I have the Talon Audio Khorus They are magical I hear the Perragrine's are killer also But I must be honest and tell you I have not heard them Just reliable feedback Good luck |
I can honestly recommend both the Talon's and Oliver. He is one of the nicest, most knowledgeable people in this industry. As far as the Talon's, they are simply stunning. The Maggies and Newform's do some things very well, but they do have limitations inherent in their design. I have never heard Waveform, but everything I have read is positive. Now to me, the Talon's are a completely different animal than anything I have ever heard. You can check out their site to see how and why they are doing everything, but all I care is that they sound magical. I have been on a shopping tirade for the better part of a year and nothing equals these babies. I have heard the peregrines and the khorus and I would say that the "little guys" are 85-90% of the khorus. Clarity, speed, soundstage reproduction, image specificity, timbre, pace, bass extension, midrange to die for, and airy, extended highs are some of the adjectives that begin to descibe these puppies. BTW, I dont own them yet, but I am saving up! |
Dolphin, BTW, what drivers do they use? |
Mr. Eber, may I kindly remind you that you asked me the same question in an older post. Have you gone to listen to them yet? Here goes. They use custom designed drivers which include a 10" treated paper composite woofer, and a compound tweeter which consists of a 1.5" treated cloth dome and a 1" supertweeter. The midrange dome, on the upper part of it's range, is allowed to roll off naturally...w/o the use of low-pass passive elements. This occurs at 13 KHz, where the supertweeter is crossed in with the necessary crossover elements. So this compound tweeter extends from 2KHz-35KHz. I believe the crossover is a first order type. But please try not to break this speaker down to drivers and crossovers, just go listen and hear for yourself. Why dont you call Talon for more info as I am only a fan, not an expert? |
dolphin, what are the limitations of the newform? i, also, am searching for that "unbelievable" speaker at a believable price. low-bass is not an issue for me, as i'm satisfied w/my pair of larger vmps subs, driven by a pair of adcom 555's, x'd over w/a marchand 24db/octave x-over. yours is the 1st even remotely negative comment i've heard about the newforms; obviously, having to purchase them before an audition, is a bit of a concern... thanks, doug |
Doug, You have to decide with your ears what sounds best to you. IMHO, speakers are the most personal and most important purchasing decision. To me bass is important, and that was one area that the Newform's did not excel in. They dont go down deep with authority and it was a little muddy (BTW I think I heard the R8-1-30's so I am not speaking for the line). Just like a hybrid electrostat, the biggest difficulty lies in mating the bass drivers to the ribbon. Compared to other ribbons they do not appear to be as strident in the highs. Like most good equipment they were picky with equipment, placement, and room size, but a little more so than others. Listen to both and make your own decision. While I love the Talons you may not. BTW, I never intend to disrespect anyone else who has made another purchasing decision. All tooo often in these audio boards a person comes out and says what they like and they are lambasted. I like what I like, so it is up to you to find out the same. Just put the Talon's down on a list to hear before purchasing. |
Dolphin, I have too many speakers already, and don't feel this design would better any of them in overall performance, based on what I've learned about them...no offense. BTW, whenever I hear "custom designed", to me it means very little. I hear it all the time, and it's always just some minor variation on normal production drivers, usually from one of the terrific companies from Denmark. |
Well, as folks are adding their two cents regarding the Talons, I might as well too. Don't listen to them. I wish I hadn't. I came home with an awful case of speaker envy. They are really quite astounding. Secondly, for the nay-sayers, I think that a lot of the rumpus about the Tallons (what makes them arguably somehow more than one stunning sounding speaker among a hoast of stunning sounding speakers) is the fact that they really are designed along some different principles. (Which I won't even pretend to know enough about to be able to go into). I think that, on the Khorus, there are five patents pending on, among other things, the bass driver and the porting system--more than just another "custom designed" variation on a theme--or so I have been led to believe. I suppose that only time will tell whether there is anything genuinely innovative going on here or it is just another array of smoke, mirrors and hype (Bose, anyone?...although I feel it almost criminally negligent to mention Bose in the same posting). In the meantime, however, at least it gives us addicts something to quibble over. Oh, that and the fact that they really do sound wonderful. Try'em. If you can get them home, even better. Worst case scenario, you like them enough to make you like your current speakers a little bit less. Sadly, it happened to me. |
Mr Eber, thanks for your contribution to this post. Please keep sizing up speakers by their parts. That is your right. If I had done that I never would have heard the beauty of Quads, Spendors, the Walsh driver, or a number of other speakers that cannot be summated by looking at their parts. If you ever listen to them, I would LOVE to hear what you think. |
Somehow, I doubt that very much. I tell you what, get a dealer in my area to carry them, and I'll give them a listen. And anyway, the whole is never greater than the sum of its parts. I like to know how speakers work, and even design some myself. I never take anything at face value, where speakers are concerned. If this makes me "closed minded" to your gushing on this company, then so be it. I can live with that...........And Mezmo, I've never heard any dealer's system whose setup and room dialing in was even in the same league as mine, so I wouldn't be at all worried about hearing any speaker at a dealer, and thinking it better than any of my speakers...........................What speakers do you have, that were so "blown away" by these particular Talon ones? And do you have a fully treated listening room? |
Me? I've got some Thiels, the 2.3. My room sucks. There is no treatment at all. And, yes, I know that there is a lot to be done to improve things. No question. That said, however, the right to an opinion cannot be bought, by treating one's room or otherwide... Alas, but we must all do the best with the materials at hand. (Admittedly, the single best upgrade that I could now hope for is a better home to put my equipment in...someday, but at $350k for a modest one bedroom, the NYC housing market is not one that seems worth even trying to crack at the time being). Anyway, Carl, you're right to be dubious about anything you haven't heard, especially something that claims to be new and improved (as if you need me to tell you that). I was as well. It's fun to be pleasantly surprised, though. No need to go out of your way, but well worth the listen if you get the chance. As for being blown away, although I can't deny a pension for hyperbole, that may be a little strong... Cheers |
Me? I've got some Thiels, the 2.3. My room sucks. There is no treatment at all. And, yes, I know that there is a lot to be done to improve things. No question. That said, however, the right to an opinion cannot be bought, by treating one's room or otherwide... Alas, but we must all do the best with the materials at hand. (Admittedly, the single best upgrade that I could now hope for is a better home to put my equipment in...someday, but at $350k for a modest one bedroom, the NYC housing market is not one that seems worth even trying to crack at the time being). Anyway, Carl, you're right to be dubious about anything you haven't heard, especially something that claims to be new and improved (as if you need me to tell you that). I was as well. It's fun to be pleasantly surprised, though. No need to go out of your way, but well worth the listen if you get the chance. As for being blown away, although I can't deny a pension for hyperbole, that may be a little strong... Cheers |
dolphin, thanks for your comments. no problems w/ewe liking the talons, but their price is beyond me. oh well. as far as the newforms, the models i'm considering - the r645, & the nhb45, will go deeper than what ewe heard, tho, as i said prewiously, not a concern for me, w/my sub set-up. & i understand that the scan-speak mid-woofs used in both - two per channel (either 5.5" or 6.5", depending on which model), are some of the fastest, cleanest drivers extant - to mate well w/the ribbons. & the owner - john meyer - explained to me (among a host of other things - on *his* dime) that the 45" ribbon is better than the 30" ribbon on the model you heard. at a price as low as $1500, kit form, this sounds wery tempting. you also mention the walsh drivers - for fun, i've tried purchasing a pair of used walsh-2's, for <$300 - twice - and, twice, the seller dint pack 'em well enuff to arrive in one piece. their sound-staging capability intrigues me - i heard a pair in a local used-equipment store for ~5 minutes... got any info re: these walsh speakers? thanks, doug |
