tekton - the next big thing?

[GranteedEV]

Of course the speaker is driven into break up mode. However with skill you can minimize the damage of the break up mode, as I showed in my crossover model.

If Ridikas' suggestion is true, the crossover frequency would be a lot lower, and 36db/oct. It may not have as much output from the woofer breakup as it seems.

That said the waterfall measurements seem to suggest it is in fact in breakup.

 

[TLS Guy]

If Ridikas' suggestion is true, the crossover frequency would be a lot lower, and 36db/oct. It may not have as much output from the woofer breakup as it seems.

That said the waterfall measurements seem to suggest it is in fact in breakup.

If it does have a sixth order crossover, then the sensitivity will be significantly lower than the 95 db measured.

I sixth order passive crossover has very significant insertion loss and is not usually advised.

In fact if there is a sixth order crossover in blows the design concept out of the water in my view, as the sensitivity would be nothing special.

In fact my model pretty closely fits what was measured, in terms of frequency response, and sensitivity. So it uses widely spaced cross over circuits and Eq, to deal with the rising output of the break up response and the peak before the driver naturally rolls off.

Yes, you are correct the measurements do show the driver is in beak up, but that it is tamed.

Basically those speakers might be OK for DJs if they were not so heavy.

As reference speakers to replace B & W 800 Diamonds in Abbey Road, no way! Not remotely close.

People reading this thread have to understand that when it comes to reference speakers like the 800 Ds there is no free lunch.

 

[whasaaaab]

a customer review makes you kind of think twice, now i am 50/50 on these speakers so much good info

"We received the Pendragon’s about a month ago from Tekton; they arrived well packaged with no damage or flaws.
Our system; A5 Musical Fidelity Pre, Hafler 9500 amp, Njoe Tjoeb 4000 upsampler CD.

With good recordings there is no speaker which we have heard that has the realism and dynamics of the Pendragon. It is awesome. Talks about detail – played softly you get the detail and nuance normally only heard with high spl’s. Details unheard before are now very apparent. Increased clarity brings a whole different perception to the music. I understand there is very minimal crossover in the Pendragon, less is better! Seems the tube heads would really do well with this speaker, it’s so easy to run. Pump it high and yes, this speaker can go loud and stay controlled. Great measured bass! We have disconnected the sub (Velodyne DD 15) as it is not needed in our 21’ x 25’ x 8’ foot room space. The couch still vibrates with the same intensity with subsonic notes. It’s amazing!

This speaker is definitely in a league by itself, especially when you consider the price to value. Our prior speakers, Revel Ultima Salon 1 really seem so tame compared to the Pendragon. The Pendragon is a wild creature… The Pendragon is demanding of your recording quality but delivers the goods. They are revealing speakers, but the top end stays as smooth as the recording. If you have a deep collection of pop / rock cd’s you may need to retain a set of B speakers to listen to lesser recordings. We have vintage JBL’s for these. But the Pendragon will be a noticeable step up for new recordings with great realism and very engaging!

Thanks Eric for bringing this design to us AND keeping it affordable"

 

[slipperybidness]

a customer review makes you kind of think twice, now i am 50/50 on these speakers so much good info

"We received the Pendragon’s about a month ago from Tekton; they arrived well packaged with no damage or flaws.
Our system; A5 Musical Fidelity Pre, Hafler 9500 amp, Njoe Tjoeb 4000 upsampler CD.

With good recordings there is no speaker which we have heard that has the realism and dynamics of the Pendragon. It is awesome. Talks about detail – played softly you get the detail and nuance normally only heard with high spl’s. Details unheard before are now very apparent. Increased clarity brings a whole different perception to the music. I understand there is very minimal crossover in the Pendragon, less is better! Seems the tube heads would really do well with this speaker, it’s so easy to run. Pump it high and yes, this speaker can go loud and stay controlled. Great measured bass! We have disconnected the sub (Velodyne DD 15) as it is not needed in our 21’ x 25’ x 8’ foot room space. The couch still vibrates with the same intensity with subsonic notes. It’s amazing!

This speaker is definitely in a league by itself, especially when you consider the price to value. Our prior speakers, Revel Ultima Salon 1 really seem so tame compared to the Pendragon. The Pendragon is a wild creature… The Pendragon is demanding of your recording quality but delivers the goods. They are revealing speakers, but the top end stays as smooth as the recording. If you have a deep collection of pop / rock cd’s you may need to retain a set of B speakers to listen to lesser recordings. We have vintage JBL’s for these. But the Pendragon will be a noticeable step up for new recordings with great realism and very engaging!

Thanks Eric for bringing this design to us AND keeping it affordable"

Do you trust all these random reviewers, some of them that are now being sponsored by Tekton?

I trust TLS and Irv, people that have many years of speaker building under their belt. I think you will be hard-pressed to find someone on any forum that is more knowledgeable than TLS. The Pendragons might be OK, but if it were my money I would put it on the sure-bet of a proven design.

 

[whasaaaab]

If it wasnt for those guys i would have probably already order it already. After seeing andrew now being sponsored and all it makes you think twice about his review.

Now a couple of other magazines/forums cough audioholics cough cough need to review these speakers like stereophile, canada hi fi etc...

I think I will wait most definitly now with all th einfo i have received. I was auditioning a PSB flag ship speaker over teh weekend, sounded great they have improved big time.

Afterwards we talked about the upcoming Taves show here in troronto and he said that Paradigm is coming with a new range that is even better than the Sig8's. It will cost about $15K or less he did not have alot of info he will get more for me. I do love the sig8's sound very nice and competes with some of the best out there.

Even the new limited edition speaker they have now is an upgrade of the version 3 sinature line i was told, sound is better than the signature line out right now. Only limited quantity will be made.

Until i can hear a PD I probably wont be pulling the trigger on one even thou he would do something for me i will still be out of $$$ if i do not like them (shipping Fee's)

I will buy my tv first anyway i have set my mind on that right now. But if i get any new info about the PD's ill post it.

 

[ridikas]

The Pendragons have a flat frequency response, we already saw the measurements.

Speaking of the LR6 crossover: It's LR4 electrical, LR6 acoustical. People keep getting these two confused.

The Pendragons are good speakers overall and sell for a good price. Are there other options? Absolutely!

P.S. If I was to criticize the Pendragons in any way, I would say that their bass probably sucks in a major way.

 

[ImcLoud]

WOW--- I have read through this post as much as I could and tried to understand, Im not good with the technical stuff.....

And there is a lot of good info here, I heard the Pendragons, the waiting room of my lawyers office has a set, they have 2 of these tiny tube amplifiers powering them and they sound good, I have heard them maybe 5 times while sitting there waiting. I looked them up while I was sitting there the first time I noticed them and asked John about them, he said they were amazing and the amplifiers were under 5 watts each... About a week later I was there on a Saturday and he played them at a good volume for me, they rocked... Now was I sitting there critiquing them with a SPL meter, no, but I was impressed enough to buy a set of Lores.
Now for $2500 would I buy the pendragons, Im not sure, there are some pretty impressive speakers out there for $2500 {I just heard a set of Opus 2.3's my wife's friends husband bought powered buy 2 big monster mono's, they sounded really loud and clear he paid $2800 for them, with no sub they SHOOK the house and filled their HUGE open house... If I was building a flea powered set? Maybe since the sens ratings are high, correct me if Im wrong but 98db means you can get 95spl, 15 feet away from the speaker with 20 watts and have 2db headroom... And with what I heard from them it sounds rite because I seen 2 little tiny tube amps crank them pretty good...

Now I do have a set of Lores and they sound good.. They were under $1000, but the cabinets are ROCK solid, the finish is really deep and uniform, and the sound is good... I have heard worse $1000 speakers... But I never hooked them to anything besides my Jolida 202 which I think is only 50 watts {maybe even less I cant remember} and I only crack the volume knob, they are in my bedroom and I like to use them to listen to blues, jazz, and for some off reason Dave mathews live albums...
I want to say they have to be at least twice as sensitive as my 170se's because I had to turn the jolida up at least 1/2 way to get them to play as loud as just cracking the knob with the lores... Not sure if that means anything...

The best way to figure out if you like them is to hear them obviously, I will say this though, if you want them for home theater, dont bother... Call the company up and ask them if they can reach out to one of their cusotmers that is local to you, maybe you can audition them that way... When I bought my living room furniture {some refinished retro stuff, couldnt get locally} the company gave me a customers number and name that was only about an hour from me that had some of their stuff, the guy was really cool about it, he loved his furninture and now I love mine too...

Anyway a little off topic, but if the brand interests you, Im sure you can figure out a way to hear them...

And as far as the guys saying the specs are all wrong and they can not be as good as they are or what ever, I agree you guys know way more than I will ever know about crossovers and sound reproduction, but why not give this guy a call, when I ordered my lores he answered the phone himself, ask him the questions and go from there, EzPz lemon squeezy... If the ratings are wrong I want $200 of my money back And I really hope this entire time I have been enjoying my lores they were really not enjoyable... damnit, I always do this, I once had a motorcycle I thought was fast but come to find out the speedometer was 2mph off because of the tire size, and the entire time I was riding it I thought it felt fast...

If you already did this sorry, I couldnt read every post... And all the talk about crossover parts and freq. and ohms, makes me dizzy, I wish I new what you guys have forgot.. Plus I read it backwards so it was even worse...

 

[gtpsuper24]

Good post ImLloud, couldn't agree more. Glad your happy with your Lores, in the end it doesn't matter what anyone on this forum thinks, as long as your happy with your purchase and your enjoying them thats all that matters.

You don't need to be an expert in crossover design, driver T/S parameters ect.. to enjoy this hobby. Listen to the speakers and judge that way, not spec bench racing on the forum endlessly.

 

[whasaaaab]

WOW--- I have read through this post as much as I could and tried to understand, Im not good with the technical stuff.....

And there is a lot of good info here, I heard the Pendragons, the waiting room of my lawyers office has a set, they have 2 of these tiny tube amplifiers powering them and they sound good, I have heard them maybe 5 times while sitting there waiting. I looked them up while I was sitting there the first time I noticed them and asked John about them, he said they were amazing and the amplifiers were under 5 watts each... About a week later I was there on a Saturday and he played them at a good volume for me, they rocked... Now was I sitting there critiquing them with a SPL meter, no, but I was impressed enough to buy a set of Lores.
Now for $2500 would I buy the pendragons, Im not sure, there are some pretty impressive speakers out there for $2500 {I just heard a set of Opus 2.3's my wife's friends husband bought powered buy 2 big monster mono's, they sounded really loud and clear he paid $2800 for them, with no sub they SHOOK the house and filled their HUGE open house... If I was building a flea powered set? Maybe since the sens ratings are high, correct me if Im wrong but 98db means you can get 95spl, 15 feet away from the speaker with 20 watts and have 2db headroom... And with what I heard from them it sounds rite because I seen 2 little tiny tube amps crank them pretty good...

Now I do have a set of Lores and they sound good.. They were under $1000, but the cabinets are ROCK solid, the finish is really deep and uniform, and the sound is good... I have heard worse $1000 speakers... But I never hooked them to anything besides my Jolida 202 which I think is only 50 watts {maybe even less I cant remember} and I only crack the volume knob, they are in my bedroom and I like to use them to listen to blues, jazz, and for some off reason Dave mathews live albums...
I want to say they have to be at least twice as sensitive as my 170se's because I had to turn the jolida up at least 1/2 way to get them to play as loud as just cracking the knob with the lores... Not sure if that means anything...

The best way to figure out if you like them is to hear them obviously, I will say this though, if you want them for home theater, dont bother... Call the company up and ask them if they can reach out to one of their cusotmers that is local to you, maybe you can audition them that way... When I bought my living room furniture {some refinished retro stuff, couldnt get locally} the company gave me a customers number and name that was only about an hour from me that had some of their stuff, the guy was really cool about it, he loved his furninture and now I love mine too...

Anyway a little off topic, but if the brand interests you, Im sure you can figure out a way to hear them...

And as far as the guys saying the specs are all wrong and they can not be as good as they are or what ever, I agree you guys know way more than I will ever know about crossovers and sound reproduction, but why not give this guy a call, when I ordered my lores he answered the phone himself, ask him the questions and go from there, EzPz lemon squeezy... If the ratings are wrong I want $200 of my money back And I really hope this entire time I have been enjoying my lores they were really not enjoyable... damnit, I always do this, I once had a motorcycle I thought was fast but come to find out the speedometer was 2mph off because of the tire size, and the entire time I was riding it I thought it felt fast...

If you already did this sorry, I couldnt read every post... And all the talk about crossover parts and freq. and ohms, makes me dizzy, I wish I new what you guys have forgot.. Plus I read it backwards so it was even worse...

Why would you say if you want the pendragons for hometheatre dont bother? the guys on here are very knowledgable i have learnt a lot still some things are confusing lol

Until I can hear a pendragon in person I probably wont be buying one, if there is someone in buffalo or niagara falls i will travel there to listen to them. I am picky with sound i want detail in the voice when listening to music and ofcourse slam for movies. I wont mention the word silver upgrade its a tabooo around here lol but who knows right

Why would a laywers office have pendragons in them? thats the first

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

As reference speakers to replace B & W 800 Diamonds in Abbey Road, no way! Not remotely close.

People reading this thread have to understand that when it comes to reference speakers like the 800 Ds there is no free lunch.

Andrew Robinson owned 800 SERIES Dimaond speakers. He never said he actually owned the 800 Diamond speakers. He always said SERIES.

For all we know, he replaced the 805D speakers with these Tekton.

I asked him on an AVS thread if he owned 800 Diamond speakers, not SERIES. He never replied.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

This speaker is definitely in a league by itself, especially when you consider the price to value. Our prior speakers, Revel Ultima Salon 1 really seem so tame compared to the Pendragon. The Pendragon is a wild creature… The Pendragon is demanding of your recording quality but delivers the goods. They are revealing speakers, but the top end stays as smooth as the recording.

Was that implying the Tekton are better than Revel Ultima ?

So Tekton are better than B&W 800 SERIES Diamond, not the 800D2, but the 800 SERIES. Now they are better than Revel Ultima. Next stop will be KEF Reference 207/2. Yes, I predict the Tekton will be better than KEF 207/2.

What a joke.

 

[whasaaaab]

Andrew Robinson owned 800 SERIES Dimaond speakers. He never said he actually owned the 800 Diamond speakers. He always said SERIES.

For all we know, he replaced the 805D speakers with these Tekton.

I asked him on an AVS thread if he owned 800 Diamond speakers, not SERIES. He never replied.

I will have to agree 800 or 802D if you had those and i heard these i would never never ever give those away, unless and i say your swapping them for grande utopia or magico Q5,Q7's or a rockport arrakis

When I read all the reviews you do get kind of wrapped up with the wow can this be real feel

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Now a couple of other magazines/forums cough audioholics cough cough need to review these speakers like stereophile, canada hi fi etc...

1st, it's not really a review unless they also actually measure the speakers. Otherwise it's just a sponsorship and advertisement.

2nd, you think Tekton will take a chance and let Audioholics review their speakers and reveal their true measurements and components?

I would love to see that day.

 

[whasaaaab]

Was that implying the Tekton are better than Revel Ultima ?

So Tekton are better than B&W 800 SERIES Diamond, not the 800D2, but the 800 SERIES. Now they are better than Revel Ultima. Next stop will be KEF Reference 207/2. Yes, I predict the Tekton will be better than KEF 207/2.

What a joke.

Dont chew up the messenger lol i got that from the blog section, there are some customer reviews there. I am checking there because eric said he would post more info on his design and specs (tests) like he did with the lores

I never heard revel speakers and i cant wait to hear some, there on my speaker list

 

[whasaaaab]

1st, it's not really a review unless they also actually measure the speakers. Otherwise it's just a sponsorship and advertisement.

2nd, you think Tekton will take a chance and let Audioholics review their speakers and reveal their true measurements and components?

I would love to see that day.

You know If you ever get tired of your B&W's or your Revels you can always donate them to me like Andrew did with his 800 series to his buddy.

 

[GranteedEV]

1st, it's not really a review unless they also actually measure the speakers. Otherwise it's just a sponsorship and advertisement.

+1

subjectively people will enjoy anything better than the harsh laptop speakers they inevitably have. I'm not as interested in other people's subjective impressions because I may not have the same musical taste, expectations, or especially - room as them.

What I know about the Tektons from reading these subjective reviews is effectively only one thing - that they can go loud. But I also know that a CHT SHO-10 can go pretty loud and has a more fundamentally sound design principle. A Pi Speakers 4Pi takes both those aspects a step further. So if I want to chase speakers that go loud, the 3 Pi or 4 Pi make a lot more sense to my eyes.

I haven't seen anything to suggest the Tekton speakers can hang with the 4 Pi. The Pi speakers also have measurements i've seen that impress me.

What i've seen is that people love that tekton speakers can go loud.

So if you're listening / auditioning, you sure as hell better compare the Tekton Pendragon to something that can go equally as loud. Because there's no other factor I could find that would suggeset that I would want this speaker.

 

[TLS Guy]

Was that implying the Tekton are better than Revel Ultima ?

So Tekton are better than B&W 800 SERIES Diamond, not the 800D2, but the 800 SERIES. Now they are better than Revel Ultima. Next stop will be KEF Reference 207/2. Yes, I predict the Tekton will be better than KEF 207/2.

What a joke.

That's the point isn't it. If you really could take a couple of cheap paper coned 10" woofers and mate them to 3 small dome tweeters and have them compare to well regarded reference speakers, we would all have done that a long time ago. How silly I did not think of that.

Remember the old adage: - "If it sounds too good to be true, then it almost certainly isn't true!"

 

[ImcLoud]

Why would you say if you want the pendragons for hometheatre dont bother? the guys on here are very knowledgable i have learnt a lot still some things are confusing lol

Until I can hear a pendragon in person I probably wont be buying one, if there is someone in buffalo or niagara falls i will travel there to listen to them. I am picky with sound i want detail in the voice when listening to music and ofcourse slam for movies. I wont mention the word silver upgrade its a tabooo around here lol but who knows right

Why would a laywers office have pendragons in them? thats the first

My lawyers office waiting room is like an oasis, they have this WILD soda machine next to this equally crazy coffee maker that uses nitrogen to turn your hot coffee into ice coffee {never seen it in action but its sounds cool}, I have on the other hand enjoyed a half cherry coke half doctor pepper over ice cubes shaped like pyramids, it was delicious... The soda machine only has flavored sodas like orange mt dew, cherry coke, vanilla dr pepper, ect... But anyway that is the kind of place it is, they no doubt bought them for the crazy color cabinets... Then who ever sold them to them probably sold them those tiny little amps... Honestly I was impressed, to see them big woofers making good volume with the tiny little tube jobs was cool... Believe it or not they run them all day {albeit very low volumes}, all good music too, "no elevator music allowed" is what the sign reads...

I wouldn't get them for home theater for the simple fact I don't see a matched set, and usually the front towers match the center channel {component wise} and I can not imagine a center with 2 10" drivers in it P I know the center wouldn't have 2 10's Im just saying}... Also they just don't seem like that type of speaker, I think you will get the most out of them with a nice tube amp playing some vocal and instrumental music at medium volumes with the room only illuminated by the soft glow of the tubes and occasional glow of your cigar.

Call the owner of the company and ask if he can reach out to a customer that may be near you for an audition... Come on up here and you can hear my lores... But we can't light the cigars, on this my wife won't bend sorry...

Did you decide on a speaker yet? I like seperate home theater and music listening, since when I want to listen to music someone is watching tv, and then when there is no one watching tv, they are sleeping and I cant play the music... So go with 2 systems... If you are going to spend 2500 on towers you must be willing to spend quite a bit on the entire system...
I spent around $2500 on my theater system and about $2300 on my 2.2 music system, and about $1600 on my Lores with the Jolida 202, best of all 3 worlds, OK not the best, but still 3 worlds....

 

[whasaaaab]

Did you decide on a speaker yet? I like seperate home theater and music listening, since when I want to listen to music someone is watching tv, and then when there is no one watching tv, they are sleeping and I cant play the music... So go with 2 systems... If you are going to spend 2500 on towers you must be willing to spend quite a bit on the entire system...
I spent around $2500 on my theater system and about $2300 on my 2.2 music system, and about $1600 on my Lores with the Jolida 202, best of all 3 worlds, OK not the best, but still 3 worlds....

I have a few that I am interested in but now the PD's are at the bottom of my list there is too much info in this thread to open you eyes and make you think about the purchase. The problem for anyone living in canada is all these online speaker comanies are in the US.

WE do not have distributers for them here, so we have to pay shipping and probably restocking fee. Before i buy something i really need to hear it first, it just like when I firat heard about the seaton submersive on all the forums.

I manage to find one guy only one guy that had it in canada at the time he was about and one hour and a half drive. I did not end up with the submsersive because the sub25 out perfrmed it when i did the comparisons. Now the new submersive HP no clue how that one sounds.

$2500 is just for the regular finish, if I wanted vaneers it costs $350 for piano black, then add an exrta $100 for the grills, plus shipping and i would have dont the upgrade. Total for all of that would be $3950 US lucky for me the canadian dollar is higher then the US right now, so it would probaly be a bit cheaper.

So for that amount what speaker could i get that would kick the living S@%! out of the PD..... Many

AT $4000 especially with my hook up i have many crazy *** options at my disposal. Just lik eyou i was in awe of the sheer size and the look plus the reviews. SO right now unless then PD gets som amazing review with actual measurements proving how good they really like AcuDefTechGuy

 

[ImcLoud]

I have a few that I am interested in but now the PD's are at the bottom of my list there is too much info in this thread to open you eyes and make you think about the purchase. The problem for anyone living in canada is all these online speaker comanies are in the US.

WE do not have distributers for them here, so we have to pay shipping and probably restocking fee. Before i buy something i really need to hear it first, it just like when I firat heard about the seaton submersive on all the forums.

I manage to find one guy only one guy that had it in canada at the time he was about and one hour and a half drive. I did not end up with the submsersive because the sub25 out perfrmed it when i did the comparisons. Now the new submersive HP no clue how that one sounds.

$2500 is just for the regular finish, if I wanted vaneers it costs $350 for piano black, then add an exrta $100 for the grills, plus shipping and i would have dont the upgrade. Total for all of that would be $3950 US lucky for me the canadian dollar is higher then the US right now, so it would probaly be a bit cheaper.

So for that amount what speaker could i get that would kick the living S@%! out of the PD..... Many

AT $4000 especially with my hook up i have many crazy *** options at my disposal. Just lik eyou i was in awe of the sheer size and the look plus the reviews. SO right now unless then PD gets som amazing review with actual measurements proving how good they really like AcuDefTechGuy

YOUR IN CANADA whats wrong with you? No brainer Focus Audio... They should be giving them away over there.

I seen them at a show in boston, HOLEY SHITE- 2" front baffle 1" for the sides and back, insanely heavy cabinet... Well made, super sexy finish and they sounded excellent... Their FS9's are like $3K, and they have the entire lineup center surrounds, ect.. Just get a pair of HSU vtf15H's for a couple grand to handle the lows.... Problem solved, you can go to some shops and hear them in Canada Im sure...