Floorstanding loudspeakers — Tekton Design ULFBERHT

The Ulfberht, a four-way Tekton Design floorstander, is priced at USD 9,000 per pair on sale, down from USD 10,000. It combines 21 drivers per speaker in a very tall cabinet, and a version with 15-inch woofers, the Ulfberht 15, sits beside it. The 12-inch woofers set it apart from its larger sibling.

Key specs that matter

Tekton fits a proprietary hybrid MTM high-frequency array of fifteen 30 mm domes, four 7-inch mid-bass drivers that Tekton calls its patented overtone and harmonic transducers, and two 12-inch woofers. Frequency response is 20 Hz to 30 kHz, with ±0.5 dB from 70 Hz to 20 kHz. Sensitivity is 97 dB at 2.83 V and 1 m, impedance is 4 ohms and power handling is 1,000 W. The cabinet measures about 1,956 x 406 x 432 mm and weighs about 106.6 kg.

Engineering and use context

Its array follows US Patent 9247339, and Tekton also refers to US patent 10805715 and further pending patents. In this design, a group of light domes arranged in a polygon takes the place of one tweeter. The mid-bass drivers and woofers give the Ulfberht a very large cone area below the array, and the four-way division lets each group work over a limited range. Beryllium domes are offered as an upgrade for the array. The cabinet is about 95 mm shorter than the Ulfberht 15. Given the weight, delivery, unpacking and positioning need several people.

Pairing

The high sensitivity means the Ulfberht reaches high levels with moderate power, while the power handling permits large solid-state amplifiers or monoblocks. The 4 ohm load favours amplifiers with strong current delivery. A large room well above 20 m2 is required, and a subwoofer is not needed. The 21 drivers per speaker break down as fifteen domes in the array, four mid-bass units and two woofers, and the pair costs USD 470 more than the Symphony, which has fewer and smaller drivers.

Alternatives

The Tekton Design Ulfberht 15 replaces the 12-inch woofers with two 15-inch subwoofers and adds a fourteen-dome midrange array, with 98 dB sensitivity, at USD 10,000 per pair.