Let me start by saying that I am Proudly NOT an audiophile, I AM a serious music nut, With that said the Tekton Lore should appeal to both sets. After speaking with Eric of Tekton a couple of times and not believing the intro pricing of $899 I took the plunge and bought em, and with the 30 day return policy I felt it was a no brain er. The speakers were packed very well and instructions on how to unpack were e-mailed. Let me spare you the usual review jargon and get to the point, These speakers are STUPID good, so good in fact I could not stop laughing as I was listening and looking at my receipt, To use the usual cliche that they sound better than speakers priced 2-3 times as much would not be correct, they don't just sound better they slay em!! and I say this having owned SEVERAL speakers in the past 10 years by all the usual suspects Dali, B&W, Monitor, Usher, Ruark,Solioquoy, Rega, Cary, Quad and probably a few others and although those speakers all had their strong points, they were all a let down in the end. I should add that I am a solid state fan AND a Tube head, and with a 98db efficiency into a stable 8 ohm load , 35 watts of vintage Fisher can push these things to near rave levels, with my trusty Marantz 2325 the sound was flat out jaw dropping and the sound was NEVER strained at high volumes, Treble is clean and clear without bite, The bass is solid and realistic without being boomy, sloppy, or slow. YES there are speakers that sound better but not by leaps and bounds! For example I heard the Wilson Maxx monster speaker thingee and was very impressed, It also costs THOUSANDS more, and to be honest this is the first speaker I have heard that I want for nothing, It is simply just right! To be blunt I cannot see getting better sound at even 5k, You may get different sound but not better! Wether you spin Slayer, or Sinatra, These things sound great and they make MUSIC!!! I know tons of people who will spend the price of the Lore on power cables and geek out all night on the what I refer to as minor improvements.Unless you have been living under a rock, you may realize that their is another speaker manufacturer that makes a model VERY similar to the Lore and I am assuming they probably sound similar, But the reason why I went with Tekton and Eric is simple, They/He strike me as people of high integrity not people with a huge advertising budget! (Eric states all his business is word of mouth) I do believe they put the music first, These do not look like candy colored toys and their not! You CAN get them with just about any type of REAL wood veneer or color if you so wish (slight up-charge depending on finish) so if you're not feeling Audiophile enough by spending huge dollars, you can pick the most exotic finish raise the price and feel better! Bottom line these things are keepers, and they communicate what matters most which is music! If you feel the same way try a pair you wont regret it!

I decided on the Tekton Lores over the competition, mainly because I wanted to give a smaller speaker builder a try. I had been through at least 15 loudspeakers over the past 2+ years, and in this "merry go around" process I found myself with wisdom on the one hand, and seriously tired on other. Every other speaker I had used was compromised in some way, and the two times that I could have lived with what I had, I was forced to sell because I simply had too much money invested in them. I had become experienced in understanding my tastes, as well as understanding the industry and I remained hopeful that I could become satisfied with a lesser priced offering.

After speaking with Eric Alexander, who by the way designs, engineers, builds, and assembles all of his Tekton loudspeakers, I felt confident that he had addressed all of the possible shortcomings of this loudspeaker. He spoke about aspects such as cabinet dampening, cabinet tuning, and phase response being addressed I the design phase. He was allot of fun to work with, and was very accommodating as well - he honored my request to use a different internal cable.

Following a 150-200 hour break in session, I settled on the following electronics:

Cary CDP-1 cdp with built in analogue volume control and DCCA Power wave 5 powercord
Quicksilver Mini Mite mono's with stock EL34's
Q Audio Type 2 Litz IC's and speaker cable
Van Den Hul M.S. CS12 internal cabling (for the speakers)

The sound - transcends speakers above $5K in many aspects. In terms of how natural or "real" they sound, I believe they beat every speaker I've used. But I will say that my electronics and Litz cable has allot to do with that. The Lores are very efficient, and that opens up the opportunity to use an amp that is extreme high quality at a lower price point. From a financial standpoint, allot of we pay for is power rating. In the past, my budget constraint forced me to compromise a little on quality, since I needed more quantity (watts).

Because the Eminence driver gives way to the Audax Gold Super tweeter a very high 3Khz, the transition is seamless and it sounds extremely balanced with no indication of any frequency sounding detached. In fact, it reminds me of electrostatic because it sounds like all of the sound is coming from one place.

The top end is just sensational - it is literally there and very refined as well. The mid range is "electrostatic-like," and the bottom end is tight and controlled, and can surely be tuned based on the room, placement, front end, and cables. In my case, the type 2 litz wire does wonders for the overall sound, but perhaps a little bottom end and weight is compromised with this choice. Not weak by any means; just not world class. However, the midrange and vocals, imaging, soundstage depth, detail, transparency, and instrument realism, is all world class!! I am not kidding. Folks, this is an $1,000 pair of loudspeakers, and with the right match of electronics and cables, they will reward by resembling a much higher priced set up. Being a 98db efficient speaker, they are extremely revealing and will expose the workings of the entire system. This means they respond to any changes made upstream.

I highly recommend Q Type 2 litz wire with these if you prefer the most organic presentation, and all the detail delivered smoothly (no roll off), while giving up a slight bit of "fullness" and warmth. The result this way - a sound that is not rolled off at all, a dead quiet noise floor, and no grain or fatigue. Moreover, the Sonics can be described as sharp, detailed, organic sounding, 3-dimensional, and with just enough weight. Tonality and upper bass articulation is very good, although not at the level of some higher end smaller drivers, but again I think selection of electronics would tune this aspect as well. Musicality is fine, but there is no added warmth with the electronics and cable choice I made so I rely on the recording to be musical, opposed to the "flavor" of the system.

Overall, I am extremely happy with my purchase, and dealing with Eric has been a delight. The speakers are a load of fun to listen to and I will strongly consider purchasing Tekton loudspeakers in the future as well.

Strengths
The highest value I have discovered - does nothing wrong

Weaknesses
May require some time to learn which electronics and cables brings out the best in them, so patience is required