Have you seen the VR9SE Review?

Looks like the VR9's are gonna be collector's items, huh?

Tim916, Lake contour would be excellent, it will not skew anything as long as you have a preamp that feeds it correctly and with the right tone in the first place.. I have done some near Cost no object crossovers, and then now since the last few years things like the DBX PA and your mentioned lake contour, PARC or any of this type of digital correction has become available at resonable cost, electronic proves superior with good cables and tuning over any Passive devices, not to mention you can simply make things happen and have infinate adjustments vs. a standard passive built crossover with a couple level knobs on it. Just in my experience. Passive always seems to still soak up something more, electronic normally will pass with no power loss and have the capability to even boost it without added color or distortion if its a good unit.

Thanks, Mike, for that great essay ;-)

Some of us 'normal' people wonder how one comes up with (or borrows!) the $250K or so to spend on a room/speakers/source material? ;-) It's amazing how much wealth is out there, despite people saying, "the economy sucks"...

Best,
-greg

Though I have no doubts as to the fine performance of the VR9SE(I was amazed as to how good they sound in a small room),the comparison as to clarity,compared to the wonderful Kharma EXQ REF cannot be made to the degree stated here.Sorry!!Even by the owner of both systems!Because components differed,and to be able to discern being able to hear deeper into one design,the VR9 over the Kharma,would simply have to be made in a side by side comparison,with exact supporting componentry.I'm kind of suspicious as to the "emotional factor",which was most probably at play here.It's normal.
We are all guilty of this,a bit,and it is human nature.After all,how many of us have spent big bucks to upgrade componentry(sucessfully),and then did NOT want to reinforce a favorable observation.Big or small!
Was the Kharma in as perfect a "room match" as the VR9SE?Wasn't that the reason for moving to the VR9?It mated better to the larger listening space.No?That's how I interpreted the change.
Please understand,I mean no disrespect,but my own "audio pal's" do this all the time.

Best!

Sirspeedy, i know you are a Kharma fan as am i. i have spent many hours listening to Kharmas in many systems. i have owned the Exquisite Ref for three years and had the Midi Exquisite (with Diamond tweeter) in my system for 4 months.

my opinion is that the Kharma Exquisite Ref amd Midi Exquisite were optimized in my room for clarity. yes; i have upgraded my racks and power cables since the Kharma's have left my system. i did switch from the Placette passive to the darTZeel pre but i listened to the VR9 for 6 months with the Placette. i did upgrade the EMM to the Signature Edition but listened mostly over the last year to the standard EMM, the same as with the Kharma.

i did use both my Tenor Hybrids as well as the darTZeel with both Kharma speakers as well as both amps with the VR9's.

i have listened to the Kharma's and VR9's back to back at three different shows in various systems.

with my extensive experience with Kharma's as well as the commonality of the room, amps, cables and sources i am confident that i am in a position to give a pretty solid judgement on the relative merits of the Exquisites and the VR9's. i stand by my comments.

i respect you for your typically well thought out viewpoints, i respect your Kharma Experience as well as your listening time with the VR9's....and.....i respect your perspective but don't agree with it.

i'm just one guy with an opinion...and that is all it is.