Talon Khorus x or B&W 802

Keithr...The Ravens are one of the GREAT "bargains" in audio, IMHO. As you stated, they are a LOT of speaker for the money. Enjoy your auditon of the Khorus X, let us know what your impressions are, good or bad.

Here is a copy of some text of an email I sent to someone asking the same question about the Ravens...

There ARE differences between the Khorus X and the Raven, but not enough to justify the price difference if you are on a "budget". The biggest differences are:

1) The Raven doesn't quite extend to the same bass level as the Khorus X, but unless you are in a 3000 sq ft listening room, you aren't going to notice a difference
2) The Raven has a slightly smaller soundstage than the Khorus X with the imaging not quite as "razor" sharp
3) The Raven loses out to the Khorus X in the area of the last bit of upper-frequency extension
4) Upper-midrange presentation of the Raven is smoother (IMHO) than the X, where the X has a bit more "bite"

The main reason for 2, 3, and 4 above is that the Raven does not have the same mid to upper-frequency drivers as the Khorus X (Raven has the same tweeter as the Khite), but the mid-range/woofer of the Raven is identical to the X. The main reason the X has slightly more bass than the Raven is because of cabinet differences.

This is all according to my own ears of course. Hopefully Stewart of SOS will chime in to give a slightly different perspective.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Regards...Mike - Father & Son Audio

B&W owners, where are you??

Mike, thanks for your comments, I and others appreciate them. I have not heard the Talons, but am certainly am curious enough to do so. I have heard quite a few B&W's and although generally impressed by them, have only owned one pair so far. B&W has such a faithful following that I am surprised that there are not numerous posts claiming that they have found the 802N's and others to be superior. I have found them (the B&W 802N's) and others in the B&W line to sound wonderful, but out of my budget. Bottom line, listen to both properly set up, and buy the ones that work for you!

Happy listening,
Paul

Well I owned a pair of N805's. Currently own a pair of N803's and I am considering a pair of N802's. I haven't posted anything simply because I haven't heard the Khorus. The only Talon speaker I heard was the pair at the Stereophile show in 2001. I believe they were the Peregrine. I was unimpressed. Perhaps it was the room etc, but to me they sounded lifeless. As I recall many people who attended that show made similar comments here on A'gon. I dug up an old thread:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ymisc&989722553&openfrom&2&4#2

It would be unfair to make that generalization on a quick impression so I have not made a comment. To me speakers are a very personal choice. I sold a pair of ProAc 3.8's to eventually get the N803's. I found the 3.8's a little too polite and lush. I found the N803's lively and engaging. A very dynamic speaker to me. Amazingly enough, the person who bought my ProAc's had just sold his N803's because he found them too bright. He had owned a pair of ProAc 3.8's a few year ago and decided that after going through many other pair of speakers, he really missed them. Which shows we all prefer different things.

I know this is off subject, but the bottom line is it's great to ask for opinions, I do it all the time. At the end of the day though its you who has to live with your choice. If we all had the same hearing we'd all have the same gear. Wouldn't that making buying and selling on A'gon interesting?

own apair of Polk Audio Monitor 10b's want to upgrade to B&W matrix802 series 2 Driving with B&K EX442 200wpc and Audio research LS7 All tube or Adcom 565 what ere your thoughts Have dedicated sound room18 by20

Have had the B&W's now for a month, all I can say is WOW! Great sound staging good bass ,sweet hi end ,shows you whats on the recording. I'm very happy. If you cant afford the nautilus go for used matrix.