Tekton Enzo XL Measured by Stereophile

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andy rothman

Audiophyte
this will be my 1st and only post. take all your over analytical measurements,all your worry about what cones,what products he uses in his design build and any other audiophile jargon...the enzo xl is without a doubt the best SOUNDING speaker under almost any price,let alone 2100. you could argue all day..i know for a fact they are..i have owned some of the best speakers ever made over the last 30years.eric is way ahead of your ability to understand what his speakers accomplish. the PROOF IS IN THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
this will be my 1st and only post. take all your over analytical measurements,all your worry about what cones,what products he uses in his design build and any other audiophile jargon...the enzo xl is IN MY OPINION the best SOUNDING speaker under almost any price,let alone 2100. you could argue all day..i know for a fact they are..i have owned some of the best speakers ever made over the last 30years.eric is way ahead of your ability to understand what his speakers accomplish. the PROOF IS IN THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE.
Tekton mole????

Fixed the post for you by inserting IN MY OPINION
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
The maker claims sensitivity is 96.5 dB/W, while Stereophile measured a much more believable 90.6. That isn't low, but its significantly less than 96.5.

They say this is a 3-way speaker. I thought it was a 2-way.

The off-axis response below 2 kHz does drop off in a big way. I am used to speakers that don't do that, if I heard beaming like that, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it.

Is the crossover point near 2 kHz? There was an ugly looking resonance near that point.

The cabinet appears to have large resonances.

For $2100, I'd avoid those speakers.

The written review was classic smoke & mirrors, where the reviewer spoke more about himself than the speakers he was reviewing. Fortunately, he didn't mention those pricey crossover options.
You can tell form the impedance curve that the crossover is around 1100 Hz.

If you must use cheap woofers of paper with a corrugated surround then the designer has done a better job than you might imagine.

This speaker has much more in common with instrument speakers than Hi-Fi speakers.

The sensitivity is on the high side, but much lower than spec. Now don't confuse efficiency and sensitivity. Sensitivity is on axis. Given the beaming and narrow dispersion this speaker is on the low end of average when it comes to efficiency. You must always look at the polar response in conjunction with sensitivity, to know how much of the amp power will be delivered to the room.

This is not surprising as the speaker has a pretty decent bass response as far as extension goes. As I have said before there is an inverse relationship with bass extension and sensitivity/efficiency. So it should be no surprise that this speaker is not stellar in the efficiency stakes.

You can tell from the measurements that this speaker is relatively high Q to get the last ounce of bass extension. I would bet that this with the cabinet resonances make this speaker a bit of a boomer.

Now to the crossover. Woofers of this type have far from smooth response at the upper end of the range. The designer has started to roll off the woofer at 200 to 300 Hz I would guess. This will deal with the BSC and ameliorate the worst effects of cone breakup and surround reflections typical of this type of woofer.

The tweeters which I'm pretty sure are SB 29R DCN types roll off at 1750 Hz, they are low Q and have a low FS. So their roll off at 1750 Hz with the electrical crossover at around 1100 Hz gets the job done. However the combined responses give a slightly depressed response. So the speaker will not be overly forward in fact in some aspects retiring.

However the waterfall response and other graphs, show considerable discontinuity in the crossover region as you would expect matching large cones with tweeters. I would expect this speaker to have only average to poor speech clarity.

At 2 KHz we see a small residual break up mode peak from the woofers. This will give it the instrument speaker quality. It will add sizzle to the lead guitar, snares and top hats, but I would doubt it is ideal for solo and massed violins, flutes and trumpets let alone vocalists especially sopranos.

Over all I suspect this is a speaker you might be pleased with if you diet is confined to rock and pop music, although you might find it too boomy and in some registers too retiring.

Not a speaker I would seek out by a long shot, but I can see some who might.

In the end I have to wonder why this designer has this obsession for mating crude cheap large woofers with a short high end tweeter arrays, when there are far better options.
 
L

lukesky518

Enthusiast
Hifi has been my hobby since 1974 when I bought my first system . I would guess I have had at least 200 different components over the years . I just bought a pair of the Tekton Enzo 2.7's based on ( mostly ) the performance of my Lore's . I see a bunch of posts here regarding measurements and how a speaker measures somehow dictates its performance . I have had Thiel's , Maggies , Vandersteens , KEF , ADS , Linn and many I have forgotten about . Theses Enzo's are in a different league . Maybe trying using your ears to judge ? Did you guys read the complete Stereophile review where they actually listened to the speakers or just read the measurements and decided they suck ? lol
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Hifi has been my hobby since 1974 when I bought my first system . I would guess I have had at least 200 different components over the years . I just bought a pair of the Tekton Enzo 2.7's based on ( mostly ) the performance of my Lore's . I see a bunch of posts here regarding measurements and how a speaker measures somehow dictates its performance . I have had Thiel's , Maggies , Vandersteens , KEF , ADS , Linn and many I have forgotten about . Theses Enzo's are in a different league . Maybe trying using your ears to judge ? Did you guys read the complete Stereophile review where they actually listened to the speakers or just read the measurements and decided they suck ? lol
I'd like to be able to pick more than one rating for that post – its an old thread and its a dumb post. But I had to chose just one.

It's like that old Rodney Dangerfield joke about his doctor.
Doctor: You're crazy.
Rodney: Doc, I want a second opinion.
Doctor: You're ugly too.

Sometimes you're better off not asking – or posting :p.
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
I'd like to be able to pick more than one rating for that post – its an old thread and its a dumb post. But I had to chose just one.

It's like that old Rodney Dangerfield joke about his doctor.
Doctor: You're crazy.
Rodney: Doc, I want a second opinion.
Doctor: You're ugly too.

Sometimes you're better off not asking – or posting :p.
I've "heard" some good reviews, but have never heard or known anyone with their products so I can't comment. If I was to go on lack of placement, I'd say they are a tough sale.
 
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lukesky518

Enthusiast
I can see that over 40 years of hifi experience and first hand ownership of the product being discussed means nothing to the uninformed . It's much better to talk measurements and conjecture than real experience . Highly intelligent .
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I can see that over 40 years of hifi experience and first hand ownership of the product being discussed means nothing to the uninformed . It's much better to talk measurements and conjecture than real experience . Highly intelligent .
“Experience” is like what they say about “practice”.

Practice does NOT make perfect.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

In the healthcare field, lab values don’t mean anything unless the patients feel great. But the lab values can help us get there.

With speakers, the measurements don’t mean everything. But they can help us find the speakers that suit us the best.

Now if we were just shooting the breeze, I would just say that the salient thing is how much we like our systems at the end of the day, not the numbers/ measurements.

If you love the way your speakers sound, then that is all that matters to you. You are set.

But your speakers may not sound great to someone.

So I recommend that people audition first before buying speakers.

But if they cannot audition and must buy “blind”, then I would recommend burying speakers that have measurements that suit their preferences.
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
I've "heard" some good reviews, but have never heard or known anyone with their products so I can't comment. If I was to go on lack of placement, I'd say they are a tough sale.
I can see that over 40 years of hifi experience and first hand ownership of the product being discussed means nothing to the uninformed . It's much better to talk measurements and conjecture than real experience . Highly intelligent .
Glad your enjoying them, as my comment states I've never heard them nor has anyone I've personally known. As for measurements, agreeing with most others, it's an excellent base line for what to audition.
 
Speedskater

Speedskater

Audioholic General
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lukesky518

Enthusiast
AcuDefTechGuy......I agree with most of your post , well thought out . To me , measurements mean very little . I trust my ears and know what sounds good to me . A SET amp comes to mind here , it measures bad but sounds good . If one is looking for an "audiophile" type speaker the Tektons might not be their cup of tea . They get loud with low power , are dynamic as heck and sound more "live" than most . everettT......Thanks for the kind words .....what's interesting is that the folks that have heard them , love them ......the folks that haven't heard them , hate them. Cheers to all .
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
AcuDefTechGuy......I agree with most of your post , well thought out . To me , measurements mean very little . I trust my ears and know what sounds good to me . A SET amp comes to mind here , it measures bad but sounds good . If one is looking for an "audiophile" type speaker the Tektons might not be their cup of tea . They get loud with low power , are dynamic as heck and sound more "live" than most . everettT......Thanks for the kind words .....what's interesting is that the folks that have heard them , love them ......the folks that haven't heard them , hate them. Cheers to all .
Look, joining a forum in order to get offended just seems pointless. It is like volunteering for it. No one here said that someone couldn't enjoy these speakers. So what is your point? The funniest thing is that someone earlier gave the exact same diagnoses of these relying solely on measurements, so you shouldn't be quick to dismiss or underestimate.

In theses forums you'll never get an advice to make a decision only by measurements. It is always audition + specs. Which is good. On the other hand saying these are good because you trust your ears is actually less useful than measurements.
 
L

lukesky518

Enthusiast
killdozzer said ..." On the other hand saying these are good because you trust your ears is actually less useful than measurements. " Not to me . All that matters to me is how they sound .
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
killdozzer said ..." On the other hand saying these are good because you trust your ears is actually less useful than measurements. " Not to me . All that matters to me is how they sound .
Well Bully for you!

What your think of the speakers is of no interest to me what so ever. Measurements are objective!

I always feel people like you are too lazy or stupid to understand the basis of the measurements, what they mean and how to interpret them. That takes real work.

I have never heard a speaker that measures badly sound good.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
I can see that over 40 years of hifi experience and first hand ownership of the product being discussed means nothing to the uninformed . It's much better to talk measurements and conjecture than real experience . Highly intelligent .
Uninformed? Perhaps that 40 years didn't help informing you, from the content of your posts. :rolleyes:
Facts? You have not posted any.
Opinions? Speculations? Lots.
 
L

lukesky518

Enthusiast
You guys are very funny . Here's fact ( since you wanted it ). People that have heard them ....love them . Uninformed people who haven't heard them , hate them. There are long posts on
here incorporating test results which are supposed to show they are crappy are by guys that haven't heard them . Does the fact that stereophile measured them and listened to them and compared them to $60,000 speakers make you guys angry?
 
B

Beave

Audioholic Chief
You guys are very funny . Here's fact ( since you wanted it ). People that have heard them ....love them . Uninformed people who haven't heard them , hate them. There are long posts on
here incorporating test results which are supposed to show they are crappy are by guys that haven't heard them . Does the fact that stereophile measured them and listened to them and compared them to $60,000 speakers make you guys angry?
All people? Or some people? You said you were going to post a fact. Then you posted a useless "fact." Without doing a blind, level-matched test, and then telling us what percent of listeners loved them, you really haven't told us anything at all.

I love Tekton fanboys. They're entertaining and colorful. I imagine the speakers are entertaining and colorful as well, but I haven't heard them.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Well Bully for you!

What your think of the speakers is of no interest to me what so ever. Measurements are objective!

I always feel people like you are too lazy or stupid to understand the basis of the measurements, what they mean and how to interpret them. That takes real work.

I have never heard a speaker that measures badly sound good.
I have heard speakers that had flawed responses sound pretty good to my ears. It has been a long time since I have heard them, but I really liked the Klipsch LaScalas, however they don't measure fantastically. Sometimes flaws in measurements aren't all that audible to human hearing. As for these Enzo speakers, this isn't the worst measurement set I have seen, but it is hardly perfect. I wouldn't be interested in owning a set, but I wouldn't think they would sound abjectly bad right away. They will be missing top end if you aren't listening directly on axis. This should have been a three-way design using tweeters that don't beam so badly above 10 kHz.
 
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