Dear Thom_y:
Hello again. Thorman is correct. With the exception of perhaps the top two or three Kharmas (which cost as much as a house), the Kharmas are not the best speaker for someone who listens primarily to rock, as they are more prone to compress when pushed hard as compared to, say, a Wilson, Revel or Dynaudio. They are a supurb speaker for their ability to image and soundstage, and no speaker "disappears" like a Kharma -- you cannot tell that the music is coming from the speakers -- but those are qualities that will appeal to someone who listens primarily to minimally miked jazz and classical recordings, not multitrack rock. In particular, the Kharma 2.2 would likely be wrong for you, as it has the dynamic limitations described above, yet does not have the incredible midrange and imaging of the more expensive Kharmas. PS - to the Kharma-ites out there, I am not saying that the Kharma is terrible for dynamics, but merely less suited to highly dynamic music than a Wilson, Revel or Dynaudio.
Based upon your various threads, you want a speaker that can handle real power and that will not compress when driven hard. In this regard, the Sofia or Revel Salon (or maybe Revel Studio - your room is medium-sized) would be appropriate. The Sofia uses a Focal tweeter that many feel is a bit hot, but once it gets 500+ hours on it, it should be okay. The Revels are shelved down in high frequencies above 8,000 Hz. and will be less fatiguing (they also have a tweeter control, which of course helps). I again mention the Vienna Acoustics Mahler, which definitely fits your profile.
If I were you, I would buy Sofias or Studios, power them with Bryston 7B-ST's, and get the Hovland. I had the HP-100 in my main system for two years and it is very dynamic and musical. I had noise problems like many owners (it has nothing to do with the tubes -- the outputs on the HP-100 are not shielded, and this makes the unit very susceptible to noise in places with lots of RFI/EMI or around lights with dimmer switches -- Hovland makes a "hush kit" to address the problem), but I was using it in NYC. It sounds like you are in some place like Yellowknife, so perhaps this would not be an issue for you. There are other top-quality tube preamps available with remote controls -- if you like the Hovland, you would love the VAC Renaissance (+/-$7,500 new).
Good luck.
