Well I finally have my system up and running and man has it been a roller coaster of emotions. First, my chain:
PC with Matrix Audio Element H
USB Cable
Singxer SU-6
BNC to BNC Digital Coax Cable
Black Cat BNC to RCA Adapter
Parasound P6
XLR Interconnects
Parasound A21+
Speaker Cables
Tekton Double Impact SE
I got everything hooked up and pressed play. The first thing I noticed was that the bass was extemely anemic. I then turned on the tone controls of the P6. Turned up the bass and even that didn’t help much. I knew something was up because the DI’s should have decent bass without a sub, but this was just bad. I walked to the sides of my room and there was the bass I was looking for. Turns out the bass is being projected way off axis.
It has to be my room which is weird. The DI’s are placed where all my previous speakers have been placed. All my other systems (bookshelves + subs) have projected bass right on axis. These floorstanders are projecting the bass everywhere except in between the speakers. I proceeded to move the speakers around some. First, I pushed them back as much as possible and even that didnt get them to project differently. I pulled them out more, I moved them inwards, I moved them outwards, I toed them in. Nothing helped. I has to be my room combined with port placement. At this point I was not very happy.
I then decided to hook up a sub to see what effect it would have. JBL 550P to the rescue lol!! The bass has arrived ladies and gentlemen. To my utter suprise, the JBL can fill my large room, but I can tell it is at its limit. Matching Tekton 2-10 subwoofer on order.
Once I got the bass on axis I could finally listen and enjoy. Yep, I have arrived at my endgame no questions. This is only a first impressions, but damn. Nothing stands out, but nothing is missing. Everything is perfect.
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Nice! See how they do without a sub after a few hundred hours of break-in.
It’s curious that bass is “off” compared to other speakers you’ve had in the same spot. Lower frequencies are omni directional so you’re not going to encounter dispersion differences like you would with mids and highs.
Also possible that some driver is out of phase.
Yeah it’s really weird. I’m a basshead so I would have probably got a sub anyway lol
My first thought was that they might be out of phase. They sound fine off axis though and isn’t phase more about distance? The bass is anemic from up close to far away on axis.
I don’t think it is break-in w/ these speakers, I’m sure it is room, placement and the acoustics of the room. I have had similar situation arise with my Klipsch Heresy’s. I moved them all over the place and it was driving me nuts. I heard them in the showroom and KNEW they could reproduce the damned music, just not in my room. Then i took the bases off and set them on top of the subwoofers and bam, the bottom end came back and they sounded whole. Despite the fact that folks say that is the wrong way to use them it happened to work in MY ROOM.
Keep at it till you get them set up in a manner that works. In my nearfield room i am using the 1/3 rule, speakers pulled forward 1/3 of the way into the room and that works really well and sounds great. Congratulations on all, happy listening!
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Opposite phase between individual drivers or groups of drivers (like left and right) would cause cancellation.
What I find curious about the whole thing is that you have them in the same spot as you had other speakers but the bass is anemic in comparison. That takes the room out of the equation (room modes don’t change with speakers…because the room stays the same).
Do the DIs have biwire terminal? If so, take a double A battery and apply current to the woofers. Don’t hold the battery there - just touch it to see what direction the driver move in (either in or out). If all four (the two in each cabinet) move in the same direction, it’s all good and maybe you just have to wait for them to break in. If one or more is moving opposite to the others, they’re wired out of phase.
A stupid question (but I think we’ve all done it at one time or another so it’s worth asking) is are the left and right speakers wired to the amp in phase (all + and all - are correct)?
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I like New Record Days LOTS video on YouTube. However, I don’t think I can use those types of rules as my speakers are placed at a 45 degree angle to the room. Makes it even more difficult.
Btw, if a double A doesn’t have enough juice - a 9 volt works as well.
Not biwire. Can I tell without biwire terminals? And I have the speaker cables wired according to the terminals on the amp and speakers. Can switching them on the speaker cause damage?
Switching on the speaker (or amp) is perfectly fine - it just puts them out of phase. Do it for one speaker just to see what it sounds like so you know it if you ever did it by accident.
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I will try that tomorrow since it’s getting late and I’ve been blasting music for most of the day lol
Without bi-wire terminals you can still do the battery if you’re brave. A sub can handle the battery’s DC current for a few seconds but a tweeter may go poof depending on the crossover. I would do it but can’t in good faith suggest it to others.
The only other way is to take the subs out and confirm one didn’t get wired wrong by accident. I don’t know if that would void your warranty though.
Call Eric at Tekton and talk to him about it. It may come down to waiting for them to break in.
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The sub ports on the back are quite large so I might be able to see without disassembling.
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Would be a pretty bad mistake if the terminals/cables would be wrong inside the speakers.
More likely the cables outside. 
Id also think it’s the room now.
Measurements would help to see the potential problems than speculate.
You could test by swapping speakers. Mark with tape the current location of speakers, change left to right and right to left.
If it sound same, it’s not the speakers.
Did you try hooking up just one speaker positioned where the sub is at ? Try that with each speaker.
That fucking did it. I swapped the + and - speaker cables on one of the speakers. I was then physically assaulted with bass on axis. I am so ecstatic right now.
I emailed Tekton about the whole thing, waiting for a response. The binding posts on the back are mirrored. One speaker has + on the right while the other has + on the left. Not sure if that is how they normally do it.
Anyway I am so happy that fixed it!! I might just cancel the Tekton sub now. These things can get down low!
Should I continue investigating anything or should I just enjoy the results? Any possible damage from swapping one speaker? And does it matter which speaker I swap?
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Awesome!
Enjoy. I’d still call Tekton just to understand exactly what’s going on (did they accidentally mis-label the terminals? Are the subs internally wired out of phase? etc.).
Nope.
Nope.
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Most of the time, it’s always about one channel being reversed somewhere in the chain. The mirrored binding posts it new to me though. Don’t think I’ve ever had a pair that was mirrored.
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Hooking up like that results in out of phase.
one terminal is upside down, don’t know which. thats your problem right there. terminal is wired wrong because of it.
edit: the symbol in the middle is on the bottom on one and top on the other
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