Avalon vs Kharma

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

Thanks a lot guys. Is the Opus Ceramique better than the Opus is a 16 x 24 room?

Hi Glai,

A freind of mine owns the Opus so I got to hear it a few times in a home environment. The Opus is a great speaker but the bass is colored and sounds out of character with the rest of the frequency spectrum. I haven't heard the Opus Ceramique but from my understanding it does not go as low in frequency but what is there in the bass is much more accurate. The Eidolon does it all and would work great in a 16'x 24' room. If I were you I would skip the Opus and shoot for the Eidolon. Good luck to you and I wish you all the best!

Tom