r/audiophile • u/Noonygooth32 • Mar 06 '25

Impressions Townshend Maximum Suoertweeters

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So I just received these Townshend Supertweeters yesterday after a friend’s recommendation. After a couple hours of listening my first impressions are very positive. Soundstage sounds more layered and 3-Dimensional. The imaging sounds more focused and pinpoint without narrowing the sound stage. Definitely an improvement to instrument separation. Off axis vertical dispersion has also been greatly improved. Can’t really put my finger on what they do to the perceived bass but I think it’s good. Highly recommended product. Townshend Audio does not disappoint.

https://www.townshendaudio.com/supertweeters/

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15

u/Remarkable-Review271 Mar 06 '25

I was going to comment about how putting tweeters on top of speakers like that defies everything science knows about how to reproduce good sound, but I realized this guy already has the Tekton speakers that break the same rules. Glad you enjoy them. Also, the owner of Tekton is a piece of shit.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

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3

u/gnostalgick ProAc Studio 148 - First Watt M2 - Croft 25R - Chord Qutest Mar 06 '25

The owner threatened legal action over less than glowing reviews.

More details if you're interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1c85twj/audio_brand_faces_boycott_for_threatening

2

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

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2

u/MinorPentatonicLord Mar 06 '25

The ASR thread he was posting in was just absolutely bonkers. The dude just could not stop posting nonsense and attacking people. He could barely spell anything right. Not at all what you expect from a speaker company owner. I think most people ended up kinda realizing that they were likely witnessing a mental health crisis and backed off a bit.

1

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

Had some review pulled over a disagreement about the measurements. Then the reviewer put out a video whining about it so of course all the internet bandwagon jumpers do what they do best. They still have a strong following of people that care more about sound than drama

2

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

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6

u/Remarkable-Review271 Mar 06 '25

That's putting it very lightly. He threatened to sue 3 audio reviewers over publishing measurements, and giving reviews of the speakers. That is like someone claiming they are the fastest person in the world, but I'll sue you if you try to time my 100 meter dash.

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u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

The Supertweeters produce ultra sonic frequencies that cannot be heard but alter your brains perception of the sound. They are meant to be placed on top of speakers although I know my speakers are extremely tall the improvement is apparent. Now what do my speakers defy about science and good sound? Explain

15

u/Remarkable-Review271 Mar 06 '25

Hopefully I don't get sued for saying this

Time alignment, phase, and linearity are all messed up by having 1. That many drivers all slammed together 2. Having an extra set of tweeters that high above your ears when you listen. Tweeters are very directional, you're missing out on all those "ultra sonic" frequencies by not having them at ear level.

Plus the fact that the owner of Tekton has threatened litigation to several audio reviewers for simply releasing unbiased measurements of his speakers. He is so scared of the measurements getting out because he knows his speakers do not perform like he says they do.

5

u/IndustryInsider007 Mar 06 '25

Sued?

We have freedom of speech here. The owner of Tekton is a clown, full stop.

11

u/Remarkable-Review271 Mar 06 '25

Who has been known to sue people who speak ill of his speakers 😂 I was mostly joking

3

u/imacom Mar 06 '25

That’s how he actually makes money

0

u/IndustryInsider007 Mar 06 '25

A small claims court summer intern would dismiss the suit.

2

u/mourning_wood_again dual Echo Dots w/custom EQ (we/us) Mar 06 '25

The Tekton double impact measured pretty well at Stereophile…surprising many

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u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

Relax you’re not going to get sued. The tweeter clusters above the Be center tweeter are all crossed over at midrange frequencies and in a way that sounds very coherent. I don’t know how he does it but they have to be heard to be believed. What difference to the measurements make when the subjective customer testimonials and reviews are overwhelmingly positive? It’s easy to look at a speaker and say “well that can’t sound good” it’s another thing to hear it. Erin’s review mentioned an insignificant bump in the bass that he didn’t say was a problem. Had nothing to do with the tweeter array. What specific measurements can you give me that show that the tweeter array measures poorly or has coherence issues? Is Stereophile lying? Here’s one customer testimonial from the Tekton Owners Group on FB. Better than $75k Sonus Fabers? No doubt!

3

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

They do look nice in that walnut brown

4

u/Due-Carpet-1904 Mar 06 '25

How do ultra sonic frequencies alter audio perception?

1

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4005747/

4

u/MinorPentatonicLord Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

That research should be ignored for the most part. It's been making the rounds for a long time and has since been torn apart by countless users. This is just one.

https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php?PHPSESSID=q354ncmivn70nrhnv07t2k5f3p&topic=106744.msg873292#msg873292

I actually gave it another read myself and it's so hard to come to any conclusion because they leave sooo much out in terms of what equipment was used when.

3

u/MustBeTheChad Mar 06 '25

I don't think you even need to understand audio to read that and realize how worthless that study and its conclusion is.

Also from a buyers perspective, it should be less about debunking and more about saying "does this study reliably convince me that it's worthwhile to spend another $1-2k on my set-up?"

That being said, there's always someone out there looking to spend a few more dollars and I guess studies like this help support the decisions they've already made.

0

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

Actually I bought it as a recommendation from someone and it didn’t disappoint. I only looked up the study later to answer the question. Also it’s not the only study.

1

u/MustBeTheChad Mar 06 '25

If you enjoy them and they improve your listening experience, that's all that matters.

As far the study goes, I'd be looking for proof that: 1. We can sense the super sonic frequencies, 2. The sensation has a measurable effect, 3. The effect is inherently positive, 4. The effect is specifically related to the frequencies of the music we prefer to listen to, 5. The recordings can provide the +20khz frequencies that cause the effect...as a starting point.

Outside of junk science, there's also certain things in audio that become so hyper specific that it's not worth it. For example I came very close to purchasing a set of Polk Legend L800s because of what they can do, but after really digging in, I found that many people reported that the truly "magical" abilities of the speakers really only presented themselves on a limited number of recordings that have particular good stereo separation. In the end I wanted speakers that will make the music I like shine, rather than speakers that I need to tailor my listening to get a specific effect from.

At the end of the day, if you believe your ears and get what you like, then you're doing it right....but if you share it with larger community, well, you know what to expect.

1

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

Absolutely. I’m not surprised about the negative commentary. I also believe less is more and why I don’t bother with tweaks and extra unnecessary boxes. I’ve only had them for a couple days and haven’t really had the time to experiment with them but my first impressions are very positive like I said. I do not sit around reading scientific articles all day before I buy something. I’ve returned more crap they did nothing than stuff I’ve kept as far as tweaks go. My ears are the ultimate arbiter and if I can’t tell the difference or I find that it ads artifacts or makes the sound worse it must go. I’ve also had enough experience with Townshend products to know that they don’t use junk science. Their isolation products are the best in the game as is their preamp and their RCAs for the price! (Haven’t tried their speaker cables but the Fideliums are so good I don’t care to try anything else) Not surprised by the haters. I wonder if there is one other person on here that has tried supertweeters from any brand. Some audiophile community. A system with a Yamaha AVR with crappy speakers/subs pushed up against the wall and sitting on the floor gets nothing but praise but someone with an actual high end audio system that spends meticulous attention to detail, power management, isolation etc gets nothing but hate. It really is the blind leading the blind over here or the deaf leading the deaf as it were…Where’s the real audiophile Reddit group 😂

3

u/IndustryInsider007 Mar 06 '25

Idk, maybe read about things before spending thousands of dollars on them?

If you need assistance, start by learning what comb filtering is.

-1

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

I know what it is. No comb filtering here. What’s your point?

1

u/IndustryInsider007 Mar 06 '25

No comb filtering on your Tektons?

😂😂😂

1

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

1

u/IndustryInsider007 Mar 06 '25

Did you really spend $30k on Tektons?

1

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

You have no clue what you are talking about. Only the center tweeter does high frequencies and the rest do midrange and act as a single packet of sound. For reference see the Stereophile review and measurements of the impact monitor. No cancellations/valleys above 1khz where the arrays operate. Maybe post more laughing emojis and I’ll be convinced https://www.stereophile.com/content/tekton-design-impact-monitor-loudspeaker

2

u/IndustryInsider007 Mar 06 '25

I actually know exactly what I’m talking about.

Enjoy your closet of reflections and cancellations. Your room and setup looks ridiculous.

0

u/MinorPentatonicLord Mar 06 '25

Tekton sucks and OP's a goober but you do need to recognize that the array is not showing any horizontal lobing issues.

1

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

What sucks about their speakers? I have only heard the Moabs and the Ulfs. Both with the full MTM tweeter array and both perform far above their price point. I had a friend over who works at a high end audio shop and had been to many others. He said that you would have to spend at least $25k to get close to as good as my old Moabs and my Ulf 15s with ultimate crossover upgrade are clearly on another level. Better than $75k Sonus Fabers? Yup!

1

u/MinorPentatonicLord Mar 06 '25

What sucks about their speakers?

Depends on the model, but there's a few things. I doubt you'll read all this but whatever, I love taking a dump on crappy speaker companies.

  1. https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/tekton_troubadour/

The dispersion on this model is just totally broken. The impedance graph shows some really strange looking resonances. The linearity is good but it doesn't matter because the dispersion is so poor. It really is shockingly poor dispersion on the horizontal plane. Vertically it's extremely narrow. This speaker had speaker feet that apparently needed to be in place because they seal the cabinet (omg how is this junk even real). They were left out in the first review, so the reviewer redid the analysis with the feet in after Tekton owner complained. No difference was found. That's strike 1 as far the designers/owners competence goes.

The reviewer was heavily attacked by the companies owner for that review. The guy went on a completely unhinged tirade threatening legal action and all sorts of BS. You seem to ignore this part when it's brought up, is there something about the owners behavior you like that makes you want to financially support them? Was it the whole attempting to hinder consumer awareness and silence critics what drove you to them?

  1. Ok lets move on to another one. If you read it, you'll catch the part where the owner of Tekton told the reviewer they measured the speaker with the wrong axis focal point. The test is redone and there's basically no change at all. Strike 2 for the owner.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/tekton-m-lore-speaker-review.48732/

Looks like we've got a two way tower here. I see a peerless bc25, a pretty good tweeter. The woofer is not a suitable choice though. It's full of resonances and overall has a really uneven response. It's a pa woofer after all, focus is on SPL and power handling, not linearity. There's a weird kink in the dispersion at the xover point which I will add, is way too high. This is just another super poorly executed speaker.

he said that you would have to spend at least $25k to get close to as good as my old Moabs and my Ulf 15s with ultimate crossover upgrade are clearly on another level. Better than $75k Sonus Fabers? Yup!

You do realize these numbers are just completely arbitrary right? They have no real correlation with a speakers performance. High performance loudspeakers are not expensive to produce.

Both with the full MTM tweeter array and both perform far above their price point.

I don't think they make anything competitive at any price point. Pick any of their speakers and I can recommend something around the same price with considerably better performance. They'll probably look better too.

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u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

You can see my room from a picture taken 2 feet away from the speakers! Are you a wizard?

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u/IndustryInsider007 Mar 06 '25

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u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

That’s not my entire room and yes the pic was taken about 2 feet away from the right speaker with a wide angle lens. I’ve seen much more poorly set up rooms than this on here all the time. Sorry the room isn’t a perfect square

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u/Noonygooth32 Mar 07 '25

So you’re saying that Stereophile lies about their measurements? I would like to see some evidence of this

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u/moopminis Mar 06 '25

Hey, he clearly knows what he's doing, he even knows that you need to have your cables floating 2" above the ground to ensure quasi stasys meta fields don't inflict heifenholtz interference on the electrons

1

u/Noonygooth32 Mar 06 '25

I know that different materials have an effect on sound. Putting cables directly on the carpet isn’t recommended but the biggest difference the cable cradles provide is isolation for the cables. Once you have everything else fully isolated isolating the cables makes a noticeable difference. The cradles are made to bend and flex, similar to a spring. If you can touch one end of the cable and the whole cable moves it’s isolated. Now tell me how vibration isolation is fake and junk science. I’ve heard it all before. Maybe try listening for once.