Tekton Double Impact & Comb Filtering


Like many of you, I have been pondering purchasing these speakers but am very curious about the unusual tweeter array. I asked the smartest speaker person that I know (he is a student of Sean Olive) about the design and below is what he had to say.   

"In theory it could work, but the driver spacing means that the crossover point would need to be very low.
He is using the SB acoustics tweeter which is 72mm in diameter, center to center on the outside opposing drivers is around 5.7 inches, which is about 2400Hz. This means that combing would stop between 1/4 to 1/2 of the wavelength (between 1200-600Hz) is where the outside tweeters should start playing nice with each other.
Since he is not using low enough crossover points he has created a comb filtering monster. Now while it's not the great point source that was promised, it's no worse than most line arrays and the combing will average itself out given enough listening distance.

The MTM spacing on the other hand is ridiculous. Hopefully he is cutting the top end off on one of those midrange drivers to avoid combing."

seanheis1
Sean,

Just to clarify, these are not the comments of a friend. I reached out to a well known speaker reviewer and this was his response. He is one of those reviewers who is into measurements. His response put me into a hold pattern on whether or not I should purchase these speakers and I felt like the information was worth sharing and discussing.

So which one is it or would you like to continue deceiving us.

Folks the DI's are a very good sounding speaker that honestly have no right to sound as good as they do especially at their price point.
Yes they utilize cheap,average,off the shelf drivers that throw any misconceptions in speaker design right out the window,The magical sound comes from design implementation,crossover design and high quality passive components in the crossovers.
Which I've upgraded mine much more with even better sounding passive parts and wiring.

Can The the DI's honestly be called a world beating speaker,I would say no they aren't but they definitely sound better to my ears than much more expensive speakers I've owned or heard.

Disclaimer,I much prefer a system pairing of equipment that is natural,not fatiguing and real sounding,I don't like most high end "Hi Fi" speakers that I've actually heard,they may have a tiny bit more detail,extension and pin point soundstage that you can reach out and touch and may have a touch more air.

Kenny.
I have (the proverbial) no dog in this fight. Tekton has gone from a smallish company with a limited amount (and affordable) speaker line to a company with many complicated (and somewhat expensive) larger line of loudspeakers. Throw in the optional mods makes it even more confusing. It seems as if the different levels somewhat overlap each other. I would like to listen to Tekton but I know of no one in my area that has them. A dealer network would be nice but I'm sure that would substantially raise the prices. I too, have some concerns about Tekton. Especially hearing how they may have performed poorly at the LA Show. I'm not sure about this as I don't know all the details of that event. I don't believe that some of the posters are being highly critical here. They just want some answers to what appears to be an incredibly hyped product. I have no doubt that the DI owners sincerely believe in the performance of the product, but should not be quite so defensive of the "new baby."IMO.
Kalali,

Here is a simple explanation of comb filtering that may help you,

Comb Filtering: This is basically a delayed version of a primary signal that is produced when two or more loudspeakers or drivers are playing the same signal at different distances from the listener. In any enclosed space such as a music or theater room, listeners hear a mixture of direct and reflected sound. Because the reflected sound takes longer to reach our ears, it constitutes a delayed version of the direct sound and a comb filter is created where the two combine at the listener. The extent of its audibility depends on how lively the room is to allow the reflected sounds to average out the overall response. Note that this interference may be constructive (additive) or destructive (subtractive).

Basically this why the DI's have the crossover design that they do.

Kenny.
Mr_m,

You bring up some very revalant points that I certainly cannot argue with.

In your opinion do you think that Tekton is not quite ready,as a whole,for primetime.

Kenny.
I have not heard but does not surprise me that they sound good. Many less expensive speakers including many vintage will likely sound better than ever if run off proper good quality modern electronics and amplification. My current stand is I see no need for most to drop megabucks on speakers in order to get highly satisfying sound. In many cases, if matched and set up well, I suspect cheap speakers could very well even outperform others costing way more. A lot depends on user expectations. No absolute right or wrong there.  Another reason why the traditional high end of audio is probably hitting harder times than ever.