Does anyone know if Michael Farnsworth, founder of Talon Audio, is still around?

Well, I have a pair of Khorus X that got the MkII upgrade. Put it in there myself. What would you like to know?

Mainly, I'd like to know if the upgrade is still available, from anywhere.  Talon Audio said that they don't supply anything for the older speakers anymore.

Unfortunately, Rives Audio is no more as of 2015.

Luckily, I got contact info for Mike Farnsworth, so I should be be able to get info about the crossover upgrade.

I have no desire to get rid of these speakers, as they do a LOT of things right.

Yeah, there are a lot of speakers I have enjoyed but very few enough to buy. Had mine at least 15 years now and still love em. Especially now with my Swarm subs, they will probably be with me forever. 

It was many years ago but what I remember from installing mine it was the same crossover with some upgraded parts. Looking at the parts "mounted" with zip ties holding a few great big caps and a choke to a board of ordinary MDF was a bit underwhelming. It did sound better though.

These are really easy to get into. Lay the speaker down on one side. Remove the four big bolts in the bottom. The whole base comes right off in one piece. The crossover is just sitting there, strapped or screwed down I don't recall. With the base off its real easy to see. 

Internally the wire looks pretty ordinary, except for being run in a loose braid, forget what they call that configuration. The speakers before these I replaced the internal wiring with some unterminated Synergistic Research wire Ted sent me. 

If you can find Farnsworth, great. If not there is plenty of room for some significant upgrades. Easiest is swap out existing parts for better. Next would be to relocate the crossover out of the speaker cabinet to the floor nearby. This would make it super easy to try different caps. Then when you're done build a quality case for the crossovers with cones and everything for vibration control. Got to be way better than the way it was. Then mass load the base. Then re-wire it. If new from Ted is too pricey there's plenty of great used SR speaker cables out there. 

Reference Audio Video in Iowa I believe owns or Talon now - Todd Guerrero.

If you can find Farnsworth, great. If not there is plenty of room for some significant upgrades.

I got in contact with him yesterday.  Thanks for the info on upgrades. I'll probably try some of the things you suggested.

Reference Audio Video in Iowa I believe owns or Talon now - Todd Guerrero.

The current Talon Audio doesn't deal with the older speakers.

I suggest you take the crossover out of the box and build a separate box for the crossover to eliminate vibration.
Upgrade the main wiring from the crossover to all drivers and use larger gauges than what is currently there.  
Reinforce the box to whatever extent is possible. The front face ideally will be “like a rock” - solid and inert. 
You be dancing with the delightful improvements from these upgrades. 
Good luck on this exciting journey and feel free to ask questions :) Pete

@ptss
The one thing I don’t need to do is reinforce the box. These things are, if anything, over-engineered to a ridiculous degree. I damned near killed myself just getting the speakers down two flights of stairs and into the home theater :)

I’ll definitely be redoing the internal wiring. I just need to do it without breaking the bank. Any recommendations on wire are appreciated. @millercarbon put in a vote for Synergistic Research, and I’ve also had great luck in the past with Analysis Plus.

Cardas sells some excellent wire and may even provide some advice. They also gave great solder.  

Terry

I couldn't agree more. The Khorus Does do A Lot right.
I absolutely love mine, and they are the original first generation.
They sing !

Cheers!

Anybody know how I can contact Michael. I have a very early pair of Khorus speakers from the 1990s and would like to discuss them with him.

Thrustmag

I'm waiting to hear back from him if he's OK with me handing out his email.

yes he's still around lying to customers 

........a1uc....odd that you responded to this thread as I recently just got caught up in one of his lies and twists. I would not do business with him again. End of that story. 

I recently bought a bunch of used GIK room treatment from him. The price was more than fair and he shrink wrapped everything to a pallet and shipped it freight. My experience was very positive.