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Considering the New Tekton Design Encores? AND Owners Group - Experiences/Questions

I am the very happy owner of the first pair of New Tekton Design Encores and I thought I would create this thread to answer any questions anyone might have regarding the Encore speakers, room considerations, and associated equipment. If you’ve order your pair already, please chime in. I really want to hear what other people’s experience are with these unbelievable speakers.

I drive my Encores with both an Art Audio Diavolo SET 300b Tube Amplifier with 8wpc and I switch in my 700w Nord One-Up SE Monoblocks for non-critical listening and some big pieces of music that benefit from the extra power.



  • Made under U.S. Patent 9247339 with multiple new patents pending
  • Proprietary loudspeaker design
  • Ultra-linear frequency response with ±.5dB deviation from 70Hz-20kHz
  • One single crossover element placed within the tweeter path
  • Ultra-linear, entirely time-invariant minimum-phase mid-range section
  • Proprietary patent pending 15 dome radiating hybrid MTM high frequency array
  • Two 6.5" mid-bass patented ’overtone & harmonic’ transducers
  • Dual 11" low-frequency transducers
  • ​96dB 2.83V@1m sensitivity
  • 4 Ohm design for optimum performance
  • 20Hz-30kHz frequency response​
  • Dimensions Width 13.25" x Depth 15.25" x Height 62"
  • 800 Watt power handling
  • Weight 175 lbs​
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xjcarcopo
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jcarcopo OP
364 posts
 
@charles1dad Yes, they are a very worthy upgrade. Where else can you get a manufacturer that gives you more than 50% of the speaker’s price tag just in drivers and the crossover parts alone? It’s unheard of! You’re lucky to get $2000 in total parts for a typical $10k high-end speaker. Hell, just the tweeters alone in the Encore are worth around $2400, but what they do collectively and sonically is priceless. This is a very high value proposition for anyone looking for a real steal of a deal along with exquisite performance that rivals speakers costing many multiples of the Encores price. Join the club, you won’t be disappointed.
evolvist
165 posts
 

Well, I'm excited about the Encores. There is stiff competition out there, but if these destroy the DIs (among other non-Tekton brands, obviously), then it's certainly a good value for the dollar.

We all know people are who are spending stupid cash on speakers, and though I'm not saying that the end doesn't justify the means, as there are also tons of wonderful speakers on the market; nevertheless, one has to wonder why half of them (or more) or just a reiteration, upon a reiteration, upon a reiteration of the same theme with no discernible benefits.

I have a very good friend, whom I adore as an audiophile mind, who just has to buy the latest and greatest. There's nothing wrong with that, but what I find odd is that he'll snub his nose at previous "Speakers of the Year," or whatnot, as if the technology really has changed, since, let's say, 2002, or even 1982, when very well made speakers from the past can still spark the mind in 2018.


In the case of the Encores, it seems like they'll wipe the floor with the DIs.

Are they good enough? We'll see, as room size, front end gears, amplification, etc. can make a difference in how a speaker speaks to you.

mr_m
1,087 posts
 
jcarcopo,

I believe the "print thru" you heard on your vinyl is the result of a properly set-up turntable. Doesn't really have much to do with the resolution of the loudspeaker. IMO. I hear this artifact on my system many times.
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jcarcopo OP
364 posts
 
@mr_m I asked my buddy who mastered the digital recording off the original vinyl with a very refined vinyl analog playback/ADC recording setup and he said it was mastertape print-through since I was hearing the next line in the song before it actually played. Sort of like a faint 2 second preview of the next line of the song, which makes sense at least to me since the following line of the song imprinted on the layer of spooled tape beneath it. I don’t understand how that is a vinyl playback related issue. I wasn’t hearing an echo. I actually originally thought it was Sinatra wearing headphones hearing a previous take of the song played while singing along with it slightly delayed and the mic picked up his headphone output faintly. My buddy said normally this effect is so far down in db that it’s inaudible or corrected in the recording. The relevance to me was only to point out to everyone that I had played that track hundreds of times on both horn speakers and the DIs and never noticed it before. For the first time it was very noticeable to me on the Encores. The point I was making al beit poorly because I didn’t go into much detail was how resolute and transparent the Encores were at the retrieval of this low level hidden information on this familiar recording. My buddy has jbl k2 speakers and he couldn’t hear it.
mr_m
1,087 posts
 
I would tend to think that the tape print thru would be transferred to the vinyl if the process were of high enough resolution. As far as the tape is concerned, I was told the same thing that your friend told you. It seems that the recorder heads have sufficient magnetic capability to record a faint signal to the layer of tape below the first layer. I'm no expert, just an observation.
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