Kharma Midi Exquisite vs MBL101E

Call Bill Parish at GTT Audio, he carries both lines. I own Kharma Exquisite 1 D/e.d's and if it were ME, I'd go for the Kharma 3.2 and the sub and save a ton of $$$ and get close to the same sound.

Completely off topic- but I'd try to listen the Cerious Reference as well. Ken at LaserCD who posts here has them and thinks they are better than anything he has ever heard at any show (and a bargain at 20K)

He is by Princeton NJ, and seems pretty willing to let people hear them.

I am a huge fan of the MBL 101's (though it has been said they hard to drive) and have heard them many times over the years at the NY shows, but after hearing the Cerious Cables in my system, I really think they are onto something. I'll have the smaller Cerious speakers here soon, and will post my comments. If I really like them, I'll try and swing the references with the next year.

Just reading their technology makes me drool, and think that most other speaker manufactureres (obvoulsy not MBL or Kharma) are in the dark ages compared to what Cerious is doing.

I asked Bob at Cerious if he ever considered using the Diamond tweeters in the reference, since I heard B&W's diamond tweeter line, and was impressed with the treble part of the spectrum (not the rest though)

Bob said he had in fact played with diamond tweeters in his reference, but that they always sounded good, but discontinuous with the rest of the spectrum. This is exactly what I heard with the B&W's, FWIW. I have never heard the Kharma line (but would love to) but have read comments on the asylum mentioning they are highly overpriced.

Please post back if you get to hear the 101e's vs. Kharma's.

Dear Fmpnd, this is the crossroad where i am at now. i have owned the 3.2F for a year and have never been satisfied with their bass (my room is 21 x 17 feet). I have heard both the MBL 101E and the Midi exquisite driven by different but equally exorbitant equipment. While impressed by both, i do feel the Midi exquisite is overpriced. I have been thinking of adding the kharma sub to my 3.2 reading those good reviews. Worries about integration problems notwithstanding, psychologically, i feel adding a sub to a system is like a band-aid approach, which then steers me towards the MBL which by itself does things right in the first place.

Alectiong; i owned the Exquisite 1D's for almost 4 years; and then used the Midi Exquisite's for 5 months while waiting for my VR9's to be built. i have listened to the MBL101E's a few times at shows; i don't consider myself an expert on the MBL's but i do know the Midi very well.

i can see what the growing MBL contingent likes about the speakers. there is a wonderful dynamic and fabulous detail retrival. they do deeper bass and more dynamic bass than the Midi Exquisite.

OTOH there are some 'issues'. to sing the MBL's need power; and mid-power tubes and less than high power ss amps really are not ideal. my favorite amps (that are just fine on the Midi Exqusites) would not be good choices on the MBL. there are aspects of the presentation that are different from cone speakers; how one feels about those differences is a matter of opinion. personally, the MBL's imaging is too diffuse for me. but that is just me. also, i don't find that they come alive at low volume levels. there is a naturalness and total top to bottom seamlessness that is missing.......at least compared to what i hear from Kharma's (and my VR9's). it may be the amps i heard the MBL's on; i don't know.

the Midi Exqusites are very special speakers that do everything well; and some things amazingly well. imaging is world class; as is detail retrieval and bass articulation. extention and bass slam is very room dependent. in my very large (29' x 21' x 11') and built-in bass traped room they could only do mid-30's deep bass. but in a more normal room i would expect high 20hz bass but with seamless articulation. the Midi Exquiisite bass will always serve the music and not be prominent. you will have a sense of music as opposed to a speaker.

i don't have a solid opinion on the subwoofer match with the Midi's; i have not been wowed when i heard it at shows.

this choice is more an overall 'system character' choice than which speaker is 'best'. if you can somehow demo the MBL's then that would be ideal. it may be perfect for you.

Thanks Mikelavigne for your opinions. I have heard the MBL, and the Exquisite sans sub in properly set up rooms. I agree the MBL's imaging is not as pinpoint compared to cone speakers, which is a well noted characteric of the MBL sound. But to some listeners, that less than perfect pinpoint imagining is more like what they would hear in a live performance. My mains concerns about the MBL, like you also pointed out are the need for high power high current amps, limiting amp choices, and that they like to be played loud, not a good thing for apartment dwellers like me.