Tekton Double Impacts
Jcarcopo, I’ve only heard the Benchmark DAC once and thought the overall system was a bit dry and 2 dimensional. I wouldn’t know how much to attribute to the DAC. A friend of mine who has more familiarity with the Benchmark products feels they are somewhat sterile and clinical (Yet some listeners find them dead on accurate and neutral). Very little emotion conveyed, again I don’t know from personal encounter/listening. They could potentially improve with further burn-in but based on your early impressions they’d have to make substantial gains. Who knows? Charles |
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@charles1dad I’ve heard th AHB2 years ago, but only on their own speakers. It was very quiet with a black background, very detailed, smooth sounding but a tad analytical and cool sounding, which I kept wanting to blame on their speakers. Rory at Benchmark said the amps with the preamplifier and their Dac 3 possesses a synergy. If they beat out the Nords great, if not, they’ll be returned. I’m more excited with their new HPA4 Preamp. I've seen SET LOVERS remark that they love them. |
Jcarcopo, The Benchmark and Art Audio Diavolo are such different amplifiers I'm curious how they compare sonically. Of course its very possible that you could enjoy both amplifiers equally for what may be contrasting presentations. Now it would be very interesting if they actually sound quite similar despite different power,topology and output devices. Charles |
@almarg I only swap amps when both are powered down. It's a ritual I follow before changing from ss to tube or vice versa. I wouldn't be surprised if the Luxman AS-55 didn't already account for this potential issue and address it in their design. It's an extremely well made and overbuilt switcher made in Japan by a high end company, but I'm not taking any chances either. @charles1dad lol, well if I dont keep the AHB2 or HPA4 from Benchmark, than I'll still be in contention to winning the bet, buy it's not looking good. I'm hoping I prefer the Nords over the AHB2 because my bank account will thank me. |
almarg/JCarcopo I made up some speaker cable with Resistors soldered across the terminals just in case I forgot to select the the speakers when switching between The SS amp to the Primaluna Tube Amp. I have been know to drink sometimes when I am listening to music and did not want to take a chance on "letting the magic smoke out" of the Primaluna. I found the info online and can not remember which site . The resistors are150 ohms-10 watt or something like that. Good size chunky resistors. |
Jcarcopo, David was right and I was wrong. Given your description of immense joy with the Encores and Diavolo I mistakenly thought you would be content and just enjoy the music. I understand, we all have our unique quests, behavior and personality. I look forward to reading your listening impressions of the new components. I should have listened to fetguy 😊. Charles |
JCarcopo, when you use the switcher keep in mind that if a tube amp having output transformers is powered up and does not have speakers or equivalent load resistors connected to its outputs damage to the output transformers and/or output tubes can result. Especially if a signal is being provided to its inputs. Presumably the switcher connects its unselected inputs to nothing. Regards, -- Al |
@charles1dad I think I lost that bet with @david_ten I bought a Luxman AS-55 Japanese switcher to switch between my Diavolo and the Nords and soon a Benchmark AHB2 amplifier that I just ordered to try for 30 days. I also ordered the New Benchmark HP4 Line Preamplifier to try for 30 days as well. It's one hell of a preamplifier. I also upgraded my Analysis Plus cables to their Apex Silver interconnects. And picked up 5 of there Power Oval MK II cables. I guess I lost the bet. 🤪 |
tt02: Use REW to tune my system and retuned last night after the grill change. The bass required a +2 db increase to match with the treble now that the half grill is in place. Fairly modest adjustment. I use HSU subs in studio and 5.1 settings but do not care for them in stereo ones -- they muddy up the bass soundstage. Your point about subs and time delay is, however, well taken. |
craigI59 There are likely lots of ways to skin a DI grill. I too, prefer the appearance and sound of the half grill in place in addition to the practical reasons! Time delay, if there is one, would be purely academic at best. Low frequencies travel so much differently anyway and the sound difference of grill cloth and thin frame over and around the woofers would, at best be negligible. How many serious music listeners are using a 2.1 system with a sub without much concern of time delay? I have no doubt Eric voiced the DI’s without grills. If there IS a slight time delay or defraction of some kind, the benefit of the half grill by far outweighs a small deleterious sonic effect. 😎 |
Another half grill build Tried out the DIs without grills to make sure they sounded better and tt02, Eric, and others above are right -- they do. So I cut down my grills ala tt02 and VOILA -- there is added presence, lifelike timbres, and a bit more punch. HOWEVER, what I really notice is how much better they look. The boxlike nature of the lower half is complemented by the action look of the top set of speakers and the overall result is tons better than the DIs either with or without grills alone (are you listening, Eric?). My approach differed from tt02s. Simply cut the lower half of the grill off leaving extra speaker cloth. Then, the sides had to be chamfered in 4 places to make room for the larger woofers (Dremel works fine here). Glue the cloth back on, transfer the Tekton icons back over and you’re finished. First one took an hour (because of the chamfers) and the second 15 minutes. My only concern has to do with potential time delay of the woofer with a grill blockage slowing down its response by comparison to the rest of the drivers. Any ideas here? |
Did you maintain the bevel on the upper slat or just cut it off at the half piece slat? Yes, I kept the top bevel for a factory look. What I did was remove the uppermost rail (it is very lightly glued and stapled), cut the verticals to about 1” above the middle grill mounting holes. Then sanded the the side verticals to match the top bevel. I used five minute epoxy while holding in place. You could also sparingly use Gorilla glue. Touch up the sanded side bevel profiles with black paint so the the wood color doesn’t show through the black grill cloth. I like the look of mine and can still enjoy the top end sparkle and dispersion and don’t have to worry about my darned dogs marking territory. |
triumphtt02 Like your half grills and have an extra set so am thinking of giving them a try. Did you maintain the bevel on the upper slat or just cut it off at the half piece slat? Am not sure of the effect this will have on my REW tuned system but can retune the whole after the operation. Have cavalier spaniels that appreciate nothing more than lifting a leg on a pulsating device and, so, have to have the lower grills in place. |
Just a quick update on my DI’s (with the upgrade). The more hours these speakers are accumulating they continue to amazingly improve. I’m still waiting for the point in time when they stop sounding better! The lows have really fleshed out and upper mids and highs become ethereal with a breathtaking soundstage. I’m using bone standard 12 gage stranded OFC speaker wire. I recently ordered Morrow SP2 speaker wire to try with DI’s. Anyone have any experience with Morrow speaker cable? I ordered the DI’s with full speaker grills to protect the paper drivers from pets, curious grandchildren and vacuuming! Well, I didn’t like the rather veiled sound with the grills on, so I cut them in half to protect the vulnerable lower woofers just off the floor. Yeah, these puppies have presence, in more ways than one...😎 David suggested I remove the link to a Flickr pix. I did, so if you are interested in seeing my very modest system and 1/2 grills o the DI, PM me and I will send you a .jpeg. Cheers, DI fans! |
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Decided to tweak out today and apply some minor digital room correction via ROON’s built-in Eq/DSP to alleviate any peaks in the speaker response caused by the room/speaker interaction. A steep Q pull down of about 5db around 42hz and 15k is all that was needed to smooth out the speakers response in my room. The Double Impacts required a lot more corrections to get them to be relatively flat sounding in the same room. Kudos to the Encores then are very flat across the entire spectrum requiring only very minor adjustments to get them to play at their full potential in my room. |
@yakbob Back around 50 pages ago, that very question was asked. Several individuals moved their DI's up against the front wall just to see how things would be affected and I was a bit shocked that they felt the music held up pretty well. I think David made a helpful suggestion regarding the ports. In the end, you just have to give it a try. |
Bob, There are a number of folks using the DIs or similar up close to and nearly touching the front wall. Hopefully they will respond and answer your question / concerns directly. If you do go ahead with ordering a pair, I would get an absorptive panel installed against the wall, immediately behind the ports. I don’t recommend ’plugging’ the ports. My DI SEs are well out in my room (just so you know) and the ports are free to breathe. I have a home-made absorptive ’solution’ about 2 feet behind each speaker. |
I've been reading a lot of the posts here and while I'm satisfied with my current (sort of vintage) KEF R107s, the enthusiasm from DI owners has me considering a pair for demo. My question is: With the rear ports, how close to the back wall could one realistically run this speaker? I'd have to install along the rear wall and would only allow for 6" most of the time. I could pull them further out for critical listening which would put them about 9' from my listening position. The KEFs being vented at the top and front, allows me this positioning without reinforcement from the back wall. Any thoughts? |
@jay23 Rather narrow dispersion in the top octave will give it a horn like character. The vertical response is rather uneven in the mid range which is a little more concerning. Overly Bass heavy but so are more than 70% of current day speakers. Overall not bad at all. Not quite a reference quality speaker but great performance for the price! Nothing overly concerning at all and an excellent waterfall plot (good quality drivers). No wonder they are so popular. I am impressed! |
@powerglide , iIm using the pre with single ended Cerious Matrix cables. The pre does have a set of balanced inputs but I didn’t think it was true balanced but what do I know im just getting familiar with her. The pre is resting on a Maple shelf with Mapleshade pointy brass feet. im enjoying sensory overload at the moment. |
@corelli So well put and communicated. The feedback and reviews on these speakers has been so consistent that it is, IMO, easy to just order up and let the fun begin. Some, I know, really feel the need to audition first. But if that is not possible, the bigger risk is in missing out on a great speaker, not returning them! |
@triumphtt02 Congratulations also!!! Awesome to hear in words what you are experiencing >>> the DI’s are the best sounding HiFi stereo speakers i have ever heard in my home in over 40 years of listening to reproduced music. I’m thinking of building a Nelson Pass 8 watt class A Camp Amp to use with these speakers.+1 |
Lancelock, I am excited by the early feedback on the new MZ Preamp. Did you get the True Balanced Input option or are you using it single ended? Are you connected with a CT Matrix PC? Is it resting on the shelf of your rack or placed on points? Nothing is more exhilarating than experiencing a new listening apex which seemed previously unattainable! Savor the fullness of the moment. Please keep us posted as you fulfill all of the options during future use. |
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Herb Reichert's / Stereophile’s review of the Tekton Design Impact Monitor is now up on their site: This just further proves what @shadorne and I said about the design all along. "The tweeter array becomes gradually more directional as the frequency increases [above 'the cursor position at 3.8kHz.']" "In the vertical plane (fig.5), the use of two woofers spaced relatively far apart leads to major cancellations in the midrange above and below the response on the central tweeter axis, which again appears as a straight line. The Impact Monitor's vertical radiation pattern suggests that the speaker needs to be listened to within a narrow window centered on the central tweeter axis if the midrange balance is not to sound colored." |
@triumphtt02 Glad this all worked out so well for you. Your experience parallels many of ours where we did our research and then took that leap of faith and were rewarded for doing so. This underscores the issue brought up just recently on the previous page. The feedback and reviews on these speakers has been so consistent that it is, IMO, easy to just order up and let the fun begin. Some, I know, really feel the need to audition first. But if that is not possible, the bigger risk is in missing out on a great speaker, not returning them! |
I picked up the new Micro ZOTL Preamp today. I am running it with the LTA UltraLinear 20watt amp, with a Modwright Oppo 205 and of course my Tekton DI SE. I was running the UL direct from source without a pre for many months now, but now even after only an hour of play time I can say this is the best I’ve ever heard this system sound. I’m just sitting here in awe of this sound. Every sweet aspect of the UL has increased such as sound stage, clarity, space between notes, even the bass has more impact. Just wow. I thought I would get a few hours on the new preamp before chiming in but this is just too good. If anyone is thinking about purchasing a UL, you must consider this preamp. They are a match made in heaven. I had a chance to visit a local Audiophile with an Uber $$ system recently. I salivated over his David Berning 75K mono blocks and he had Magico speakers with an incredible dedicated listening room. I think my DI SE and LTA amps can compete now. Just sayin. |
Triumphtt02, Congratulations on acquiring the Double Impacts and it's good to read that you're so happy with them. I believe that you'll enjoy an increase in sound quality using the 8 watt Nelson Pass class A amplifier. Yes, fewer watts than your current amplifier but IMO increased watt quality. Charles |
@triumphtt02 - Congrats on ordering the Double Impacts! I’ve enjoyed mine thoroughly for the past year. Many hours of happy listening. @rpw The Encores are very new, so you may run into a dearth of people responding only because not many people have them yet. I was the first one to get a pair and there are a few more orders placed for them that I know of. I can only say I have no regrets upgrading to the Encores and I’ve been listening to them for many hours during the day. I hardly watch any TV now. They were totally worth it. Good luck. |
triumphtt02: Welcome to the Tekton world; you will get countless hours of pleasure from your purchase. You are an example of the people who use this thread intelligently -- listening to the owners who provide their honest experiences and ignoring the rest. Audiogon is to be praised for providing an outlet that permits this type of enquiry. |
