Kharma
FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions) |
| 1.
Who is Kharma? |
| Kharma is a Dutch company headed by Charles van
Oosterum dedicated to building speakers, amplifiers and cables
designed to be very musical and, ultimately, magical. |
| 2.
What finishes and colors do Kharma speakers come in? |
| The Mini Exquisite speakers come in an optional
wood cap. The possible colors are: Piano Black, Jewel Green, Aubergine,
Bronze, Champagne, Diamond Black, Lapis Lazulli Blue |
| 3.
What Do It Yourself performance-improving modifications can be done to
the Kharma speakers? |
| There is not much more required to
optimize these speakers than to carefully position them, adjust their
feet so that they are pointing ever so slightly up or down, to taste,
and to feed them good music. |
| 4.
What are these weird ceramic drivers, anyway? |
The Accuton ceramic drivers are "the
only dynamic drivers that work with a perfect piston movement. That
means that the drivers do not have any break-ups (flexes) in their
frequency range. Therefore there is not any of the audible distortion
that you can find in most other drivers on the market, more or less.
Because of the distortion free reproduction, the sound becomes very
detailed and transparent (distortion masks details). It is essential
that all the details are included to be able to get such a natural
rendering.
The ceramic is an aluminum oxide and has got a thickness of only 150
um (0.15 mm) on the middle range and bass drivers as well as 50 um
(0.05 mm) on the treble drivers. This makes the cones very light and
allows a very fast and dynamic
reproduction. One can say that the drivers have the best of both
worlds, the micro dynamic and resolution in an electrostatic driver as
well as macro dynamic in the dynamic drivers." |
| 5.
What are these weird diamond tweeters, anyway? |
The membrane of these tweeters is made
out of diamond, the most rigid material that know of. Therefore there
are no resonances whatsoever within the audible area. The first
resonance appears at 100 kHz, which is significantly above the audible
frequency range. This tweeter "has a 0.75" (20mm) inverted Diamond
dome (a single piece of pure Diamond). The frequency range is extended
to almost 100 kHz. The stiffness to weight ratio of the diaphragm is
about five
times higher than the extremely rigid Ceramic drivers. Sound
propagation in Diamond material is around 18,000 m/sec, the highest of
any existing material. Distortion figures are magnitudes below
conventional tweeters".It is now
widely accepted that, even though the human ear cannot hear
frequencies above 20,000 Hz (and typically not even that high), that
the frequencies we do hear interact in an audible manner with these
ultra-high frequencies that we do not hear directly. Harmonics just
sound more 'right' when they are accompanied by their natural
ultra-sonic counterparts. |
|
6.
How long do the speakers take to break in? |
| TBD |
|
7.
What amplifiers are people using with the speakers? |
Good results have been obtained with
the:
- Lamm ML2.1, Lamm M1.2
These amps produce a very magical, detailed sound, and very much just
pass through whatever the source components and material produce
- Kharma MP 150
These neutral amps are very detailed yet musical..
|
|
8.
What speaker cable are people using with the speakers? |
| Good results have been obtained with
the Kubala-Sosna Emotion speaker cable as well as
their Kharma Enigma speaker cable. These speakers are very musical and
tonally rich. |
|
9.
Are the speakers bi-wirable? Do they accept banana and spade type
connectors? |
| Yes. Yes. |
|
10. How are people positioning the speakers? |
| These speakers, like most all other rear-ported speakers,
really like to be positioned away from the front wall. |
