Tekton Lore vs. ZU Omen MK I: Battle of the Used Budget Speakers. Only one can be KING! 

Hey 2 Channel Viewers: Just a courtesy policy of mine. You can disagree with me, not like my reviews, not like the products I pick or the brands, that's life. However, I will delete comments that call people names - name calling is not an argument. We are all here to learn and debate the merits of products, genres and methodologies. let's keep it civil. Thank you all!

Really nice review, I've been waiting for someone to do a thorough review of the Lores vs the Dirty Weekends so I'll be staying tuned-thanks.

Really enjoyed this in-depth comparison of these two speakers.

Great video, I really enjoyed it! Thanks for packing in all of that pertinent, and useful information.

Ive been waiting for this comparison for years. Thanks, and hapy new year!

this was my most curious speaker comparison. thx.

I’ve been hitting that subscribe button over and over. Hope that helps. Great review. Thanks.

Wow! Great review! I really appreciate the painstaking work you did to analyze, compare and present your findings. Due to downsizing of my home & listening room, my Maggie 1.6's still sound great, but are not and cannot be positioned optimally...so I've been looking at replacements. The Zu and the Tekton Lore are in my top 5 contender list... so your review it much appreciated. Subscribed!!

Excellent comparison and details between the two speakers, both seem to be very good value for the price point.

New sub! At this point with all these great review channels avaliable, I'll get nothing done throughout the day!😉🤭🤗😇

Great review !

Really looking forward to the matchup with the Dirty Weekend Mk. II. They look so good in the hickory finish.

Great Review! been waiting for the comparison. there both on my radar for next speaker. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the DW MkII . also was thinking of going full boat to a long term speaker now like the Omen Def or Soul Supreme with the better tweeters and cabinets. Would be great to hear a review between one of them and a comparable Tekton. Kinda hoping the Zu's win because as you say the have the WAF. but if i have to go Tekton would definitely pay the extra bucks for the grills. Even the DI there just fugly IMHO of course..

I just subscribed. Great review!

Great Review!! ✌

Great review ......... looking forward to more ......... ;-)

You have to learn to chill dude, you are much to tense... Just kidding, I see you don't post a lot of content, but it's always well presented, thoughtful and informative. If you take the example of "the cheap audio man" for instance, he is full time You Tube now and I think he has become sucessful for the reason that he doesn't take himself too seriously gives his honest opinion and puts out content. You have some unique qualities as well that I don't see in other reviewers, and IMO you should be a bigger channel than you are.

Awesome review! Good work. Just wondering if you've ever tried the Polk LSIM 705? I been thinking about upgrading to the Tekton Lores.

Thank you for this great review. Wanted to check if you have had a chance to hear the Zu Soul Supreme and Tekton Moabs as they are similar priced and your thoughts on them

Thanks for the review. I have a pair of dirty weekends as my secondary speakers and they are very good and also look fantastic in my "family room". I have heard the Tekton's in person at the audio show in the DC area and they are amazing but crazy looking and looks and fit/finish is a factor to me. I'm anxious to watch your review of the "budget" monoblocks and which ones you will review as I am considering monoblocks for my main system and I hope you will review a range of them up to $6k a pair. Not sure what you consider budget monoblocks but I feel if I am going to move up to them from a single amp, I probably need to spend at least $3k for a pair. Thank you.

Great review . IF you did Frequency Response along with a Recording that we can listen that would be uploaded on YT and as a file on say G drive , that would be the freaking best review ever For that is my kind of Review , honest , detailed ,and technical , no Audiophile words to sell it like 99% of other reviews do and whom i dont trust one bit .

Great info! Wishing I hadn't rushed on my speakers.

In 2020 I wanted to upgrade my Elac Debut B6.2 stand-mounts to a floorstander so I was looking at the Zu Dirty Weekend's and the Tekton M-Lore which is the smallest in the Lore series. The DW's that I wanted were the blue maple and I wanted the cap upgrade. When added all together they were going to run about $1,800 including shipping. The M-Lore's I wanted included internal upgrades for caps, wiring, transducer and binding posts and were $600 for the base speaker and $200 for the upgrade for a total of $800 including shipping. I went with the M-Lore's for the cost savings alone. My room is really challenging because it is a multi-purpose 13x11 space and I just couldn't justify spending $1,800 when I could get similar, if not better, sound for $800. From the photos that I've seen the fit and finish of the Zu's is the winner but the finish on my Tekton's while not a nice woodgrain is done very well - nearly comparable to an automotive paint finish. I have no regrets purchasing the Tekton's because they give me at least 95% of what I was looking for.

Great review, looking forward to Part 2. Question: where are you able to buy these used? I have looked on the usual suspects (audiogon, audiomart, eBay) and can’t find anything.. any help would be appreciated.

Man, you actually had me for the entire 37 minutes. What a review, I just subbed too. Congrats and I look forward to more of your content.

The main difference is the approach to the tweeter, and how it is crossed over - and the dispersion of the 10" woofer with it's whizzer cone vs a dome tweeter. Physics can't be bent - when the wavelength of the sound approaches the diameter of the driver - the dispersion will get narrow. If the whizzer cone is 3 1/2", the Zu will get narrow at 3858Hz.

Great video. If there are the same driver, I wonder if you could purchase beauty rings and a hardware set from ZU and add them to the Tekton's?

The Lores always interested me, however, I did own the Enzo XL's. They did some things nicely, but ultimately I did not like the very forward upper mid-range around 4khz. Did the Lores & Pendragon share the same tone profile? I'm wondering if that is Tekton's house sound.

I've owned both of these speakers. Mine were the Dirty weekend MKII version. Standard cap. The Lores were also standard. I agree with your opinion. The Lore's beat the Omen's. The Zu's look so much better but the sound wasn't anything special. I sold them only after 2 months of ownership. The irony is, I waited 4.5 months to receive them.

To be fair, once you get a Zu DW with the upgrades, the real comparison would be to also compare the Lore with the upgrade package (caps, inductors, cabling and connectors), not the standard Lore. Great review though! I agree about the bass complexity with the Zu design and ended up ordering the Lore's myself.

Awesome review. I have a vintage marantz 2225 reciever which has tremendous sentimental value to me. I would like to pair it with either the Lore or the dirty weekends. Which do you think it would work better with? Heard good things bout zu and vintage equipment but im not sure. Please help me. Thank you for your time.

Really informative comparison and speakers description. The only thing I didn’t get yet is how complex the crossover filters are. I read somewhere Zu declares there isn’t any since only the tweeter is built in the way that it filters the low frequencies itself. What about Tekton? Thank you so much,even for the clarity of your speech for a non native American like me.

I have Lores , haven't compared them to Zu's but have compared them to a pair of very highly regarded 3000/pair monitors .The Lores beat them almost across the board . Refinement is great in terms of sonic characteristics, but to my ear which speaker delivers like you are in the recording session or small live venue with a top notch audio system . That describes the Lores to me . Refinement has to do with source and amplification very much as well . I'm using a 70's vintage Luxman integrated biased into class A . Either of these speakers will respond very well to lower watts , class A designs .

Lore owner. Incredible speaker. Long live Tekton. I’m sure Zu are great too. Worth a mention, the eminence driver is combined with a whizzer cone. That’s a unique combo in the tekton range.

I just picked up a pair of circa 2017 Zu Audio Omen Dirty Weekend in dark hickory, and heard them up against a pair of $12,000 (at the time of purchase) Tyler Acoustics speakers. These were gorgeous speakers, HUGE speakers, well over 6 feet in height. Both were played using a version of the Parasound amp, the DW's on the A21 and the Tylers on the JC5 I believe. Both used the PS Audio Gaincell DAC/Preamp and fed with Bluesound Nodes. The Tyler's were in a very nicely treated room. There were no sub woofers involved in either system. The gentleman I purchased the Dirty Weekend speakers from, is the original owner of both sets of speakers, and we spent a couple of hours listening to both. I have to tell you, the Tyler's sound very nice, but in the end, what the Zu Omen Dirty Weekend speakers did, outshined the 12x more expensive Tyler's. Even my friend had to admit that. I told him that later over the phone, as I did not want to insult the man in his own house. He agreed with my thoughts, the Zu's were just different in a good way, more sparkle and separation. I would love to hear their more expensive offerings. Also, these are incredibly finicky speakers. Every change I made changed the sound signature. I think the preamp is the piece that will make the largest difference in sound. My friend ran both of his setups with that PS Audio Gaincell DAC/Pre. He has one for sale, I want to buy it, but he is already having sellers remorse, and I cannot blame him. I am planning on doing the tweeter upgrade the the DW's. After reading these comments, I wonder how much time folks spent dialing these speakers in? Right now, I have them on carpet, 1 1/4" at the front, using carriage bolts, and 1/2" at the back. I also toed them out a bit. The soundstage was much improved, as well as instrument separation. I had the Emotiva XPA-DR2 with the Denafrips Athena preamp using the Venus II 12th DAC. The DR2 sounded thin, almost class D. I also have the KLH Model 5, and the DR2 really shined with those. I put the old XPA-2 back in the system and they smoothed right out, that thin sound disappeared. And this is where I am hearing the preamp. When compared to what I heard in regards to the PS Audio Gaincell, right now the preamp is the issue, at least in my mind. Very finicky speakers. I want to find two pieces of slate or marble tile, 16" x 16" to use as a base for these DW's. I have some Maple slabs that I tried, but the DW's actually sound better on the carpet. Just wondering if a harder and more reflective surface, like my friend had these on would be an improvement. I still believe this is all going to boil down to the preamp. I wish I would have kept my Schiit Freya S now just to give it a shot. I believe the Athena is holding the Zu's back. My friend agrees, he had two Athenas, and settled on the Gaincells.

Question, an Army buddy (best friend) I've been helping him him with a stereo: 3.1 system with 7 channel receiver for $2500. I gave him 4 options. His room is 15x15 odd shape. He went to Best Buys Magnolia room and they showed him B&W R800 series for $3500 and a Marantz 11 channel receiver for $1500. What do you suggest for a small room TV and Music for $3000? New Zu is getting pricy but Tekton or Zu used maybe? What about a 7.2 receiver?

I've been messing with bases for my subwoofer and tower speaker stacks.. But I wouldn't recommend spending $400 on it.. I just went to home depot and bought a few concrete paver tiles and a rubber door liner. $23 later and my sound is a little bigger and a lot cleaner.

hi can u post a link on where you bought those metal rounded thing w/ rubber? around it, which is on top of your cd player and amp? Ty Nice review

You can use wood toothpicks to fill in the screw holes.Pus them in & break them off flat.Can use many to fill & start a new screw.

Do you by chance have a recommendation for a open, airy, holographic speaker?

I was interested in both Zu and Tekton, but I have read they both have a "house sound" or are purposefully "voiced" and are not what would be called a neutral speaker. Would you care to comment on that? I do own the KEF 104/2 for reference.

I know this is two channel listening but if this channel was front stage listening what center channel would you use with the lores?

What electronics did you use when reviewing the speakers?

Shame you can't hear them. Nice work tho. Look forward to the video with the dirty weekend

I am considering the Teckton Lores with crossover upgrade or the KLH Kendalls. Anyone thoughts or other speaker suggestions $1600 budget. Not a bass head and would rather not use a sub.

In normal times, Tekton is quite approachable as a company. Eric Alexander likes to experiment. The science behind his tweet array is genius. Too tedious to go into it here. I like their huge tower speakers, the UlfBehrt. Sean Casey over at Zu has a different, but just as great approach. Like seeing American designers back in. RSL is back in business and so is ESS who still owns the rights to the Heil Air Motion driver, which does have phasing problems, but man, still clear as a bell. I think ess heils when used with a 12 inch woofer does have timing issue, as the AMT (Heil) is fast, because it is a transducer. I have had better balance with my 8 inch woofer 2 way with the heil made in the 80s. I had a pair of ESS tempest 12 inch two way and replaced the woofer with a Pyle, a much better designed driver than those used by ESS, with a tighter bass. The phasing distortion was much less noticeable. But, alas my improved Tempests were stolen. Darn. ESS and RSL still support their old speakers, btw. Should you pick up a damaged pair and want to restore them, both companies make it easy. essspeakers.store/ and rslspeakers.com/ as you are into vintage equipment. I know I know, I have a passion for these two companies. But, I prate on. (Wait till I get to the unknown receivers no one wants, but turns out the Lafayette LR 9090 was designed by Setton and their 120 db was actually a Luxman) Maybe Dual turntables will come back. YES It is odd how many speaker designers are in Utah. I think all of them work together, like a large think tank.

Totally agree with your tweeter description , smooth as silk with lovely sparkle . Another note , placement of the Tektons is easy frankly , and I have found without toe in they actually deliver a larger sound stage with more notable separation in instruments .

I will buy a box of sturdy screws at my local hardware store. The Audiolab 8200 MB is not wrong with the 2nd hand monoblocks, if they can be found in US. Grtz Phil

Put a tooth pick in the screw hole of the Tektons and break it off flush then install the screw There isnt alot of material around the screw for the drivers so a larger screw can blow out the hole. Put a second piece of tooth pick if needed

Nice to see another vintage gear guy. Have you seen my channel? Dave.

Hah...had to chuckle at your confession regarding Enya. Watermark has been a favorite for many years...wish I had it when I owned the 1590'S. There are times when any type of rock music just doesn't have the clarity and sense of detail that can show off a great system to it's best. There are exceptions...most Dire Straits and some of the earlier Elton John hybrid CD's. Another great female voice...Loreena Mckennitt. And for clarity, try something a little closer to jazz...and that's not a four letter word. Bluesiana Triangle and Bluesiana II on Windham Hill Jazz CD...great overall tone and clarity and excellent recording. Drums are really well mic'ed on Bluesiana II and with headphones you are sitting right in the middle of the drum kit.

what amps did you like best on your omen def mk2

I especially like the look &... (now i know) ...the fit & finnish of the Zu-s. The Zu's cabinet was heard by me to be far better braced / damped than the Tektons. Audax gold domes were said to be one of the very best back in the 80's. That French... (back then at least) ...company stopped making them at one time, causing at least one.. (or the only) ..u.k. hi'fi equipment DIY kit co') ...'World Audio" to take their bigest, most expensive kit off their listing, their mag' saying something like: ' It was the best tweeter the'd heard & knew off anywhere near it's price point & unless, if or until they can find a suitable replacement, they've no more gold-dome kits to sell' Not surprised you liked the Tektons better considering what a lot of reviewers are saying. I've long liked very sebsitive (above say 96'db/m/1watt, pref higher, they seemed to have an immediacy to things like the snap of a snare & better dynamics at lower vollunes & ...etc etc than current hungry speakers. In my price boundary at keast. My first s/h above average sensitive speakers were large sealed-box Tannoys built in 1969 (time faded signed & dated test pass labels stuck on their rears confirmed. Bought in 1995 s/h for (£100 & £20 del) from school yard sale.. (they were both connected in series to the school's rest room radio since 1969 the guy said) ..& perfect order till 1 driver bit the dust a few months ago, (non foam-edged = unfixa le now, they broke after a mere 53 years from new!!!) Also good for valve gear. Hence i'm trawling through speaker reviews

According to the Zu Website when I look the Omen MK II is $2250 for the cheapest configuration, more then double the price of Tekton. Where is he getting $1000 from?

Did you mention weather you had any upgrades in the Tekton’s?

How do they compare to the old Tannoy gold sound

Subscribed

I was leaning towards the Zu but the Lore is cheaper new and I don't have to wait months for it to be built. (I looked everywhere to get it used but he's only selling locally.)

Thanks, this makes me want to try the Lores. I wanted to like the Omens, and I've had 3 sets, one with Druid drivers, but they weren't for me, probably because of the bottom ports & carpeting in my room, even with tall spikes. I had Tekton Pendragons, but the bass overpowered my room so maybe the Lores will be just right.

My buddy had the Lores and I loved them. When looking for Lores I ran across the Omens and bought them. Biggest mistake I ever made ! I hated the Omens ! I still love my buddies Lores. I should have bought the Lores !

Wowzers'!........The Tektons are on Sale Today for $880, up from $599. Holy inflation! 🔈🔉🔊

I am so pissed off I live in the UK and can't get the Lore... It costs almost as much as the speaker itself to ship...

MDF sucks. I was interested in the Lore until you described the problem with the screw not biting. MDF should always have metal inserts glued into the wood to accept screws. There’s nothing worse than a material whose integrity is easily compromised. That’s a deal breaker for me. I’ve now ruled the Lore out of consideration. Great review!

What about the Lore reference , thanks!

Where can I pick these up second hand

Took my Moabs apart, had 2 screws over tighten and strip. Do not change screws! Simply take a toothpick, break in two, coat with wood glue, stick in the hole and screw snug. Better than new. I could tell just by the knuckle rap the Lore is the better speaker.

Eric at Tekton makes great speakers, but its clear he's not very personable... Ive been interested in the Double Impact for over a year... sent him 2 questions by email, and No Response... Every time Ive gone with a product I really want, but the owner(s) are less than ideal to work with... Ive regretted it, regardless how much I like the product.. Ps, Excellent review...

Try a VTL TUBE power amp 🤗

Enya for the win!

Since a late teenager, till today, all my hi"fi buys were & are s/h except for some just 3 or 4 of my phono cart's, one Ming-Da valved 2'box phono-stage & 2 Jungson 99C power amps, direct from China & all about 50%, (before del') of a u.k. importers price, folk say "but distance & service problems!" Luckily (for hi'fi risks) as a electrical technician in diff' fields for over 35 years, internal faults dont worry me (except a very rare transformer meltdows, ive never had happen or a speaker suddenly starting a concophonous rumble sound of voice-call / magnetic-gap rubbing, showing cone's linear alignment is whack & no spares ...killed my last fave (£120) Tannoy 15" dual concentric cone of my most vintage fave's ever for nearly 20 yrs, roughing it now with old post upgrade / sidegrade speakers till get something better. It's either high performing (well beyond price) new stuff ...otherwise, s/h will remain with me till i'm too old to move. I always take a cheap (0.2 to 775'mw watt) pocket size white noise (full audio frequecy+) signal injector, the 2 probes clipped on the speaker terminals, an ear as close to each cone as possible & hear all drivers doing a quiet smooth 'wooshing' sound throughout it's full frq' range & distortion will be, gritty & obvious as a dead cone. Same into amp's line input, 8 or 16 Ohm max headphone but wired directly to each channel's speaker outs, amp vollume up, same sound as speaker test is heard = fault, then i say 'thanks but it or they're faulty' & goodbye. One guy said "No, pay up first & then do what you want with it" i only asked for a look under the hood with ready pocket sized, multiple swivel headed driver, because i noticed the 6 or so scews on the back pannel were different types & a big red-flag, you learn fast after first swallowing lies & trusting impicity. I never trust sellers who don't invite you in for demo & want to meet you in a garage half way.

11:22, OMG! Deal killer. WTF is that ? That looks like a cheap DIY network, bracing and box. The Lore might be enjoying the Cerwin Vega phenomena . Louder than the other speakers so they must be better phenomena .

Hard to read text on specs

You mean Soundlab www.soundlabspeakers.com The best sounding electrostatic speakers made! And I have heard them all. I own a pair...

I WANT SOUND CLIPS....please....;)

Heard nothing about dynamics

I enjoy your videos and I am a subscriber. However, your video are very lengthy making it very challenging to commit to watch them from start to finish.

Not gonna go there? Why? Do you value the hurt feelings of a manufacturer over consumers who spend their hard-earned money on this hobby?

the Zu looks a lot nicer

“Bucket head” “rebel country”??

No need to wrap it, the Tekton looks DIY

tried to watch but you are just not cut out for this.

"when the nickel hits the road".....uh.

I haven't watched this, but let me guess.... tekton won or there'd be a lawsuit. Let's find out.

You are a bit rambly and spread out. Keep it juicier and more focused.

its to bad tekton has almost zero customer service,,,,after 5 unanswered emails, i moved on

Question: if your voice recording quality is so bad then I wonder how poor is your hearing? Especially I wonder how do you have the audacity to review speakers in that terrible sounding room that it’s so bad that you can hear it in your bad recording. It’s like a blind person describing a painting, if the blind person was delusional.

No name calling? What a soft "man".