Tekton Design Model 4.5 Speakers ($300 a pair)

The Tekton 4.5 is a single driver speaker in a bass reflex (ported) enclosure. It features the much touted Fostex FE127E 4.5” full range drivers. This is my first foray into the world of single driver speakers though I’ve always been curious about them. A single driver to play the full frequency? Is that even possible? Don’t you need a big fat woofer and a little tiny tweeter? I was curious to find out and the Tekton 4.5’s are pretty affordable at 300 bucks so what the hey, I pulled the trigger.

The draw of a single driver design is that there is no crossover. The crossover is just more electronics in the signal path, so eliminating it should provide a cleaner sound, as well as reducing costs. What does cleaner sound mean? Well, per the website,

“They are precisely musical and correct sounding! Discover: Picture-perfect imaging, near perfect impulse response, near perfect group delay, near perfect phase, near perfect impedance, near perfect polar response…are you getting my point here?! All of this produces a wonderfully realistic soundstage that can be listened to for hours on end with absolutely no fatigue.”

I’m not sure what all that means, but I’m interested in the perfect imaging, realistic soundstage, and no fatigue. Another draw of the single driver design is that they are incredibly efficient, allowing for a wide array of amps to drive them with, particularly low watt designs. I happened to have two low-watters on hand: a Sonic Impact Super T-Amp and a Rotel RX-203A vintage stereo receiver. The Super-T is a tiny little sucker, based on a Tri-Path design and effectively puts out only about 6 watts or so. The Super-T is famed as an audiophile bargain, but that’s only if you can find speakers efficient enough for them to drive. I was hoping the Tektons fit the bill. The old Rotel receiver was a thrift store find. It was entry-level in the ‘70s and puts out about 20 watts RMS.

Pulling the speakers out of the expert and safe packaging, I could see there was good quality here. Excellent craftsmanship, everything very simple. Nice and simple. Simplicity of the single driver design lends it well to DIY. I checked out some projects and it seems like all you have to do is make a wooden box, put a port in it with some plumbing pipe, and mount the driver. Maybe I would have given it a shot if I had any woodworking skills at all, but since I have none, I’ll leave it to the professionals. The Tektons are hand-made by master builder Eric Alexander. I opted for the stock model which comes in satin black high quality MDF. There are also many options available (at additional cost) such as a variety of woods (mahogany, bubinga, maple) and finishes, as well as upgraded binding posts (Cardas, Neutrik, WBT). I went stock because I’m a cheapskate and wanted to try a single driver speaker for as little as possible.

Break-in: The Fostex FE127E driver is notorious for requiring extensive break-in periods, something on the order of 200 hours. Some people don’t believe in break-in, believing that it’s all in your head, just your brain getting used to a new sound. Eric recommends it so I decided to listen to him. Slapped on my Stereophile break-in noise (bunch of people making a ruckus) and let it go for 10 days or so. Surprisingly, the drivers shake and wobble quite a bit. When playing at healthy volumes, the surrounds vibrate violently, pumping in and out like a piston. This is completely normal and won’t damage the drivers. As long as there’s no popping (that means the driver’s at maximum throw, not good), everything should be fine. Cursory listening during the break-in period revealed some subtle changes. Initially, the Tektons sounded a bit harsh with very little bass. During the break-in, the surrounds seemed to loosen up a bit and the bass was becoming stronger and stronger. The harshness was disappearing.

After break-in was complete, I was ready for serious listening. Listening position was not scientifically measured, but I made sure to sit pretty close due to the low output. Positioning by ear, I decided I like the Tektons toed in a little bit. Using a Rega Mira3 as a pre-amp and phono stage and the Super-T as a power amp, I slapped on some vinyl.

The Tektons have a unique sound and at times, they are able to produce a clean and magical sound with a lot of bloom in the midrange. The single driver design’s strength is in the midrange. Some audiophiles believe that midrange is the only thing that matters, and if you believe that as well, then these speakers give it to you in spades. The midrange is full of life and magic. Details in voice and instruments are palpable and create a realistic soundstage.

The thing is though, the magic only happens at times, with only certain kinds of music. With the Super-T and Tekton combo, rock music was unconvincing, not enough bass and the electric guitars didn’t sound realistic, not enough oomph. Symphonies didn’t sound that great either as the Tektons are not suited to conveying the heft and power of a full orchestra. Naturally, the missing oomph was due to weak bass, the speaker’s glaring weakness. The Tekton 4.5’s go down to about 55 Hz, which is not very low but considering its size, that’s not bad. The bass is there, it’s just very light. Sounds like a single pluck from an acoustic bass all the time. No fullness or impact in the lows, things I miss when I listen to rock. Volume was also an issue for the Super-T. At full blast, it was only at a moderate listening level, not very loud at all. This is not satisfactory as sometimes I like a little loudness for some impact and to hear every single detail. But hey, whaddya want, it’s 6 watts.

Trying to mate a subwoofer with the Super-T Tekton pairing was a hit and miss affair. I have a Dayton Titanic 10” Subwoofer which I bought in a kit and I like very much. It keeps up with my Maggies which are very hard to mate with, providing a fast and punchy sound. Tuning the sub by ear, I tried the crossover on the sub at all levels, and settled on turning it all the way up (160 Hz) with a pretty low volume (about 9 o’clock). Now there was bass alright, but it wasn’t making music with the Tektons. It was like two musicians playing independently without listening to each other. Was the sub throwing off the phase coherence? Perhaps. I suspect the lack of bass from the Tektons was making it hard to achieve a good blend. Or perhaps it was the sub that was robbing some of the magic from the single driver design.

Not very satisfied with the Super-T, I switched it out for the vintage Rotel RX-203A. I used the Rega Mira3 again as a preamp/phono stage, and used the Rotel as a power amp. I wasn’t expecting much, after all, this was a hunk of junk from a thrift store. But its 20 watts was much closer to max handling for the Tekton 4.5’s (about 45 watts max). Did I get better results? The answer, a resounding YES! Immediately, without a sub, I noticed the bass was much better. The Tektons were now handling timbres in bass besides a lightly plucked upright, and not losing anything in the midrange. There was actually some impact here, a little bit of thump in the chest. Volume was healthy now where turning the volume about half way yielded a pretty loud listening level. Symphonies sounded better, but they still lacked a certain weight and heft necessary for full enjoyment, probably due to the speaker’s small size. As for Rock music, still not enough bass so enter the sub again.

Properly driven by the vintage Rotel, the Tektons were now much easier to mate with my subwoofer. Again after some experimentation, I dialed my sub’s crossover all the way up, volume pretty low. I got good results this time, pretty good blend so that the sub was not only helping with the bass, but the soundstage as well. Now the bass and midrange sounded good, but how about the highs? Single driver speakers are supposed to be weak in the highs, but I found the Tektons quite good at delivering a shimmer to the percussion. Drum kits sound very realistic and palpable, like the drummer is right in front of you, a product no doubt of the Tekton’s superb pinpoint imaging. Nice snap to the snares. Rock music was sounding better with sweet bass lines now carrying impact.

The Tekton 4.5’s may not be a great all-around speaker, but they do excel at small ensemble acoustic music. Jazz, string quartets, folk music, bluegrass, all sound wonderful through the Tektons. Playing David Grisman’s Dawg Music on vinyl is heavenly. Imaging is incredibly coherent, creating a soundstage where you can feel the musicians in the room with you, jangling fretwork dancing about you in mid-air.

As for the monsters of rock, the Tektons are a mixed bag. Sure, there’s plenty of great acoustic music but sometimes you just need to rock out. If you wanna do that with the Tektons, you’re going to definitely want to bring your subwoofer. Mating with a sub may not be that easy (as in most systems), though I was lucky enough to have one on hand. Tekton makes subwoofers too, and they will no doubt blend well with their speakers.

So bass-heads, please look elsewhere. Yet, there’s magic in these speakers with the right music. They need to be properly driven to get the most out of them (like most speakers). The 20 watts from my Rotel provided all the power I needed and supplied some much needed oomph. These speakers hold a place in my secondary system and they’re my go-to speaker for pleasant acoustic music. It’s definitely a niche they own with its true-to-life imaging and nice level of refinement. If you’ve heard that single drivers are not for everyone, believe it, it’s absolutely true. The Tektons provide a great introduction to single drivers, giving you a refined sound at a tremendous value. If you happen to have any low-wattage or vintage amps on hand, they’re definitely worth a look. $300 is right in the wheelhouse for Frugal Audiophiles. The Tekton 4.5’s have grown on me and perhaps they’ll grow on you too.

Specs:

17” tall x 7.25” wide x 10.25” deep

45 watt RMS power handling

91 dB avg sensitivity (93.6 dB peak), 105 dB max output

Freq response 55 Hz – 17 kHz @ +/- 3 dB

Website: www.tektondesign.com

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