Actually most of the entries are just expensive speakers [and the Supremes are $350K, not 180] and they left out the Kharmas [I emailed them, but people only have so much time to put into each article, don’t I know it 
]
Interesting, though, some of these make sense, some of these shock me, some of them I roll my eyes at, and some I hadn’t heard of and would love to hear sometime
[Neli is still torturing me. But eventually she will relent From the snippets I have heard - Kharma now has 2 speakers above the old (~$260K) Grande Exquisites and one immediately below.
Kharma has indeed added some new loudspeakers to the Grand Exquisite line. Above the Grand Exquisite are the Grand Exquisite Extreme ($390K), and the Grand Exquisite Extreme, Limited Edition 25 ($520K), the ultimate realization of the Grand Exquisite.
Kharma has also introduced the Midi Grand Exquisite ($145K), smaller cabinet suitable for a (somewhat) smaller room. These were the ones shown in Munich.
Kharma now makes their own ceramic drivers, the Black Label series (and so no longer use the old Accuton/ Thiele & Partner ceramic drivers - which have been exceedingly hard to come by lately). These new drivers have membranes that are black in color.
This fall, Kharma will introduce the new Elegance line. One of the smaller Elegance loudspeakers, configuration similar to the 3.2.2 CRM, is shown below. These use a new Kharma-designed and developed carbon fiber driver and a new (also Kharma-designed and developed) beryllium tweeter. Pricing for the new Elegance speakers is still being set.
Corrections to this summary, and pricing, and labeling of the photos will be forthcoming… right Neli? ]
A quick note on pricing. Kharma’s pricing in Euro has remained remarkably stable over the last years. Prices here are based on a conversion rate of 1.30 USD / 1 Euro, which is either … an insane opportunity, or the new normal.
Looking into the Munich show room from the outside …
wish we were able to attend, we are so happy to have these pictures sent to us from Kharma …
First glimpse inside.
These are the Midi Grand Exquisites, with the Exquisite Sub (active, 18″ long throw driver) and the new Exquisite MP-1000 mono power amplifiers.
Side view of the room, RixRax Grand Hoodoo and a pair of Exquisite Mini with the new black label drivers (more below).
Kharma owner and chief designer, Charles van Oosterum, with the new Elegance 3.2.2, with the grille on. Grilles are now mounted magnetically.
Rear of the Elegance 3.2.2, in Aubergine. The port is reminiscent of the Exquisite Mini. Note the removable back panel.
These loudspeakers can be made active by changing the binding posts to signal cable connectors (XLR/RCA) and mounting one of the little Matrix amplifiers inside.
New Kharma beryllium tweeter and carbon fiber mid/bass driver.
‘Elegance’ series badge on the side. Cabinets and cabinet finish look quite similar to the CRM 3.2/3.2.2.
Streamlined Elegance series stand with floor protectors.
This is a nice reminder that we should always level our loudspeakers …
Another nice view of the big Munich system with the Midi Grand Exquisites, the new MP-1000 mono amps ($52000), and the Exquisite sub ($32,500).
Closeup of one Midi Grand Exquisite. Makassar veneer with piano black finish. Nice view of the dual diamond tweeters, and of the new black-label ceramic midrange drivers.
Even nicer view of the Makassar …
Beautiful view of the Exquisite Mini (what a lovely, lovely loudspeaker, sonically even more than visually), with standard Walnut trim and the new black label drivers. Since the speakers are not playing, the diamond tweeters have got their little magnetic protective grilles on.
The MP-1000 with carbon front panel.
Best view of the front end. Top shelf, Metronome CD transport. Second shelf, prototype/beta version of the new Kharma PA-1000 preamplifier (expected $39000), third shelf is a DAC from Audio Note Japan (thanks Metralla) KSL-DAC. And, on the bottom shelf, what I think is the power supply for the Metronome.
Happy listeners ….
The new 9.6″ tonearm bears a close resemblance to the 10.5 tonearm. Various component parts that have performed perfectly in our previous tonearms like the arm tube with the special hard ceramic surface, the headshell, the tonearm lift and also the mounting socket are also used in the 9.6 tonearm. Therefore the 9.6 can be mounted in the same tonearm bases pre-drilled for the 10.5 or 12.1. Will ship in August, retail $3,990
The new Pi MC cartridge seen here mounted in the new 9.6 tonearm on a gorgeous Oasis with a makssar (ebony) plinth.
On the Pi Helmut Brinkmann chose a microridge stylus, which has the best resolution in fine recorded detail, while offering proven reliability. The stylus is mounted on a boron cantilever which in turn drives a copper voice coil. The utmost attention was given to the rigidity of the magnetic circuit to prevent eddy currents which would corrupt the low level output signal.
After eight years in development, the Edison phono stage will ship next month, it has three inputs, each of which’s loading & gain can be adjusted by the remote control. The settings can be stored in memory. It uses vacuum tubes both for the first gain stage as well as for the balanced implementation. Retail $12,990
Finally, Brinkmann have finished their cartridge & tonearm alignment Protractor. This is a precision piece of engineering and while not cheap, should prove very useful. I have seen Helmut use this to set up tonearms and its a doddle. Retail $600
[’a doddle’ must be ‘Brit’ nomenclature for ‘awesome’ ]
We still have plans for the Spintricity magazine… took some time off, and now we will need to port it to a faster server since the server no longer has the bandwidth capable to support it. This will take some time, so… stay tuned.
Meanwhile. we have a lot of Kharma photos and information from Munich, but now we need to put them somewhere else… perhaps this blog. Stay tuned for this to… [well, it is not like we have to tune in a browser… stay URL’d maybe. No. Stay clicked].
“From 2000 to 2009, Americans reduced their overall spending on home stereo components by more than a third, …”
Stupid Americans.
Neli and I talked it over a little, and after thinking more about it later, I think that this is not true for say:
Europe: Growth with Eastern Europe coming on the scene with their need for hi-fi bliss counter-balanced by a likely decline in the U.K. [it is my opinion that the world imitates the U.S., including and maybe especially our bad habits - like not worshiping high-fidelity - and especially countries most like us].
Japan? I would suspect treading water as their economy stagnates.
China: Incredible growth. Hong Kong: a decline from the great heights that once were.
Russia. Steady growth as capitalistic populism gains ground.
This is just speculation. Comments? Many Europeans, for example think that the U.S. is just one big pot of gold. It is, but only if you are selling somethin’ that fits on a shelf in Wallmart 
AXPONA, In Association With Stereophile, Announce
Atlanta For 2011 Audio Expo
AXPONA Announces Event For 2011
Atlanta, Georgia - April 14th-17th, 2011
Audio Expo Of North America, AXPONA, in association with Stereophile, are proud to present The High End Audio Show of the Future in Atlanta for 2011. The newly redone downtown Sheraton will host the event. No expense was spared in renewing the hotel, including a $1,000,000.00 art collection. Most of last years exhibitors have already lined up for the annual event. First time exhibitors are very positive due to the tremendous success of the Jacksonville Event this past March. A larger show for exhibitors, with more attendance, is expected.
Reservations Begin The Week Of May 11th
Exhibit space reservations will be offered on a priority basis. Jacksonville exhibitors will enjoy room assignments beginning next week. Reservations will not require a deposit until June 15th. This will enable us to have advance mapping for first year exhibitors prepared by that time. We will also be offering a new payment plan with extended terms. All rooms are vastly superior to last year in appearance and size. Our smallest rooms this year are 365 square feet compared to 234 last year. Rooms are all new with outstanding acoustics and appointments. Access to the space is greatly improved with occupancy beginning on Wednesday at 6:00 PM, for all exhibit space, and vacating by 2:00 PM on Monday. Find more by visiting www.axpona.com
[Got this email about a new(?) Audiogon-like website. We haven’t tried to sell/buy anything there yet, ourselves - but thought some of youse might be interested].
HiFi Flo is open for business!
There’s a new high-end audio marketplace in town and we won’t censor your ads or forum
discussions like other sites do. HiFi Flo is safe, secure, private and extremely user friendly!
What’s so special about HiFi Flo?
- No listing or seller fees.
- Premium items added daily.
- International exposure.
- Responsive customer service.
- Safe and secure buying experience with 24/7 monitoring for suspicious listings.
- Registration is fast and free.
- More fun than the other sites - thought provoking, colorful ads encouraged.
- Complete community with forums for discussions, advice, and strong opinions.
Tired of being told what you can and cannot sell? Then you will love HiFi Flo!
Register now: www.hififlo.com
Questions?
Contact: Amanda Benjamin
Web Manager/HiFiFlo.com
amanda@hififlo.com
OK, here is the link: Proper Discord
It is a classical music site that has 3 clips of a piece of classical music recorded at various fidelities.
Now, we are supposed to listen to all 3 and see which one has the highest fidelity.
OK.
And we are listening to the on…. what?
A. The speaker built into our laptop or computer?
B. The $10 out-board speakers that we ordered with the computer [my default setup]?
B. Perhaps by routing the signal out the earphone jack into a Lexicon surround processor into a couple of active Yamaha speakers? [my other setup]?
The point is that the vast majority of people will answer A. Then take this test and will not be able to tell which is the highest fidelity. And this is supposed to show that people have no ears?
What it shows is that the people running the test have no concept or respect for the quality of audio playback equipment and what it means in terms of being able to hear the music with greater ability and insight.
Anyway, there is also a part 2 to the article, which I have not read - but the test is meaningless IMHO.
It is called, somewhat clearmindedly, the Ultra High End Forum.
http://www.ultrahighendforum.com
I haven’t spent much time there, but they do have a lot of photos from Axpona:
As far as “I think they [Corona Plasma Drivers] mate better with [Lansche speaker] dynamic drivers than they [Acapella Plasma Tweeters] do with the Acapella horns.”… well, it’ll certainly make the Lansche people happy to hear that their hard work is going in the right direction. It is certainly a different ‘kind’ of mating… both plasma tweeters having to be ’slowed down’ to the speed of the other drivers. Horns are, of course, faster and so more similar in this way to the plasma tweeters - but the Lansche 2-way we heard was certainly fairly nicely integrated, and it is nice to hear that it looks like the larger, and much more difficult 3-way is doing a good job as well [heck, 95% of speakers can’t integrate their own drivers from the same manufacturer very well, so…. ].
You are currently browsing the archives for the News category.
DEMO Edge NL Reference
