Talon Khorus question

Wow, Don your long essay really touched me. I mean it.
First of all, let me clarify myself. I was asking the question out of my curiosity. I am from Bangkok, Thailand, the land of SMILES. The first time I learned of the Talon was from STEREO TIMES raved review. I was very excited because the reviewer regarded the Talon as revolutionary and compared them with speakers several times their price. Later on, Soundstage also had another positive review, although not to the same degree as STEREO TIMES. However, I found there were some controversies regarding the technological breakthrough cited by Talon. Something about the super low distortion and super fast drivers I don't want to go into details. If you search the topic "Talon Khorus" from Audioasylum.com(speaker asylum) you may find a very long and tense discussions there.
I never heard the Talon because there is no such product in my country. However, upon looking from the ad in Audiogon during the past months I have been very curious. The asking prices were usually less than half the new(around 6000vs14000). If the reasons behind the sales were as per your saying, I would love to buy too and may be buy many for resales in my country.
So Don, I appreciate you considerable time in answering my question. I think I get a very good idea on how the Talon sounds. Maybe better than Stereo Times and Soundstage, even.
If in the future, I have a chance to purchase the Talon, I hope to share my experience with you again.
Happy listening.

Interesting question, but it is not limited to Talon Khorus. Occassionally, there will be a glut of a particular item on the used market purely by coincidence. This has the effect of driving the prices way down. After most of the items have been sold, the prices usually come back up. As an example, I bought a BAT VK5i about 6 months ago for $2200. At that time, that was a decent deal. When I put mine up for sale 1 month ago(to upgrade to VK50SE), there were 7 units on Audiogon. Some people are more desperate than others and drop their prices. Some were sold for as low as $1850. However, there are fewer on the market now and I can afford to wait to get my asking price which is fair. My recommendation, take advantage of the gluts.

Well,I'm not from Bankok,and I'll bet I'm one of MANY who are just as curious as Suchtan.And for most of the same reasons.Yes many of the 10k and above speaker mfg s make you think their speakers are the best thing since sliced bread.There are many tempting brands, in the 6/7k range at the used sites here. Karma,Von Schweikert,Vandy 5(7&1/2k)Halles Tr 8s Montana esp s. Talons better than all these?

I own a pair of broken-in Khorus', and my experience with them mirrors Don's above. When I first fired them up, within a minute I turned to my friend sitting next to me and said, "They sound dampened." Obviously Don has had the same experience. What I've come to realized, as he did, is that the speakers lack the "halo" around the music (as first mentioned in Stuart McCreary's Stereo Times review). It's like listening to music in front of a jet black backdrop (if your other equipment is up to the task). It does take a little getting used to, but it quickly grows on you. I've found the treble to be very detailed and not at all rolled off. The Khorus' are a very detailed speaker with the tightest, most detailed low end I've ever heard. Music just has more texture to it. My previous speakers were NHT 3.3's, and I've auditioned a number of higher end designs from Martin Logan, B&W, Linn and others. As mentioned, they are very sensitive to associated equipment and cables. I switched a pair of interconnects once, and it was almost like changing a preamp or other component. And this is from a guy who had been skeptical about the differences mere interconnects could make. I'm a believer now. In short, I've found the Khorus' have delivered on their promise and left me very satisfied.