1812 Model V12

(2 customer reviews)

$14000

/ pair

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    Description

    Experience the pinnacle of loudspeaker engineering with the Tekton Design 1812. This patented flagship model delivers an unparalleled sonic experience, boasting breathtaking power and dynamics. Unlike conventional speakers that often limit the “sweet spot” to a single listener, the 1812’s patented design ensures that everyone in the room enjoys a true stereo experience. Prepare to be captivated by its lifelike soundstage, exceptional clarity, and immersive depth. The 1812 is a testament to our relentless pursuit of audio perfection, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in loudspeaker design.

    • 3-way design
    • Single 18″ subwoofer capsule 
    • 12 6.5″ mid frequency transducers
    • 12 30mm high frequency transducers
    • H 71″ x W 23″ x D 26″ 300lbs 
    • Sensitivity 100dB 1W @ 1m
    • 140dB maximum output each
    • 8 Ohm Impedance
    • Frequency response 20Hz – 30kHz
    • Power handling – 2500 Watts
    • Proudly hand-crafted in the USA

    2 reviews for 1812 Model V12

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    1. Christian Eckart (store manager)

      Some notes regarding my new Tekton 1812’s

      Over the years I’ve pieced together what amounts to a fairly serious stereo. To be honest, by purchasing some components second-hand, and through deal-making and leaning on relationships with various friends, online high-end dealers and manufacturers I’ve cobbled together a system I can’t actually afford. I like to refer to it as my “boom-box” because I’m the type of dedicated 2 channel audiophile who likes to keep it simple and no frills. I realized that the world of high-end audio is aware of enthusiasts like me the first time I heard the statement that “the best pre-amp is no pre-amp.”

      Having allowed my system to remain relatively unaltered for a couple of years it occurred to me one day that if there was a weak link it might be the speakers. To be fair, my music tastes had devolved during that period to the extent that I was mainly listening to extremely heavy doom, death and black metal as well as stoner and psychedelic rock. Other genres include terms such as sludge, crust, space, etc. You get the idea. It seemed to me that the awesome speakers I’d finagled over and which had been made specifically for me were just not up to the task of reproducing the massive bass, fuzz drenched chords and crushing heaviness of the music I was now listening to more and more.

      Therefore, whenever time permitted, I’d perform searches for speakers that might have the capability and dynamics for taking on massive riffs while still maintaining their composure. On one such search I came across the Tekton 1812’s and it was love at first sight. I thought that if the performance of those speakers could rival their actual appearance it was going to be a long term thing. Of course one doesn’t just dive into any romance without doing one’s due diligence but everything I read and learned with further research, as well as what was reinforced through a couple of phone conversations with Eric Alexander, suggested that I’d found the solution to a problem I wasn’t really convinced I had. It’s important to note here that what was being taken under consideration would amount to replacing a pair of perfectly functional, beautifully crafted, well-constructed remarkably musical speakers with an MSRP roughly four times that of the 1812’s with the expectation of enhancing and improving my listening experience. This is what some might refer to as a fairly big gamble.

      So, without a sound room audition I went ahead and ordered a pair of 1812’s and waited apprehensively for their arrival. And then suddenly one day, a couple of months later, there they were. Four gigantic boxes containing the elements for two monumental speakers. Although it was my plan to wait for help to move the old pair out of the room and install the new pair into the system I couldn’t hold back and began the work of the exchange immediately, albeit carefully and methodically. Quite surprised myself with the re-emergence of moving knowledge acquired as a furniture installer in my college days. I have to admit here that once I’d unpacked and temporarily positioned the sub assemblies it required the assistance of my wife, a petite but shockingly strong woman, with lifting and placing the mid-range/tweeter arrays on top. A couple of bolts, then a few wires, bi-wired speaker cables connected and we were up and running. However, rather than stopping for the massage and hot Epsom Salts bath that would normally be prescribed after all the heaving and hefting I set out immediately to collect my first impressions of the speakers I hoped would change my life, or at least improve its quality.

      Please permit a digression here and allow me to detail the components of my boombox. The source in the system is a Burmester 111 Music Server within which are stored approximately 4000 high resolution lossless audio files. You vinyl people can feel free to get up off the couch every fifteen or twenty minutes to flip your antique analog media. I’m not even remotely interested or compelled by a need to mentally filter out snap, crackle, pop, hiss, wow and flutter from my listening experience. Utilizing only the built-in pre-amp of the music server the signal is conducted to a pair of MBL 9007 solid state monoblock amplifiers via Acoustic Zen Absolute Zero Crystal Silver balanced interconnects. From the MBL’s the signal is conveyed to the 1812’s via Nordost Valkyrja speaker cables which apparently propagate a signal at 96% the speed of light. This is important because that sense of speed is reinforced by qualities of speed and ease of signal translation exhibited by the 1812’s. And because the 1812’s are efficient, running at 4 ohms, my MBL’s are rated at a whopping 485 watts per side. Plenty of power to drive the beasts. All of the electronics are situated on top of a custom made solid poured concrete stereo bench, isolated and dampened by various items from the product line at Harmonic Resolution Systems and energized by Stradivari Masterpiece power cords.

      Without having really accurately positioned the speakers I ran through a number of tracks stored in my memory for such an occasion. My first impression was (and pardon me here) OMFG!!!! Even not positioned and definitely not yet warm, never mind burned in, the sound was shocking – extraordinary. The first terms that came to my mind were “presence” and “cinematic.” I’ve been in a lot of listening rooms and have listened to a lot of high end speakers up to and beyond $250,000 a pair but I’ve never heard anything behave like these 1812’s. It was as if a wormhole had appeared and opened in the center of my listening room and an entirely alternate universe of audio playback possibility had unfolded right there in front of me.

      The definition of every sound had a kind of rigor and precision that I’d heard before but now also accompanied by a sense of shape and color. Music that I’m very familiar with sounded as though it was playing back somewhat slower because the space and silence around and between sounds was so apparent. I’d read, and experienced to a degree, that when people first hear a truly fine stereo, ideally set up, initial listening experiences could be very emotional, even drawing tears, but I’d never been fully initiated in such a rite. And yet, here I was, a couple of tracks in, grateful to be alone in the listening area, wiping away tears with a lump in my throat, experiencing sensations reserved for epiphanies and cute puppies.

      After speaking once again with Eric about positioning the 1812’s I chose to take my time to really get a full sense of the potential of the speakers in defining a soundstage. I discovered that the 1812’s , I suppose as a result of how they’re configured, are remarkably forgiving and flexible regarding positioning. It wasn’t the case of getting lucky and identifying a singular optimal orientation but rather more about in which way did I want to tune the playback; how big or small did I want the soundstage, how deep or forward, did I want to emphasize the lows, the mids or the highs, etc. Another wonderful discovery was that I didn’t have to place the speakers too far forward from the back wall into the listening space. It’s difficult enough already to have your partner accept a pair of behemoths into the household but if they intrude into active domestic pathways there might be some real trouble.

      Then, having finally settled upon positioning that satisfies my predilection for as ruler-flat and “as recorded” a sonic experience as possible I decided it was time to spike the beasts. Eric Alexander had stated in an earlier conversation that it would be a good idea to attend to as perfect as possible leveling of the speakers when spiking as this would insure the most rigorous stereo image. And he was totally right! Once the 1812’s were spiked and leveled the playback became more refined by another magnitude.

      And have I mentioned anything about drums yet? In all my fifty years of being a 2- channel geek I’ve never heard a pair of speakers so comprehensively and with such fidelity reproduce all the various drum kits and drumming techniques one encounters. It’s one thing to do justice to wailing guitar and keyboard tones but it’s quite another entirely to describe a sonic hologram of a drummer’s gear and the actual location of all the strikes on that gear.

      Upon this writing I’ve had the speakers for about three months and my ears have grown accustomed to their dynamics and range. Perhaps the biggest takeaway of all is the following. As mentioned above, I’ve listened to a lot of awesome speakers in high-end sound rooms all over North America and Europe but there is one thing I’ve never experienced to the extent it occurs with the 1812’s. Contingent upon the quality of the recording, of course, as well as the imperatives of the artists, engineers and producers, the 1812’s have an uncanny ability to emulate a sense of the atmospherics of the recording studio or performance venue. Much of the music I listen to depends on a sense of being performed in vast cavernous spaces (or perhaps from the bowels of hell) with clearly defined room tone, resonances and stage rumble. The 1812’s are able to depict and integrate this background ambiance into the architecture of the playback absolutely effortlessly with the result being as intense and lively a listening experience as I’ve ever had.

      And finally, although I’ve stated that I acquired the 1812’s specifically for the purpose of enjoying a particularly viscerally pummeling listening experience, I am, after all, an equal opportunity listener when it comes to un-popular music. It can be reported that the 1812’s are equally faithful in their delivery of highly nuanced digital electronica, dark dubstep, opera, cello concertos, as well as Renaissance and Baroque Opera, Chorals and Masses.

    2. User Review

      I am proud to say I am the owner of the first pair of 1812 Model V’s. Before I talk about my impression of them, I will first start by discussing my experience other with Tekton products to date.

      I bought a SVS PB13 Ultra sub from a guy who had a pair of Pendragon Towers and a Pendragon Center for his home theater. His room was pretty small, though, and there was no room for Pendragon Surrounds. He could only mount small surround di-pole speakers from another company. He said he absolutely loved his Pendragons but I didn’t have a chance to listen to them since I was pressed for time and had to leave. A short while later, I came across a pair of Pendragon Towers on Craigslist and bought them. I read some reviews online and one reviewer claimed they compete not necessarily with other $2K to $3K speakers, but very hi-fi speakers such as Wilson Audio’s MAXX 3 ($68K), Wisdom Audio’s LS4 ($70K) and Meyer Sound X-10 pro speakers ($30K). After listening to the pair on Craigslist, I was very impressed and took them home.

      My music preferences (which change regularly) are currently deep house, down tempo and chill. After dialing everything in, I was floored at how the Pendragons could simultaneously slam the mids and effortlessly produce low frequencies down to 20Hz. I liked them so much, I bought the show pair Eric brought to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest to use as the surrounds in my home theater. I have a Pendragon Center and pair of Cinema Subs on order to complete my HT ensemble. In the meantime, the 4 Pendragon Towers sound fantastic with a phantom center and the SVS PB13 Ultra sub. From what I have heard from the LF sections of the 1812’s, however, I expect the Cinema subs will far exceed the sound quality and performance of the SVS.

      On to the 1812’s…

      Since I like to listen to music very loud, I came to the conclusion several years ago that the ultimate solution would be a speaker configured with pro audio output potential and an audiophile sound. The Pendragons satisfied this solution with their pro audio woofers and ring radiator tweeters. While doing my research before securing the first pair of Pendragons, I was intrigued by the 1812’s Eric had on his website. I really didn’t need them since the Pendragons were so great but I had some extra money, had a section in my basement I could dedicate to 2-channel listening area and figured the 1812’s would be the ultimate embodiment of my pro audio/audiophile preference. Based on my experience with the Pendragons and the multitude of awards Eric’s has received on his other speaker models, I plunked down the funds for the 1812’s without listening to them. He informed me he was making a design change (Model V) and asked if I would accept the new configuration. Although the 1812 Model V had never been built or tested, I said yes, absolutely. I trusted him.

      The package came in 8 boxes…4 very large ones for the HF and LF sections and 4 smaller ones with four speaker drivers and hardware. A friend helped me assemble the speakers with the clear written instructions Eric provided. It took a while to put everything together but was well worth the effort. By the end of the night, the 1812’s were bolted, wired and terminated but I didn’t dare turn them on. If there were any issues, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.

      The next day I fired them up, and, although they were impressive, I needed to make some adjustments. I’m sure most of you have found that the pre-amp, amp and source are critical to the quality of the speaker output. I started with an Oppo BDP-103 player, Sherwood Newcastle R-972 receiver (for pre-amp duty only) and a pair of Crown XLS 2502 amps. After trying numerous configurations (removing the Sherwood, bridging the Crowns for each channel, bi-amping the Crowns for separate HF and LF output), I ended up connecting the Oppo directly to a Crown I-Tech IT5000HD amp. Holy smokes, I have never heard a sound like this before! The highs are crisp and clear with tremendous imaging…the mids are punchy and concise…the lows are clean, correct and enveloping. The more you listen, the more you are drawn into the sound. I heard nuances I hadn’t heard with any other speaker.

      I consider myself an “Audio Enthusiast” which would be less technical than a true Audiophile. Over the past few years, however, I have heard a huge number of speakers at the annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. Nothing I have heard at this show produces the audiophile sound with the sheer output of the 1812 Model V’s. These really are the ultimate super speakers.

      Mike

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