Avalon vs Kharma

I have heard the Kharmas from the Midi-Grands all the way to the biggest and badist 600 pound monsters with diamond tweeters and all the mods plus Kharmas top wires. FANTASTIC!!!!! Avalon uses the same drivers. Yes the speaker guys all say they mod the speakers before they install them in their cabinets. I spoke with the people at Avalon (GREAT guys) and they have been using them for years. Even longer than Kharma. I'm trying to audition Avalons knowone in Michigan or Ohio carries them. I might have to head to Illinois or maybe out east. My sound room is in the living room (dedicated for audio only) and my wife doesn't care how I use it but it has to look good. It's the first room people see when they come in. I have good taste and I like the way Kharmas look but my wife thinks they are ugly. So I'm searching for Avalons to audition. By the way, B&W makes their own drivers and now owns the cabinet shop. People like to knock them and the other larger companies and they are not the "Designer flavor of the month" but the Nautilus Signature Series is fantastic!! The Kharmas are owned by a friend and are in a dedicated room driven by the latest fab gear(EMM-Tenor,etc). Good Luck! Peace and Good Listening, Pat.

both are great speakers. one significant difference is that the Kharmas are generally easier to drive......and 50 to 100 tube watts are plenty for them in medium sized rooms......whereas, the Avalons typically like at least 150+ watts or more.

i own the Kharma Exquisite 1D's and do prefer the Kharma's in general to the Avalons.....but i like the Avalons. the Kharmas to me are slightly more refined and coherent (but the Avalons can be pretty good in this area too).

the Avalons may be a little more 'punchy'.....meaning slightly more slam and bass energy.....although i overall prefer the bass articulation and accuracy of the Kharma.

system and amp matching would be a big part of the answer to your question.

good luck.

I have a friend who has the Avalon Eidolons and they are absolutely fantastic! Probably the best stereo I have ever heard really. I believe everyone who has ever reviewed these speakers has said that you need top notch electronics to drive them. (FYI, he uses a 400W/ch. Classe amp,and an ARC Ref. 1 preamp and a VPI HRX, with Koetsu Urushi. Pretty top notch, huh?!)

That being said, I have heard the Kharma 3.2 at one of the stereo shows in SF last year. It too was very impressive. (I prefer the Avalon, but that might because I am more familiar with it.)

I doubt you could make a mistake in choosing either of these great speakers. (I am jealous you can afford either, since I can not.)

Good Luck in making you choice!!

Hello Gali, I have owned Eidolon's for the last 4 years and very shorty will be moving up to the Eidolon Diamond. Before making up my mind on the Eidolon Diamond I did audition the Kharma Midi-Grand Ceramique and also the the Grand Ceramique. I haven't heard the Kharma 3.2 or any of the Kharma's Exquisite line of speakers.

IMO the "plain jane" Eidolon is the more accurate and neutral speaker of the out of the Kharma's I have heard. The Eidolon is harder to drive and picky about what's in front of it. Go for quality over quanity for the amp as I've found it's not quite as hard to drive as some people might have you think. With proper set-up and the quality components in front of it the Eidolon is extremly faithful to the recording, and those magic recordings of music you love will have you in musical ecstasy!!

Most important is that you should try to audition for yourself if at all possible, this is a lot of money and you need to be happy with the decision.

All the best!

Tom