Tikandi ("live") reference monitors
NEWS FLASH: Our Australian Tikandi dealers are refreshing their demo stock and are offering up to 25% off - contact Mark at Active Hifi Systems or Alan at DEQX.
We switched speakers now and are listening to the Legend Tikandis. These speakers are fully active. Awesome! Deep soundfield and much better everything ...
So, do I love this system, yes, yes and again yes. My own system is no slouch but compared to the DEQX driven Tikandi system it sounds positively diffuse by comparison. When I state above that it ruined me, I’m not kidding. I’ve barely listened to my system in the many months since the Tikandi system left my room. At the next CES I attended, with a few exceptions, I could barely sit through most of the demos because I had grown so accustomed to the natural and lifelike sound of the Tikandi system. Everything sounded broken to me, an opinion shared by my friend and audio manufacturer Alan Kafton of Audio Excellence who had spent much time at my home marveling at the Tikandi system.
After having used the Tikandis/ DEQX setup for the past months, I can say without doubt that my room has never sounded better, my work has never sounded better, and my clients have never been more satisfied with the results.
I have never heard better sound in my listening room ..... The tonal accuracy, frequency extension, and most impressively the ability to pull detail out of recordings was nothing short of astonishing .... and power delivered by the drums was something I have NEVER heard from a system.
“Tikandi” is an indigenous Australian word meaning “live”. It has been chosen because we believe this new top-of-the range loudspeaker, processor and amplifier system will, given the appropriate sources, enable you to enjoy live music in your home!
To achieve this level of “liveness” involved the cooperation of two of Australia’s most innovative audio companies, DEQX and Legend Acoustics. Both have a passion for live music and a deep understanding of high fidelity design that comes from long experience and comprehensive knowledge of the physics, engineering, electronics and Digital Signal Processing involved.
The full Tikandi system comprises:
1. A stereo pair of newly-designed Legend 3-way loudspeakers in which each driver has been chosen from the world's best.
2. Each high quality driver is individually connected to its own amplifier leading to greater control and speed of response.
3. DEQX's patented new generation of HDP-3 preamp/correction processor that precisely calculates the compensation required for each loudspeaker driver as well as correcting for non-linearities in your room’s response.
Thus the Tikandi is designed from the ground up to integrate amplifiers and speakers through the DEQX HDP3 to produce unparalleled fidelity to music as it was recorded.
Each loudspeaker consists of two modules allowing each cabinet to be tailored to their respective drivers and reduce their interaction. The modules are a truncated pyramid with non-parallel walls to diminish standing waves within the cabinets. This configuration – aided by the extremely solid construction – further reduces the transmission of inter-cabinet vibrations. What’s more, each driver has been carefully chosen from the world’s best.
The lower base module has two 10-inch bass drivers which have almost 1-inch of excursion capability providing bass down to a low 20 Hz. The drivers are located in opposing faces of the cabinet in a bipolar configuration. This arrangement essentially cancels cabinet vibration while the heavily-braced structure provides an extremely stable support for the upper module.
The top module houses the super low-distortion midrange and tweeter drivers. The midrange cone is made from an anodized Al/Mg alloy diaphragm that is extraordinarily light yet exceptionally strong and therefore able to achieve vanishingly low distortion across its full operating range. The tweeter's ultra-strong ceramic and aluminium substrate composite dome achieves equally low distortion.
Connection to these drivers allows for a number of flexible options for the amplification required for DEQX-HD's active implementation:
a. Use the excellent Marantz MM8003 8-channel amp to provide 125W amplification to each driver.
b. You may supply your own amplification to each driver.
c. Each base module can be supplied with amplifier modules to drive its bass drivers.
This means you only have to supply 2 stereo amps (or equivalent) to drive the top modules, perhaps including your existing amps. You might even use different amps for midrange & treble.
d. Mixing and matching any of the above options.
Because the drivers are connected directly to their respective amplifiers, and not through an (inevitably to some extent) energy sapping and distorting passive crossover, the quality of the amplifiers makes an even more noticable difference to the final sound quality.
The final key to Tikandi's unprecedented performance is DEQX's new HDP3 that provides preamp, 3-way active linear-phase crossovers, speaker correction for each driver, room correction and user defined EQ presets. The HDP3 eliminates errors in phase, timing and frequency-response – the Achilles heel of all conventional loudspeaker designs and the factors that prevent the ultimate in acoustic reality.
By providing steep linear-phase crossovers, the HDP3 virtually eliminates crossover distortion and excessive midrange and tweeter driver excursion, allowing higher and less congested output levels. Simultaneously, the inevitable measured errors of each driver are precisely compensated by DEQX's patented, low-latency, inverse FIR filtering, producing almost unprecedented accuracy of plus/minus 0.5dB compared to the typical high-end speaker performance of plus/minus 3dB accuracy.
The Tikandi's HDP3 preamp also allows you to measure and correct your room’s inevitable acoustic problems including bass frequency resonance. Uncorrected, these resonances result in unnatural bass tonal balance and mask psycho-acoustically our ability to hear detail across the full spectrum.
In addition, the HDP3's remote control provides post-DAC analogue volume control of all output channels, eliminating the need for a pre-amplifier. Please see DEQX for more information.
Notwithstanding its ground breaking technology producing unprecedented accuracy and low distortion, the Tikandis have been designed by people at Legend & DEQX obsessed with musical enjoyment. After listening to a wide range of music, we believe that the name “Tikandi” is entirely appropriate – these speakers arouse the emotional response of "being at a live performance".
All that’s needed is a source of similar high quality to complete the system and "be there".
For more details please click on Tikandi Brochure or Tikandi User's Manual .
For audition and enquiries in North America please contact Larry Owens at Knowledge Resources Corporation ph +1 303-519-9076 or email LarryO@KRC-us.com - and other countries see TIKANDI dealers
For surround sound/home theatre systems we also offer the Kebi and Kebi Plus based on the top module of the Tikandi to give perfect matching with it.
Specifications
| 3-way system | 2 x bass, mid, treble: active with DEQX Xovers & equalisation |
| Frequency response | 20 - 25,000Hz +-2dB; 30 - 18,000Hz +-1dB |
| Sensitivity | nominal 88 dB/W @ 1m all drivers |
| Impedance | 6 ohms, nominal all drivers |
| Recommended Power | 50 - 200 W each top drivers; 100 - 400 W each bass drivers |
| Size(mm) | 950(h)x300(w)x300(d) at base |
| Weight | 80-100 kg stereo pair, depending on amplification |
| Warranty | 10 Years |
| Finishes | currently piano black; wood veneers in future |
Tikandi users can update their DEQX project file by clicking here.
All rights reserved.