realworld experience: Kharma subwoofer + 3.2 CRM

Tim isn't the first person who has told me about problems with the midrange ceramique drivers. I have heard this may be especially true with the 3.x series speakers, where the 7" driver is also the bass driver.

On the other hand, last month I was truly mesmerized by a recent audition of the Kharma Exquisite Midi's paired with the Tenor 150HPs and AA Capitole MK II CDP. In all of my auditioning of various speakers, I have never experienced the wall to wall expansive soundstaging, the remarkable disappearing act, and the glorious midrange like I did with that Kharma. Overall, they were extremely moving and musical, just a thrill to listen for hours on end. As much as I would love to get a fraction of that Kharma sound with the lower priced Grand Ceramique or Ceramique speakers, I am not too happy to think that they are prone to frequent driver failure as Tim suggests. I am curious just how big a problem this really is ? Does the warranty cover this for 5 years ?

For the record I know of 2 exquisite owners who have had driver failures, 1 midi grand and 1 3.2. The good news is to the best of my limited knowledge about this all drivers were covered under waranty. I am also unsure of repeat failures, it could have been a rare problem or bad drivers from the supplier, I don't really know what causes this, I just know that it has happened to more then a few people. I don't want do seem like I am in any way saying they are inferior speakers because I really like Kharma speakers- just sharing information that I have gathered in my travels of audio.

Thom_y If you were impressed with an audio aero cap. MKII based system you will be awe struck with the Emm labs combo. I hadn't listened to a Cap. MKII since I sold mine and that was quite a long time ago and I had been listening to Emm labs for many months. Well last night I visited a friend who still has a Cap. MKII and as much as I hate to say it, the DCC2 sounds more like my friends analog front end(basis 2500, graham 2.2, koetsu signature rosewood platinum or what ever its called{you know the expensive one:^)} and an aesthetix IO) then it does like his Audio Aero! I was really stunned. We started listening to his system which I hadn't listened to in a while and I was getting used to it but it seemed to lack detail and transparency as I had become accustomed to after a little while we started listening to vinyl and it was much more like what I am used to hearing(sans the ticks and pops of course).

Let me set the record straight.

The ceramique drivers are very sturdy. The are not "prone" to blowing or cracking. If misued, the voice coil can hit the ceramique shell and crack. Any driver can and will due the same thing. It is much more noticeable with the ceramique driver because it crumbles into many pieces.

The Exquisite owner had the driver blow due to an unrelated problem which sent a major surge into his speaker. The damage was minor and easily repairable. It could have been much worse and much more expensive to repair.

The Midi Grand owner had a tube blow which sent DC into the Kharma and took out the midrange driver. Another easy and inexpensive fix.

The 3.2 had a hairline crack which occurred in shipping. The owner noticed it and told me about it. It still worked and sounded great. Eventually it was replaced at no cost.

I have sold many Kharma speakers and have had very few problems. I assure you that this is not an issue people need to be concerned with. They are gorgeous sounding speakers.

Tireguy: I know you mean well, but I can say clearly that these urban legands are exagerrations. :)

Audio999: The driver swaps take five minutes. Anyone can do it. Kharma recommends Cardas solder and there are no crossover changes necessary.

The 3.2's are designed for smaller rooms and small ensemble music. While they are capable of projecting a huge stage, both front to back and side to side, they are still a small cabinet with a wide frequency driver. When they are pushed too hard, they do not have a woofer to take the heavy abuse. It is all absorbed by the midrange.

The speaker has a high level of clarity which when played loud retains the low distortion and somtimes people do not realize truly how loud they are listening.

This thread is out of control.

Tpsonic: I have heard something I greatly prefer. While I do love the Kharma speakers, I have many good reasons for no longer carrying the line. These are not things I want to air publically.

So there you go folks, my limited experiences(as stated earlier) were isolated to a few select people.

Jtinn- Out of control threads drive me crazy, so I found a better tailor :^)

I posted this question separately, as was not aware of this thread. I just blew a Ceramique driver when a driver 6SN7 tube blew and cracked the midrange driver. It was not covered by warranty. Presumably they only cover defective drivers, not those broken by transient DC. Hopefully, this wont happen again. I will replace all my driver tubes.
Any advice on soldering technique so as not to burn the voice coil? GTT is sending me a new driver and solder. How rare an event is this?