Tekton M-Lore Speaker Review

[solderdude]

When I was a young guy I worked for Jaap Keizerwaard. The builder and inventor of 'the Magic organ' made famous by Cor Steyn (picture of Cor with that organ below).

What one never sees in the pictures is that it had 10 channels. All connected to active speakers (2 way) except for the 2 enormous (active) bass speakers which had a few large woofers in them. Now where am I going with this...

In those days I asked him why he didn't just use 1 or 2 huge speakers. He then explained and showed me that each 'tone' had free running oscillators and each 'instrument' had its own speaker. Below the 'generator'.

Simply because acoustic mixing sounds very different from electrical mixing which would also require even more power in one speaker to reach the same SPL to begin with.

So far the off-topic.... Each instrument their own instrument is a good idea... now we need many speakers (that might need to be moved around per recording) and multichannel recordings that are 'pre-mixed' at the correct level.

 

[dasdoing]

people should be careful with pseudo-psychological diagnosis via forum posts...that is something a professional would never do.
he is probably just an eccentric guy born before the 70ies who just didn't adapt to the internet.

EEDIT: I see kemmler3d already posted something similar. but it's worthy to repeat.

 

[BeeKay]

pseudo-psychological

There certainly some guys who would say psychology hardly is factual science. Coming from there it wouldn’t matter how and where it is practiced

 

[dasdoing]

There certainly some guys who would say psychology hardly is factual science.

I could probably count me into this group, depending on the methodology....but this makes pseudo diagnosis even worse

 

[Mnyb]

This is to be expected due to the severe beaming (significant narrowing of radiation towards higher frequencies) of the two circular tweeter arrays. The manufacturer himself compares these arrays with 12'' drivers.

As mentioned before, there is no information about the exact filter design. One could mitigate the effect by, for example, using shallow second-order filters (increasing the overlap range between midrange and tweeter) and a low crossover frequency (below 2 kHz). However, this would limit the tweeter's power handling capability.

Aha , thankyou ! So people who are into B&W may find common ground in this ?

This kind of directivity mismatch does pop up now and then in classical hifi speakers a to big midwoofer who crosses to a very wide metal dome treble for example ? It’s probably even an expected characteristic for some people
So ingrained that they can’t shake it , like some other life long habits you have .

I’ve noted with my new kef speakers how relatively insensitive to placement they are ? I’m used to finesse speakers cm by cm to find the sweet spot . You still have the back wall issues but distance and toe in etc not super critical even if they improve somewhat with careful placement, and you have a very wide sweet spot . As you can see I have not owned modern speakers with directivity control before ? A revelation they work in my non ideal acoustics.
I’m sure Revel and Genelec and Neumann et al can do this too . But it has to be experienced, science works we can have speakers that sounds ok for most people in most rooms if we want

These Teknut designs seems to be a bit old school. But there is an audience for this too I guess. Until you actually hear a good design that follows science in your own home an oh sh*t moment for sure .

 

[montyliam]

Disgraceful manufacturer communication aside, it's always bugged me how literally none of the woofers in the Tekton designs are flush mounted. I understand it's not absolutely necessary in terms of function, but in terms of form it looks lazy and almost unfinished imo. I can't think of any reasons, other than the need for extra baffle material, to flushmount the woofers, it would make their designs look so much better.

The designs with the multi-tweeter mid-arrays are very strange to me. They seem to be attempting to solve a problem already solved by simply waveguiding a tweeter. Although I'm sure then that the USP of the designs would go out the window.

All-in-all, a very dissapointing thread for a number of reasons. The speaker itself doesn't seem too bad, nor does the review, so the initial reaction from the manfuacturer is strange to say the least. There have been much worse reviews than this with much better reactions/no reactions from manufacturers. This could've easily been solved with "we're not going for a fully flat frequency response for XYZ reasons" or "we see your measurements reveal problems, let's work together to solve these issues" (like many other manufacturers have done). I am struggling to understand the logic behind Eric's response to these problems, surely he knows this can only end very badly for him and his brand. There is no scenario in which threats of litigation against reviewers are going to be taken lightly by the reviewers themselves and their audience. I mean, what exactly was he expecting taking this route so early on, but then again ego can be a powerful thing.

PS: please don't sue me for my opinion.

 

[jkasch]

There certainly some guys who would say psychology hardly is factual science. Coming from there it wouldn’t matter how and where it is practiced

Sounds like you hate your mother.

 

[BeeKay]

Sounds like you hate your mother.

Would not limit that to any number

 

[Inertiaman]

Disgraceful manufacturer communication aside, it's always bugged me how literally none of the woofers in the Tekton designs are flush mounted. I understand it's not absolutely necessary in terms of function, but in terms of form it looks lazy and almost unfinished imo. I can't think of any reasons, other than the need for extra baffle material, to flushmount the woofers, it would make their designs look so much better.

Indeed. Bolding above is mine btw.

Most self-respecting DIY speaker builders inset their drivers. To not do so as a manufacturer, when you presumably have the facilities of a full cabinet shop or equivalent, which make the task rather trivial, seems completely insane. Visually, to my eyes, most of the Tekton speakers look like a 14 year old built them and spray painted them.

 

[TimVG]

I understand it's not absolutely necessary in terms of function, but in terms of form it looks lazy and almost unfinished imo

It would absolutely make a difference for a driver playing well into the lower treble. The exact effect would have to be simulated but I guarantee it will show up in a set of measurements.

 

[SIY]

It probably does not miss anything

OK, then.

 

[kemmler3D]

I’m a real life lawyer who’s been in thousands of disputes for clients and examined / cross-examined hundreds of witnesses. I know bizarre behavior in this context when I see it. I’m not offering a diagnosis, just an opinion based on that experience. And I think I’m right.

I don't think you're wrong, I just think it's a bit icky to speculate about someone's mental health based on a few internet posts. In a way it's not that different from speculating as to whether he's having a hemorrhoid problem or sciatica or something that makes him act so cranky. Not that it's hard to notice certain patterns here, especially if you've seen a lot of such behavior, just that pointing it out seems a bit "low road" to me.

I know it's the normal thing to do online, I'm just sort of advocating for a higher standard of decorum... When you put it that way, maybe I'm the crazy one here.

 

[Somafunk]

As Eric has removed the two speakers in question after the reviews from Amir and Erin were published I think we have a good case to start a crowdfunding project to purchase all of Eric’s designs and send them en masse to Amir and Erin to review, once the reviews are published then we will see Eric spit the dummy and remove all of his speaker designs and we can all sit down for a nice cup of tea.

 

[CleanSound]

I don't think you're wrong, I just think it's a bit icky to speculate about someone's mental health based on a few internet posts. In a way it's not that different from speculating as to whether he's having a hemorrhoid problem or sciatica or something that makes him act so cranky. Not that it's hard to notice certain patterns here, especially if you've seen a lot of such behavior, just that pointing it out seems a bit "low road" to me.

I know it's the normal thing to do online, I'm just sort of advocating for a higher standard of decorum... When you put it that way, maybe I'm the crazy one here.

I won't reveal too much as I don't think it is appropriate. But as I've mentioned, everything that Eric Alexander is doing is just very very bizarre, not what I would expect from an "average" person especially a business owner. When @PatentLawyer said the same thing, I knew it's not just me thinking this, so I did an internet search, I found some self published content that after reading it, the bizarreness just amplified.

As I am not a mental health expert, so I will not comment again on my personal believe of borderline plausibility. But instead, I will comment on the very, very, extreme bizarreness of Eric Alexander's behavior, it just doesn't add up.

 

[Gringoaudio1]

i'd say it's borderline plausible that eric doesn't need help.

doug s.

You mean Borderline Personality Disorder?

 

[rdenney]

…
All-in-all, a very dissapointing thread for a number of reasons. The speaker itself doesn't seem too bad, nor does the review, so the initial reaction from the manfuacturer is strange to say the least. There have been much worse reviews than this with much better reactions/no reactions from manufacturers. This could've easily been solved with "we're not going for a fully flat frequency response for XYZ reasons" or "we see your measurements reveal problems, let's work together to solve these issues" (like many other manufacturers have done). I am struggling to understand the logic behind Eric's response to these problems, surely he knows this can only end very badly for him and his brand. There is no scenario in which threats of litigation against reviewers are going to be taken lightly by the reviewers themselves and their audience. I mean, what exactly was he expecting taking this route so early on, but then again ego can be a powerful thing.

PS: please don't sue me for my opinion.

I suspect he is aligning himself with those who follow the anti-data paradigm, which are many in the ranks willing to spend what he charges, thinking that the measurement-based reviewers are sufficiently marginalized among his prospective clientele as to inoculate him from any real consequences. He probably thinks that delivering his smack-down will raise his status in the crowd he cares about. Let’s hope he is wrong.

He could have held that position with some dignity, however, with a third potential response: “a couple of online reviewers believe that my award-winning speakers don’t measure up. We think they are too busy with graphs and not using their ears. Why don’t you schedule an audition with a Teknot dealer and listen for yourself?” That would avoid making any claims about the accuracy of the measurements, and instead shift it to the importance of the measurements, which can be spun in all sorts of subjective ways.

He would still have his controversy, but without the legal ramifications.

Rick “not agreeing with that position, of course” Denney

 

[kemmler3D]

it's always bugged me how literally none of the woofers in the Tekton designs are flush mounted. I understand it's not absolutely necessary in terms of function, but in terms of form it looks lazy and almost unfinished imo.

This is probably for the same reason that there are holes in the bottoms of these speakers instead of being drilled partway through. To me it smacks of using a very basic CNC setup and not bothering to do any steps in the woodworking by hand. Then again, maybe it's just laziness and not tools, I recall seeing another thread with one of their speakers having no bracing inside.

 

[kemmler3D]

As Eric has removed the two speakers in question after the reviews from Amir and Erin were published I think we have a good case to start a crowdfunding project to purchase all of Eric’s designs and send them en masse to Amir and Erin to review, once the reviews are published then we will see Eric spit the dummy and remove all of his speaker designs and we can all sit down for a nice cup of tea.

Checkmate.

I suspect he is aligning himself with those who follow the anti-data paradigm, which are many in the ranks willing to spend what he charges, thinking that the measurement-based reviewers are sufficiently marginalized among his prospective clientele as to inoculate him from any real consequences. He probably thinks that delivering his smack-down will raise his status in the crowd he cares about. Let’s hope he is wrong.

He could have held that position with some dignity, however, with a third potential response: “a couple of online reviewers believe that my award-winning speakers don’t measure up. We think they are too busy with graphs and not using their ears. Why don’t you schedule an audition with a Teknot dealer and listen for yourself?” That would avoid making any claims about the accuracy of the measurements, and instead shift it to the importance of the measurements, which can be spun in all sorts of subjective ways.

He would still have his controversy, but without the legal ramifications.

Rick “not agreeing with that position, of course” Denney

Indeed, from a PR / marketing / branding perspective, there are all sorts of ways he could spin this to his advantage or at least a draw, and of course he could have done the normal thing and simply ignored it.

I will say that responding to criticism in a successful way does require more calm restraint than it might look like from the outside, so that seems to be the missing link in this situation.

 

[CleanSound]

As Eric has removed the two speakers in question after the reviews from Amir and Erin were published I think we have a good case to start a crowdfunding project to purchase all of Eric’s designs and send them en masse to Amir and Erin to review, once the reviews are published then we will see Eric spit the dummy and remove all of his speaker designs and we can all sit down for a nice cup of tea.

I so so want to.

 

[CleanSound]

OK, I know I am going to beat on a dead horse, but I came across this and I thought it is very relevant.

Eric Alexander has executed pretty much every single one of these tricks thus far.