WHICH SPEAKERS?

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.