Tekton Design's new THE PERFECT SET equals "goosebumps time"


Just got in house for review for hometheaterreview.com Tekton Design’s new, The Perfect SET, which is close to 100dB efficient and never dips below 8 ohms, which Eric built to be used with SET "flea watt" amplifiers. It is a front ported design using a 12 inch woofer and his patented array of small transducers that function as a midrange driver with a single tweeter in the middle. I set them up in a system with a great 2A3 SET amplifier and found them so superlative I did not stop listening for over five hours! Taking about "goosebump time" the music was so beautiful that
I lost track of time.

These speakers have all the virtues of the other Tekton speakers, speed, utter transparency/micro-details, great soundstaging, and that special "aliveness" that I experience when I listen to my Ulf’s. What really amazed me was what the Perfect SET was delivering on the bottom end frequencies, subterrainian/taut powerful bass, that was shaking the room, all coming from at most 2.5 to 3 watts.

If you love SET amplifiers this speaker is a match made in heaven, and remember this pair just arrived and is not totally burnt in yet.

teajay

Hey Teajay,

Thanks for such a quick and in-depth response!  Good to know both speakers have very good soundstage capabilities.

Good point about listening space and bass extension.  While my room is on the small size (as far as I would like) at 13’ x 20’ x 8’, it has been acoustically treated following Ethan Winer's guidelines.  After playing with placement, it has my system/room sounding the best it ever has.  Hopefully this would be enough to control the Perfect Set's bass.  

And, as you said, the proper recording is the starting point.

Since my listening is near field and at lower levels that I use to listen at back in the days of my youth, your previous comments about the Perfect SET having good low level listening characteristic was also important to know.

The one thing I will not be able to replicate is the quality of your upstream components.  You’ve got one nice system there!  I’m old school (like my moniker) with a Cary SLP 94 and highly modified Dynaco ST70 based on Lance Cochran’s circuit.  But, like many of the other brands you’ve reviewed, I feel my gear gives me a very good return on my investment with a little tube rolling to fine tune the sound.

Still, always room for improvement, so thanks again for your comments on these two speakers.  Unfortunately, I live in a rural area and have not had an opportunity to hear any Tekton speakers.  But your description of what they provide beyond the typical horn design is what I’m looking to achieve.

Thanks again.


Thank you Teajay for your extended comparison of the Perfect SET and NSMT Model 50 — greatly appreciated! 

My wife and I moved into a wonderful townhouse 1 year ago, and about 6 months ago after quite a bit of deliberation, 
I purchase a Coincident Dynamo SE 8 wpc SEP and Klipsch Heresy III speakers for a 2nd system, in my den/library.  I chose the Heresy for what it could offer in a small dual purpose room — they can be positioned close to the wall, their horn tweeter has controlled dispersion  which limits its interaction with the room and therefore the need for room treatments, and they have a somewhat limited bass response (58 Hz +\- 4 dB),  to avoid overloading the room. And they look very nice in the room, in a special blond cherry veneer.  All well and good — I’m just not in love with the sound unfortunately. The bass — while well defined — is inadequate. They do sound better with a subwoofer and at higher volume — not ideal in that we live in a townhouse and the room is abutting our neighbor, and I don’t need to worsen my hearing loss with high SPLs. Also, I think I now know of the horn coloration of which you allude to. 

Like oldschoolsound, I live in a rural area and have not heard Tekton speakers. 
I guess I am not a true/dedicated audiophile like oldschoolsound — I am not inclined to use this space solely as listening room, and I am not particularly interested in adorning the room with acoustic treatments. I am a music lover though — and want to be drawn to the space to listen for extended periods without fatigue,  to escape, to feel the emotional impact of the music , for the music to sound live.  While the dynamic response of a speaker is critically important I think to achieve this alive quality — and the Heresys have this in spades — I’m not convinced that the horn tweeter provides a natural sound. Actually, I am okay with some coloration and loss of resolution if it allows me to connect more with the music, and it helps bad recordings sound better. 

Based on on your description, the size of the room, and aesthetic considerations including my aversion to room treatments— the Jamaica is probably a better fit for me. 

Thanks again Teajay. 






Hey Mikirob—
I have the stock tubes supplied with the amp, and have been thinking about upgrading them, so I would appreciate some recommendations. I was under the impression that the EL34 tubes were Tung Sol, but they are not clearly labeled as such. Considering that the amp ( my first tube amplifier) was only $1500, spending $500 or so in tube upgrades would be worthwhile.  I asked Israel Blume if I could put in a KT77 — an EL34 equivalent — and he advised against. Thinking about Mullard or Tung Sol EL34s, and the Russian 6H9C (black base) , a 6SL7 equivalent that Dick Olsher liked with this amp in TAS review last June.  Which tubes are you using? Best, Dave