Floorstanding loudspeakers — Tekton Design DOUBLE IMPACT SE

The Double Impact SE is the upgraded version of Tekton Design's Double Impact tower, priced at USD 4,300 per pair. It keeps the four-way layout of the standard model, with pairs of woofers and mid-bass drivers and a multi-tweeter array, but uses SE versions of the drivers and higher-grade crossover and wiring parts. It is made by Tekton in Orem, Utah.

Key specs that matter

The SE carries eleven drivers per speaker - two SE 10-inch woofers, two low-mass SE 6-inch mid-bass units and the tweeter array. Frequency response is 30 Hz to 30 kHz, with ±1 dB accuracy from 70 Hz to 20 kHz. Sensitivity is 99 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m, nominal impedance is 4 ohms and power handling is 500 W. The cabinet is about 1,372 mm high and 305 mm wide and weighs about 54.4 kg.

Engineering and use context

The SE upgrade concerns both the drivers and the passive components. In the woofer section, the crossover uses a large Jantzen or Erse Sledgehammer inductor, and the tweeter section uses Mundorf or ClarityCap capacitors. Internal wiring is to military specification, and the input terminals are solid billet copper parts made by Cardas in the USA. The SE costs USD 1,300 more per pair than the standard model. The tweeter array follows Tekton's patented polygon-oriented design, US Patent 9247339, with small low-mass domes grouped around a central tweeter so that the outer ones act as an upper midrange. Compared with the standard Double Impact, sensitivity and power handling are slightly higher, while the external size remains the same. Options include bi-wire and bi-amp terminals, custom paint colours, grilles and footers, and Tekton offers beryllium tweeter upgrades across its range.

Pairing

The high sensitivity means the Double Impact SE needs little power for normal listening, so low-powered tube amplifiers are an option, while the low nominal load and generous power handling also allow large solid-state amplifiers. The heavy cabinets are suited to rooms of 20 m2 and more, and the deep bass extension reduces the need for a subwoofer in music systems.

Alternatives

The standard Tekton Design Double Impact offers, with the same four-way layout, 98.82 dB sensitivity and 400 W handling at USD 3,000 per pair.