Tekton Pendragon Loudspeaker Questions:

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm surprised the Capacitors did anything to the sound. However, I'm not too surprised since some people also hear different things from every single amplifier or from bi-wire and passive bi-amp.

But I'm glad you got what you wanted.

Hopefully you will be happy with them for a long time.

 

[slipperybidness]

As a 9 month follow-up here is where I stand:

I purchased the basic Tekton Pendragons in December of 2014 based on a couple of online reviews. I know the best way to demo speakers is to demo them in your home with your system and room acoustics. Well that is better said than done. I was replacing a set of Bose 701s which in my opinion were not bad sounding. With that said I received the Pendragons and hooked them up. I was not happy. I like a more treble type audio with a lot of clarity. I am not a videophile or audiophile just a guy with a basic system to listen to once in a while that I upgrade periodically, about every 5 to 10 years. I was thinking about selling the Pendragons but did not want to spend another $2500 or more for another set of speakers. So I purchased the Mundorf Capacitor Upgrade for the Pendragons. I installed them last weekend and I have been listening to them. It is my perception that the whole personality of the Pendragons changed. A much warmer tone overall with much more clarity from the tweeters which I like. I probably should of bought the Mundorfs initially but at the time it was a $750 upgrade. Eric sold me the Mundorf capacitors as a retrofit for $375 shipped. Retrofitting the Pendragons was not hard. The hardest part was cutting off the wire from the old capacitor from the crossover and soldering the new Mundorf into place. On the first try I cut the wrong wire but was able to solder the proper wires back together and install the Mundorf. It is a relatively tight place for soldering. I am a big guy with big hands so I am not too surgical. However I got it done. I hot glued the Mundorf into place on a piece of wood stiffener that sat below the crossover. Reinstalled the 10" lower woofer and reinstalled the speaker cover and hooked up the speaker wires from the AV Receiver. Tested the speaker by turning on the AV and it worked and the AV Receiver did not burn out. I then did the second Pendragon. It went much faster and I was able to cut the correct wire on the first try off the basic capacitor that came with the Pendragon crossover. The basic capacitor is much smaller than the Mundorfs by the way. The reason why I had a hard time cutting the wire off the base capacitor was that it was not visible from my angle when cutting it. Easy to cut one of the other wires. I put a mirror on the back of the speaker and was able to see what I was doing. Got smarter. The speaker sat on its back on my carpet while I was conducting the surgery on the Pendragons.


After buttoning up the Pendragons and hooking up to the AV Receiver I fired up the receiver with the system set up in stereo mode and the receiver playing a variety of music from Pandora, Quick Mix. I must say the whole persona of my Home Theater System changed. The Mundorfs really worked. For me. The system plays well with my SVS Subwoofer in other sound modes like the music halls such as the Roxy and the Movie modes. Originally the Pendragons were not synching well with my Subwoofer with the basic capacitor. The Mundorfs provided the balance and clarity and richness of sound I was looking for. Is it better than a B&W 800 that costs $10,000 a pair? I don't know. I never heard one. The quality of the music is much better than the Bose 701s. The music is more robust and full. The sound really fills my room. Very happy Pendragon owner.


If the Mundorfs had not of worked I probably would of sold them off and looked at the Song Towers or the Sierra Speakers that are made nearby me in So Cal. I believe the Sierras are made in San Clemente. I would of probably listened to them there and bought them with all the upgrades if I liked them in the showroom. That was my plan. Plus it is easy to return them since they are local and within close driving distance.


I also listened to a couple of movies. One was Jupiter Rising in Blue-Ray in True HD and the other was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 in regular DVD and 5.1 Dolby Digital. The system sounded good for both of those DVDs. To me. I am happy.


Cheers.

What brand were the stock caps?

What were the values and tolerances of the stock caps vs the Mundorfs?

ESR may be a key spec to give us an idea of a technical reason.

 

[ptalar]

What brand were the stock caps?

What were the values and tolerances of the stock caps vs the Mundorfs?

ESR may be a key spec to give us an idea of a technical reason.

I am not sure what brand the stock caps were and their farad rating. The replacements were Mundorfs Silver Supreme Series Capacitors. They must have been 3 to 4 times larger than the stock caps. As far as the capacitance rating of the Mundorfs, it is listed below. I will ask Tekton Design what the model number and capacitance rating was of the stock caps. I heard good things about the Mundorf Capacitors upgrade on other forums so I thought I would give them a try before I sold off the Pendragons. I will get back to you on your stock cap.

MCap SUPREME Silver.Oil Classic
Order Code Capacity
[µF] [VDC] Body
Ø*L [mm] Wire
Ø*L [mm] Retail

Model: SUP.SO-8.20 Capacitance: 8.2 ±2% VDC: 1000 Dimensions 51mm D * 71mm LG

 

[DukeL]

I have designed more than a few speakers now. And I would never drive a large speaker cone up that high, never ever. There are good engineering reasons for that, very good ones. That is why you don't see other people do it.

One valid reason to use a large cone up fairly high is for good radiation pattern control, which may or may not be a high priority in a given design. Apparently it was a high enough priority for JBL that they run the 15" woofer in their magnificent M2 studio monitor all the way up to 800 Hz, to the point where the woofer's radiation pattern has narrowed to match that of the horn. The M2 is a pretty solid example of what can be done with good big cones used intelligently.

 

[Chu Gai]

Would it be too much to expect that you took pictures of the components before and after?

 

[ptalar]

Would it be too much to expect that you took pictures of the components before and after?

I did not. I was happy to button it up ASAP and have it work on the first go. Basically, the tweeter crossover sits behind the lower woofer. It appears to be permanently attached to the speaker internal structure. I saw no screws for removal which would of made the job much easier. The OEM capacitor was isolated from the tweeter crossover by cutting the wires to it. It is left in place on the crossover since removing it would destroy the crossover card. The new capacitor is soldered to the cut wire endings that went to the OEM capacitor. I then hot glued it to a shelf below the crossover when the speaker is set upright.

 

[Poultrygeist]

I know this forum is geared toward AV systems but the high efficiency Tektons sound their best with low powered flea amps. I've owned speakers from Tekton and Zu.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I know this forum is geared toward AV systems but the high efficiency Tektons sound their best with low powered flea amps. I've owned speakers from Tekton and Zu.

I think if they sound good, then they sound good with any good quality amp.

Not a good sign to me when people start saying things like "this speaker sounds good with this amp, but not good with that amp".

 

[Poultrygeist]

You might want to read my post again.

 

[Leonid]

Hi fellow Pendragon fan listeners,

Anyone lives in Maryland and surrounding areas would not mind inviting me to audition your Pendragon loudspeaker? As a token of appreciation, I would treat you with the sandwich of your choice!

I have extensive experience in auditioning speakers and would love to share my knowledge.

Thanks,