensive speakers, until they heard Eric's designs and sold off their other speakers. |
Thanks for the heads-up, teajay.
I am not surprised at all by the enthusiasm of this review. In fact, I would say it is an echo of the reaction we have all had since receiving them. They are a much bigger step up from the SEs than the SEs are over the Double Impacts, in my opinion. Apparently, Mr. Perry feels the same way.
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@lancelock
I ordered the Matrix speaker cables, as well as a Matrix gold power cord to try on my Lyngdorf 3400. They will ship on Monday, so maybe by this time next week, I will have a good taste of what the Matrix can do for my system.
Thanks for your reports on these cables. |
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@teajay Any plans on reviewing the Encores and with a comparison to your Ulfberth based system? Thanks. |
Just read the review and Mr. Perry thinks these are a better speaker than the DI or DI SE. This does not surprise me based on the design and drivers used. He even states they are not a simple upgrade, but rather a wholesale change in presentation according to his ears, system and room. This sure seems like a gem and I just have to hear them.
Having owned the DIs and to now read this review gets me most excited! The DI is a wonderful speaker. The Encores must be a speaker of astounding ability and value. Most intriguing for sure. |
An audio friend is attending RMAF and he visited the Tekton Room showcasing the Encores. If you want to take a look, I uploaded the photo to my systems page. It is the first picture. Here's the link to my system page: https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/6658 |
@grannyring Thanks for the info. I read the review. Very high praise indeed. |
Thanks @david_ten for the link! |
There are Tektons in 3 rooms at RMAF, david's friend has a picture of Encores driven by Thrax gear at the link above, the Electron SEs and another pair of Encores were using Parasound gear. All three rooms were sounding way above their price points and Eric's room with a JC5 and OPPO player was top shelf. I'm bringing a friend Saturday primarily to hear the Encores.
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@klh007 Thanks for the RMAF Tekton coverage and updates! I'm jealous. Wish I was there.
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@teajay Thanks for letting us know about the review. Sorry I forgot to mention you yesterday. Didn't want to leave you out!
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@waltersalas I also ordered the Matrix cables for my Lyngdorf 3400 and the Encores. Quite a little club here...LOL
I also was very impressed with Clement's review of the Encores. I know Clement and it was he who called me over a year ago and told me about the Tektons. I had the KEF Blade 2 at the time and I wasn't looking for a change. But..., because I trust his judgement and his ears, I ordered the first pair of the DIs the next day. Sold my KEF shortly after and never looked back. Now enjoying my third pair of the Tektons. Just wonderful.
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@olesno
Eventually, we may all have exactly the same systems, LOL. It appears you and I are pretty close to being there already.
I must say that I am enjoying my vinyl far more than I expected to through the conversion process of the HQ analog inputs. That was a big concern for me, but it is really very natural sounding to my ears.
As for the Encores, I firmly believe they will be my last set of speakers. I can find nothing wanting about them at all. |
I have to say all this is making me want to listen to a pair of Tekton's. I have to say your's, pictured, are one of the nicer ones I've seen in that darker red finish. I don't care for large black box's, one of the reasons i have not looked at Tekton's ,to be honest, but those look very nice indeed. It's also very confusing going to the Tekton sight I mean how many different speakers can one guy design lol. I may have to look more closely as I start my search for a little more bass in a high sensitivity speaker. I respect Charles views here as well, from what I've read we share a 300b SET love and speaker similarity type.
Thanks for your post jcarcopo, i'll be keeping an eye on your posts.
Glen (one n so yea my last name is Newdick I like to be honest with who I am online it keeps me treating people like people). |
Glen,
I don’t own Tekton speakers but I’ve heard the Double Impacts (D.I.) in a friend’s system using my Coincident Frankenstein 300b SET. Later he replaced these speakers with the D.I. SE model which I heard with the Auric Audio 300b SET. I believe that you’d be impressed with them. I was. Despite their 4 ohm impedance they were easily driven by both 8 watt SET amplifiers.
Given what has been said about the Tekton Encores from those who previously owned the D.I. I strongly suspect that this is a very special speaker to consider if it fails within your budget. Jcarcopo is using it successfully with his Art Audio Diavolo 300b SET. The Encores are large speakers so room size is a factor to consider.
Charles |
OP Sorry if this has already been asked, I didn't see if it was. What color did you get your encores in? On my screen looks pretty close to one of my acoustic foam colors :) After getting a projector Im leaning towards picking up a pair of encores Tekton didn't have the encores available at the time that i ordered my di's.
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@jakefalcons My Encores are finished in the color Spanish Tile with a high gloss finish. |
What is the cabinent construction of the speakers like? |
@d2girls The Encores weigh a beastly 175lbs each and are very well braced internally. |
Much attention is paid to a speaker's driver quality and crossover and rightly so. I contend that one of the reasons for the Encores superior sound quality is the internal bracing and improved cabinet construction.
Charles |
These speakers sure are making a splash. It's really intriguing.
If only the Tekton designs weren't so huge and ugly, I'd be all over wanting to try them out!
Ah well...pity us poor aesthetes... |
They might be braced well, internally, but they fail the knuckle test big time. Tap on these Tekton speakers and you can hear the echo all the way back to Utah.
Now, whether or not that has anything to do with the sound that comes out of the Tekton speakers, well, that's a different story. A ton of people dig the sound. However, I haven't seen anything from Tekton that speaks to internal vibration control. One would have to assume that the speakers are voiced the way they are, taking into account the natural vibration conducive to all transducers. But that's just as assumption. Having viewed Tekton speakers on the inside, they lead me to believe that Tekton is voiced a certain way, yes, but internal vibration is not addressed in what amounts to little more than a cave.
You'll have the extra expenditure of stands, or whatever, for sure. |
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it was ever thus. I brought in the Pure Audio Project Trio15 Horn1 speakers and thought they looked kind of cool, but my wife literally wept once we assembled them and she got a good look at them. Well.
A few weeks later, when my Encores arrived in the Spanish tile soft gloss finish, we both agreed that they looked great in our living room. But what do we know, philistines that we are? They go great with our dogs-playing-poker black velvet oil paintings.
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Honestly the overriding criteria should be the ’end result sound quality. There are numerous ways to build a speaker /cabinets and obtain high quality sound. The knuckle wrap isn’t indicative of the final sound.
What if a particular speaker produced an approved knuckle wrap response yet yields poor sound quality. Of what predictive value is the knuckle wrap? Given the very positive comments regarding the Tekton Encores if would suggest that the cabinet wrapping test is inconsequential.
Charles |
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
It sure is.
Reminds me of the Soundstage review of the Joseph Audio Pulsar stand mounted speakers. To me, and to the reviewer, they look like normal, elegant little stand mounted speakers, with particularly classy woodwork. But apparently the reviewer's wife loathed the way they looked more than any other gear he'd reviewed, so he couldn't keep them. That reaction had me truly baffled.
Though I had another slightly baffling experience as well. I had Thiel 3.7 speakers for a while in our living room/media room. They were a beautiful design but a bit big for the room. My wife isn't big on seeing large speakers so when I told her I was getting smaller ones she was happy. I got the slightly smaller Thiel 2.7s, in a truly gorgeous ebony wood that perfectly matched our decor. To my eyes, among the most beautiful, restrained, designs I've ever seen. Yet my wife preferred the looks of the big speakers. Wimmin....go figure....
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Honestly the overriding criteria should be the ’end result sound quality. There are numerous ways to build a speaker /cabinets and obtain high quality sound. The knuckle wrap isn’t indicative of the final sound.
What if a particular speaker produced an approved knuckle wrap response yet yields poor sound quality. Of what predictive value is the knuckle wrap? Given the very positive comments regarding the Tekton Encores if would suggest that the cabinet wrapping test is inconsequential.
Charles
Reading comprehension, sir. To wit, "
They might be braced well, internally, but they fail the knuckle test big time...Now, whether or not that has anything to do with the sound that comes out of the Tekton speakers, well, that's a different story. A ton of people dig the sound. The knuckle wrap should only be an indicator to look inside and understand how the speaker is made. Again, a lot of people dig the sound. On the other hand, they might dig the sound better if something was done to keep vibration to a minimum...and no, sealed portions of the cabinet doesn't mean much. It's an echo chamber in there. But yeah, as long as it sounds good, who cares, right? This is true. Only could it sound better had real design gone into these? You bet. |
@evolvist Why did you want to buy the Encores then? I realize you are upset with Tekton, but really? My Encores have no cavernous sounds eminating from the box and more importantly they simply sound phenomenal. |
Checking in to see if the Encore owners have new feedback or findings to report on based changes, tweaks, etc.? |
After hearing some suggestions from @waltersalas about the Encore's I am interested to see how they would work with my system. I have the Line Magnetic 805ia which is a single ended amp pushing 48W per channel. It doesn't sound like that will be an issue for these speakers. Are there any grills that one can add to these speakers? I'm thinking about the WAF here as well since any speakers will have to go into the living room.
Any others using these speakers with tube amps? Thoughts? |
@freesole I use a Lyngdorf TDAI 3400 and a 10wpc SET 300b amplifier with reasonably good results with the Encores so I'm sure you will be very happy with 48wpc driving them due to the Encores fairly high sensitivity. You can order them with grills, though I will warn you that you may be waiting a longer lead time to actually get the grills as others have suggested regarding other models they've ordered with grills.
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I've got the upgrade bug, but I wonder if this speaker will be better than what I already have? I have a pair of Legacy Focus which was a highly regarded speaker when I bought it. The driver compliment is: 3...12" woofers, 2...6.5" kevlar mid-woofers, 1...1" soft dome tweeter and 1...4" ribbon tweeter. They are fairly large at 55" tall and weigh about 175 lbs each.
They are now 20 years old and still sound wonderfully transparent along with strong tight bass. However, I wonder if the Encore could offer even more transparency and equal bass power?
My listening room is in the basement with a concrete floor and measures 20'x20' with a ceiling height of 6' 6". |
@iwasgointo, I owned Legacy Focus 20/20s for a while, very good speaker. I'm not sure the Encore can give you more bass impact but they might go lower? With 14 tweeters crossing over at 300Hz I think you'll get more midrange and vocal detail and transparency vs the Focus. They both play loud w/o strain, but the Encores might be even more dynamically alive than the Focus. The Encores are more efficient allowing for more choices in low powered tube or SS amps. Why not call Eric and see if he has experience with Focus speakers, he could give you some valuable insight? |
@iwasgointo Maybe you need the Ulfberhts? They feature dual 12" woofers vs the dual 11" woofers in the Encores, al beit it's a much taller, wider, and more expensive speaker. I prefer the more slender and slightly less tall asthetics of the Encores in my room and find the bass to be very sastisfying. I agree the major gain to be had with the Encores is the MTM Array handling from 300hz to 20khz which makes them very beautiful, coherant, transparent, and electro-static like in the midrange and highs which are also very smooth and not harsh or bright at all.
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Any updates on Encores/Lyngdorf/Tube amps after further breaking-in and deep-listening sessions? ***heavy breathing***:)
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@latebloomer I'm terribly sorry for not replying. I must have unfollowed my own thread by mistake. LOL - I currently only use the Lyngdorf and it's a very good sonic match with the Encores. It's not analytical sounding at all. Very neutral, slightly warm sounding like a very clean tube amp. No harshness or grain whatsoever. I sold my Art Audio Diavolo SET amp if that tells you anything. Mostly because I felt with room correction engaged 8wpc wasn't enough to handle 10db of compensation at 100hz due to a persistent (I tried moving the speakers to no avail) bass suck out in my room. However, I have recently purchased some 50wpc
6C33C
PSET Monoblocks from Lansing Audio yesterday and hope the added wattage can give me the holographic and palpable sound that SET amps are known for while allowing to still use the Room Perfect Room Correction to clean up the 40hz bass mode in my room which when not attenuated for creates a bit of congestion obscuring the midrange. |
Dear OP
Congratulation on getting
50wpc 6C33C PSET Monoblocks.
I was also tempted to participate in the auction but I have two excellent SET amp so I may not need one more.
It will be fun to drive Encore with 50W SET amp.
Thomas |
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@charles1dad I switched back to tubes! I picked up some Allnic A6000 pse quad parallel 300bxls 60 wpc SET Tube Monoblocks from Audiogon! I absolutely love them with my Encores. Having so power really allows the Encores to perform their best!
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Hi Jcarcopo,
That is surprising and unexpected news from you. I know how thrilled you were with the performance of your Lyngdorf. What does the Allnic do better (or different) ? Do you plan on keeping both? Congratulations as I am pretty certain that this Allnic PSET sounds quite wonderful driving your Encores.
Charles |
@charles1dad The Allnic monoblocks drive the Encores much better and that 50 extra watts of SET power allows me to play larger pieces of music with ease at higher volume levels all while maintaining its composure. Every nuance of the music is preserved at higher volumes. The Allnics delineate every instrument and voices with ease, they have incredible depth of field, and a haunting sound that startles me emotionally with greater dynamics both micro and macro. The bass is controlled and effortless now, whereas it was struggling on the Diavolo at higher volumes. The vocals are breathtakingly beautiful! The Lyngdorf is no slouch, but it doesn’t do what a SETs does in spades; make music sound real and emotionally engaging. I now do room correction directly in ROON DSP/EQ and don’t need the Lyngdorf for RoomPerfect anymore. The Lyngdorf was trying to add +10db of gain in a feeble attempt to quell a 100hz suck-out in my room. This put huge demands on the tube amplifier and even the Lyngdorf’s internal amplifier which would occasionally clip on certain bass heavy notes. There’s no way to eq a major suck-out in a room with EQ. Why the Lyngdorf tries to throw that much gain at the problem is beyond me IMHO and there’s no way to curtail it in the Lyngdorf. So the Lyngdorf goes up for sale next week. I put these Allnics into a class next to LAMM SETs. They do everything right, they are very well made, and they dig deep into the music to tickle your ears with excellent detail retrieval. I’ve been listening for 10 hours straight. I took a nap and woke up at 4am and started playing again this morning. I can’t get enough!
PS: I have an Ayon Audio Stealth DAC Tube/Pre coming today to replace the Lyngdorf. |
Jcarcopo,
That is wonderful news and I am really happy for your fantastic results. You are obviously enjoying magnificent sound quality and listening experiences in your home. I am very happy for you.
I doubt that you will have any problem selling the Lyngdorf.
Charles |
