What's up with Talon?

Talon Audio, upon losing their former head of design, Tierry Budge, apparently has had to take a new look at their business model and product line. I was curious to see what their new speaker, the Firehawk, would sound like at the HE2005 show, especially in the areas of deep bass reproduction and dynamics. Much to my disappointment, when I auditioned (of all things) a "Kenny G" song (done with Toni Braxton, called "That Somebody Was You"), in which deep bass abounds, there was none to be had. To my understanding, this was supposed to be a new "statement" loudspeaker, but to my ears, it did not deliver. In the meantime, Tierry went on to a new company called Escalante Design, whose speakers are already garnering rave reviews. I have heard Escalante's speakers, and am extremely impressed; all the more significant when you consider that I CURRENTLY own: Genesis Vs, Talon Khoruses, Apogee Duettas, Snell B Minors, Ohm Walsh 4s, and various other speakers and subwoofers. What can I say? I like to play with speakers...but I will be getting rid of some of them in the near future, after my Escalantes arrive. As they used to say in Marvel comics: "'Nuff said."

I am a fellow Talon owner and a word of note/caution to prospective buyers. I don't know that the status of Talon is at the moment but if I was looking to purchase their product, I would be wary. I spoke with Mike Farnsworth 2 weeks ago because I had a bad tweeter in one of my Khorus X. At that time I also asked him about what center channel speaker and he said that he had a Peregrine X center channel that was just traded in. He offered it to me at a pretty good price and I agreed to purchase it. Well I sent them a check that they cashed back on Nov. 2 and still no speaker. However, what is more disturbing is that all my emails and phone calls have gone unanswered. I have been unable to contact anyone at Talon for over two weeks. When you call their main number you are presented with two options (1 Sales, 2 Support). Option 1 brings you to basically a distributer that is located in Ohio. They just take the orders and forward them along to Talon. At least that's what the person who answered the call told me. I've been leaving messages and send emails to mike@talonaudio.com all with no response.

This is pretty surprising because in past conversations Mike was very helpful and courteous on the phone. I'm not sure what to make of it all. I'm at the point now where I'm drafting a formal letter of complaint that I will send via certified mail. I will give Mike and Talon 10 days to respond and remedy this situation, after which I will file complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Consumer Protection Agency, and the FTC under the 'Little Acts' guidelines. Finally, if it comes down to it, I will seek legal action.

I still have hope that this is all just some mixup and that perhaps Mike has been travelling the past few weeks. However, if they have time to cash a check they should be able to also have the time to ship the product.

Just one consumer's story.

Well, it figures that just after I write this, I finally get a call from Mike telling me that he will have the speaker shipped on Monday. He mentioned some sort of emergency and that he had to be out of town. I'm glad to finally hear back from him. I wasn't worried about having to wait to get the speaker but rather the lack of communication. I just didn't know what was going on. Plus, I'm not sure what their corporate structure is like there but it's strange to not be able to contact anyone. If someone could just have sent me a quick email saying something to the effect of "We have received your emails and messages and we are currently experiencing delays. Your speaker will ship in n days. Thank you for your patience". Well then everything would have been fine.

So now I eagerly await my new center channel. I can't wait. Well I guess I can since I have been.

Regards,
Nisi

Nvlashi,

You should be a bit more careful with your postings. I understand that you were abit concerned, but E-mails like yours have literally killed a company! Especially one going through some changes like Talon is.

The internet has become a posting board for gut reactions and knee jerk responses with no filter or lag time built in. A first reaction is usually inaccurate and an impule response is ALWAYS harmful.

You have now posted an E-mail on this site which will be picked up by every single person who is interested in buying a pair of Talons and uses Audiogon as a source of information; which for a small high end speaker like Talon is pretty much EVERY customer. If all they read is your first posting (and even if they read both) then you have done a great disservice to Mike and his company.

I know "freedom of speach" and all, but lets all be a bit more careful with our gut reactions. Small companies don't run like IBM and can't afford customer service like BUY.COM. Hell, my small store (and, NO, I don't sell Talon) is only open one day a week - and customers have to wait until the following week to get a response to their messages.

Forget Talon for a second. Let's just be more careful with our postings guys.

-Mattnshilp

Sorry, but I don't think Nisi was out of line at all. His post was respectful, gave Mike the benefit of the doubt, but expressed concern over something he has every right to be concerned about. I did not find it to be "knee jerk" or a "gut reaction". He attempted to use the appropriate channels of communication for (what I consider) an excessive amount of time. Only then did he take his issue public. Good for him.

If you can run a company where 1-week (or over 2-week) turn-around time on customer support is acceptable...then hats off to you. However, the premium paid for product like Talon speakers is not just for the product itself, but for other tangibles and intangibles - customer service being but one of them.