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Tekton Impact Monitors

Hi All,
I'm relatively new to Audiogon but have trolled the discussions for a few months. I have been listening to Spendor LS3/5As driven by a Quad 34/306 combination since the late 1980's and decided that it was finally time to upgrade my speakers. I love the Spendors but they are very limited in dynamics and scale. I auditioned the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers and while they brought some additional scale they simply didn't have the sweet midrange that I can't live without. I listened to some open baffle speakers (Emerald Physics) and loved them, but their size and need for space worried me, and I found them less satisfying at moderate and low volumes, where I do a fair bit of listening. I was fascinated by all the discussion regarding Tekton speakers and was considering getting a pair of Enzo 2.7s, but after a short discussion with Eric I followed his recommendation of the Impact Monitor with upgrade. They have the 7 tweeter array and a pair of 6.5" woofers and are rear-ported. I use a pair of SVS subs (the sealed variety). The Impact Monitors are simply amazing. The midrange is oh-so-sweet (very similar to my Spendors, but with more air) and the detail, even at low and moderate listening levels, is superb. The imaging is even better than my Spendors managed and the scale is huge and is much more music-appropriate. My system is really quite modest but now when I walk into my listening room (doubles as our living room - thankfully my wife appreciates Hi-Fi) I get the audio-show feeling of "being there". I have a Denon DP59L turntable with a DL110 HO moving coil cartridge running through an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp and the Tektons are absolutely incredible with classic rock on vinyl. I'm not sure how Eric managed it, but these speakers are superb, even with my 30 year old Quad electronics. I believe they are basically the top 24" of the Double Impacts, but are rear-ported rather than front ported. I can heartily recommend them and Eric and his team are great to work with. I'm not sure how many other Impact Monitors are out there since the pair I have are S/N 0005 and 0006!  
ky1mag
kdude66
1,198 posts
 
pawsman,

Your tweeters from your posted pic look like the,

Sb acoustics SB26STCN-C000-4

The sensitivity would match up perfectly from the specs.
But this tweeter has a higher resonance frequency than the Sb acoustics ring dome SB29RDNC-C000-4 that is used in the DI's floorstanders and wouldn't play as low, I don't think.

Kenny.
kdude66
1,198 posts
 
backsigns,

I believe that the peerless Tympani dome tweeters may be only used on the Double Impact SE version with Scanspeak mids and possibly the woofers also.


Kenny.
backsigns
9 posts
 
I was looking at those earlier and thought they looked more like it. I wonder if cost is the reason for the change. If it is a drop in replacement you could just replace them all, for a couple of hundred bucks, lol if you didn't like the soft domes.
ky1mag OP
18 posts
 
pawsman I looked at the photos and I believe the tweeters are the same as those in the IMs that I had. You can look inside through the port with a flashlight and see the maker and number of the tweeters and I'll bet they are as kdude66 suggests, the SB tweeters. It is also interesting that you are really happy with your IMs and it just goes to show how the electronics and room, probably more the room, can influence the sound, to say nothing of the actual ears and brain doing the listening. Audio is fun. Music is great. My desert island disk is Jascha Heifetz playing Bruch and Vieuxtemps, recorded back in the early 60's. I've listened to hundreds of hours of live violin, so that is the sound I go after with my system.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
david_ten
2,509 posts
 
@pawsman  Thanks for posting the pic in your systems page.  Your photo and the subsequent discussions have helped clarify the confusion I previously had. As I thought, per what Eric has posted on his site, the 'upper half' of the DIs and the Impact Monitor are different. As is the porting. And efficiency.

@ky1mag Please note, that my comments are in reference to the Double Impact 'upper half' configuration and not of the Impact Monitors. I apologize, if I added to the confusion over this. 
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