Yes, the grand enigma is how they can justify a price of 1 million dollars. Are they made of gold? I wonder how many units they will sell? Zero, perhaps? I just think that this kind of pricing is to create marketing buzz, which we are obliging them with here, and to raise the reputation of the line, so that they can sell a few more units of their "reasonably" priced speakers. Otherwise, there is no point in manufacturing, publicizing, marketing or distributing a product that noone in their right mind would consider buying. As much as I am hooked by high end audio, I would choose a yacht over a speaker were I to have a million dollars. This kind of pricing takes to ridiculous extremes one of the major things which is swrong with the high end industry. |
right on rayhall 100% marketing |
Should one dismiss something as "pure marketing" until one hear the sound and performance? I learned back in the sixth grade that a conclusion should never be made until both (or all) sides are heard/ considered. |
Lotuss4 are you for reel.I learned in the 1 st grade thr difference between reality and the obsured. |
Check out the reviews of it on audio review. Esp the one from truan. Best Buy rules. |
I currently have a set of these on the way from the manufacturer. Since i blew all of my cash on the speakers and had to sell all of my other stuff just to be able to afford them, i'll be forced to power them with my old 15 wpc Advent receiver hooked up via some 18 gauge zipcord for speaker wire. Using my first generation Sanyo CD player and my Zenith turntable as sources, i'm sure hoping that what people say about speakers is true. They BETTER be the most important part of the system or else i'm screwed !!!! : ) Sean > |
HI, i have to tell people, I am the only owner of this speaker besides the designer. A Couple months ago, I won the lotto for 10 million dollars. I was very shocked of having such a big amount of $$$ so suddenly. I didn't know what to spend with it, buy stock, well with the market being down lately, because of the election not being finalized yet, plus Intel and Nokia have annouced their low earnings. Therefore, I felt about buying these speakers. At first, I knew these speakers would sound very good and worth to buy, but then I didn't know where to buy them. So I went online and started doing my reseach, I found out that these speakers can be found at Best Buy, I was surprised why Best Buy would have these speakers, but with my curiousity, I called them, and guess what, another shock, Best Buy told me, that they are having these speaker onsale for 9,990,000 dollars, that means I would save $1000 out of 1 million dollars, which is such a great deal, due to the fact, I couldn't go wrong with it, because I thought $1000 is not easily saved. So I bought them, also Best Buy gave me free delivery, which is also such a great deal, because these speakers as you know, are very heavy. When they delivered these speakers to my house, well, don't know what to say, they are too big for my living room. I had to leave them outside, and I called the house builder, to come over and estimate how much it would cost, to built the extra room for these speakers. You know what? He told me it would cost another million dollars to build the room for these speakers. I told myself, what the heck ? I had to do it anyway, because Best Buy told me that these speakers were final sale, non refundable. After building the room in two weeks, I finally put the speakers in the room, looked very nice, I kept looking at them without being bored for hours and hours... but then I realized, that I didn't have the Amp to drive these speakers.....I then told my self, that I spent enough money for the room and the speakers, which was 2 million dollars. I am not going to spend anymore for it...so I used my brother's Aiwa Boom box to power the Kharma speakers. But surprisingly, the system sounds really good with the Aiwa Boombox....The bass is amazing, the mids is very very detailed....and lots of power......and my 8 yrs old niece came close to it and turned up the volume to max....ooopppss.....it blew up these speakers...i was so mad at her and forbid to come close to it again ever. Anyway, I called Best Buy for service, they reminded me, that I didn't purcharse the warranty, I told them I just bought these speakers for 2 and half weeks, but they told me, these speakers don't even have 30 day warranty..I was disappointed, but then you know what, I still have 8 million left though... I had to tell myself, to pretend that I just lost 2 million dollars in Vegas. Anyways, If you have lots of $$$, maybe only Bill Gates, and your thinking about buying these speakers. Bill, if you happen to read this review, please arrange sometime to listen to these speakers, then you will thank me for telling you this. Oh, one good thing about these speakers, I had to be amazed, that these speakers don't need lots of power, but the it still sounds like it was driven by a big big amps.....well, it's getting long, so I have to end it here, but before I end it, I have to tell you, not to laugh at my review, this is not a joke and what I said is true!!!!!......Call Best Buy yourself, if you don't believe me. I can buy you a free ticket to fly to my house ( not to forget, I am a millionaire now ) to see these speakers yourself, even though they are broken now. |
And then I told myself, "oh boy, me thinkum you need to buy a million dollars worth of waders, just so you can wade thru the above post!!!" If you don't believe I thought that, call Kreskin and ask him, he'll tell you................................The whole universe is my speaker, but it's only reproducing direct current, at least until it stops expanding and starts to collapse in on itself. The area out there in space where the big bang occurred, is the "zero point" in the big woofer cone's excursion....and all the galaxies are really just huge weaves of kevlar in the cone. Black holes are the motor structure, and dark matter is the voice coil. What kind of music will this be playing (if we can listen "later"), after several universe "cycles" have expanded/contracted? WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? GOD HAS A PREFERENCE FOR THE COMPLEX MUSICAL CHAOS OF THE PURIST AUDIO BURN IN CD?.........I didn't think you would, it's more likely going to be George Jones, Grace Jones, "the ghost of tom jones", Barnaby Jones, Indiana Jones....or sumthin!!! How'm'I supposed to know that? Go ask Saturn99, or at least call Best Buy! Lord knows they need to hear from you on this!!! You could then ask them, "is your refrigerator running?"...and well, you know the rest. |
I Just bought these speakers on the street in NYC, when some guy from Haiti, came buy and explained to me, he had picked up too many of these and didn't want to return them to the warehouse. He told me these speakers normally retail for 1 million dollars, but he'd give them away for 950,000 dollars. It seemed like too good a deal, but I still wanted to bargain with him. I got him down to 900,000 with delivery to my apartment, cuz these things weigh a ton, not including the boxes. So we get these things to my house and wire-em up to my Radio Shack amplifier, with my panasonic portable CD player. Well, let me tell you, the sound was just terrible. I figure 60 watts is more than enough to drive any speaker. I figured something was amiss. So I open them up with a crow-bar, to see whats inside the speakers (whoever made these, used a lot of glue to hold it together. Well, what did I see inside the speakers, but 5 illegal Mexican immigrants. No wonder these sounded like crap. I'm wondering, how these illegal Mexican immigrants still have there ears, from me blasting these speakers. These speakers are great for carrying illegal immigrants, but terrible for sound. It's my own fault for buying something like these on the street. The deal did seem to good to be true, but next time, i'll buy them from Best Buy. |
Hi, my name is MC Hammer, I also bought a pair of these speakers from that Haitian guy, who was selling them on the street in NYC. They look really shiny, and stuff. They're great for getting down with the funk. I have my ladies over, turn on some George Clinton, and BAM we're in the mood. One time, the bass was so loud my cat spontaneously combusted. That's a good thing!!! Weaknesses: My honey left me, because I paid too much for them, and I couldn't spend no money on her. Now I gots to spend more time wit da ladies. But I must tell you, these speakers are the greatest! I feel like the LORD when I turn these babies up! My cousin, Mack D has some of them Koss speakers, and these babies are better than them. It don't matter how much you pay, because I gots my settlement money from the war, you know? If you like to get FUNKY, buy these babies! I only give them three stars, because my baby left me!!! |
MC Hammer, your baby found me after she left you. It wasn't that you spent too much, it was that your speaker just wasn't big enough. I let her see mine (it IS the whole universe, afterall), and she went "oops, you did it again!" And I went, "awww yeahhh, baby, yees, yees.......Nooo! Noo!"....and then I drank that coffee the big scottish guy gave me! Yuuuck!"...........Anyhoo, you just have to have a really BIG speaker, and then let her see that it can move slowly if she wants it to. |
I was browsing around the electronics department at the local Shop one day, when surprisingly I noticed that they were carrying a single pair of the Grand Enigmas for a very limited time. I carefully weighed my options. It was either the York bookshelf system for the bedroom or the Enigmas for the living room. Well, I splurged and went for the Enigmas. When then, all of the employees at the Shop dropped everything they were doing and combined their efforts just to carry the speakers 20 feet to the check-out counter. I knew that I was purchasing some hefty speakers! No more York sound for me! After maxing out all of my credit cards, I watched one brave Shop employee try and lift the speakers and carry them out to my car. We both chuckled as his spine cracked in two and his arms permanently dislocated. He said hunched over and with a smile, "Ooh! I think we're going to need a little help with these." After a local helicopter pilot was gracious enough to lift them onto the front lawn of my apartment, I was anxious to test these babies out in the comfort of my own living room. Getting these mothers upstairs was quite a chore. Now I know how all of those Egyptians who built the pyramids must have felt. I hooked the Enigmas to my Technics SA-AX7 receiver with 100 watts of power x 5 and threw in a copy of Bjork's latest album to test the musical performance. But before I could hit play on the CD player, the speakers fell right through the floor and landed on my neighbor downstairs. She died and now her family is suing me for 1 million dollars. I thought maybe, i could give them these speakers instead. They refused. I did hear these speakers, after they landed ontop of my downstairs neighbor. When i pressed Play on the CD Player, Bjork's vocals soared through the entire neighborhood and the subtleties in the instrumental accompaniments were finally revealed. People from blocks away thought that Bjork was giving a concert in my apartment and hundreds of people flocked over to try and get a glimpse of her. Saving Private Ryan was next on the list. The structural integrity of the building began to disintegrate and so I had to turn the volume down slightly. Every gunshot, cannon blast, and explosion was very well detailed and present. It could be just me, but I think that my dead neighbor's body helped to dampen excess vibration in the cabinets, thus adding to the sound quality of the speakers. So, I think I'll just leave him under there for a while. This speaker ensemble is terrific! Thank you, Shop! But because of its enormous price tag, and difficulty in finding matching surrounds and center channel, I'm giving the Enigmas four stars instead of five. |
Hey Lotuss4, You must be kidding. I hope you are kidding. Are you? In any way you want to value speakers whether that be cost of manufacture, sound quality, etc, do you really think that there is any speaker worth $1,000,000.00? |
Based upon the above posts the idea of a million dollar speaker is over the top. But if you were to ask the average consumer what they thought of some audiophiles' $30k tube amps, $20k CD players, $10k cables and $2k power cords they probably wouldn't see much difference between between "our reality" and the million dollar speakers. After all, what's a few zeros between people who can afford it? |
I got mine FREE !!!! ...when I bought the Brooklyn Bridge. |
It's true...$1,000,000 for a pair of speakers is a bit pricey. I highly recommend trying to buy them used for $600,000 or $700,000. I may be going out on a limb here, but I firmly believe that there isn't another speaker in their price range that can compete with them. Seriously though...couldn't you buy an orchestra for a million? I mean...not the CSO or Vienna's, but I bet Phoenix has one that wouldn't cost too much. You could book dozens of rock bands in your own house...one or two a week! (but the clean up would cost more than a million) Is there really any market for these speakers? Does anyone have a dick that small? |
Hell, there isn't a live performance I'd pay a million for. Great sense of humour here, though! |
Heck, the real "Grand Enigma" is the question of why these speakers cost a million bucks. I believe they are very appropriately named! |
Can you send me a link to distributor. I would like to order me a pair? And can i get Monster cable, for 100K, with them, please. |
I wonder what Kharma's corporate net worth is... |
Actually, if you think the speakers are expensive, I hear that Shun Mook will have a $350,000 resonance control kit to make them sound their absolute best! |
Not to fret, gentlemen, these puppies actually come with their own amplification, so there's no need to go out and splurge on the Kenwood to make them really purr. The bad news appears to the that they seem to be disigned for a specially designed subterranean listening room of 45,000 cubic feet. Think that is extra? I'd hate not to have the company line handy for convenient ridicule.... "The Grand Enigma System - one of the largest and most exclusive high-end consumer loudspeakers ever made. This 12 ton system is fully active with 30kW of amplification, equipped with 24 ultrahigh efficiency planar-magnetic HF-units, 24 15-inch LF drivers and 48 6-inch MF drivers. Placed in a specially prepared subterranean listening room of 45,000 cubic feet, it presents sound with incredible dynamics and limitless power, easily reproducing live concert levels at a distance of 10 meters." |
I KNEW that the fallout shelters built back in the 50s and 60s would eventually have a practical application! |
Mr. "Leafs" and Mr "Rayhall": Not dismissing before hearing/seeing for yourself applies to just about everything in life, as you will see one day. How absurd is a Lamborghini? |
And who says us stereo nuts don't have a sense of humor. Thanks guys. |
Does Brittany Spears,comes along with that? He,he,he..! |
Wait !!! Don't spend all your money yet !! Kharma has just announced that the Enigma Oremus II is on its way at a slightly lower retail price, but with just the same features as the Grand Enigma. The drivers are made in China to the same high standards as the units make in Pakistan, but of couse they are assembled in a U.S. factory in Mexico and therefore qualify as AMERICAN MADE. Wall Mart will be the retailer. Rave reviews to follow in Stereopile and Absolute Mound based on the amount of prepaid advertising purchased by the manufacturer. Hence the high price of the speakers. Advertising doesn't come cheap, you know??? |
Lotuss4: A Lamborghini may be absurd by some standards and by some people's estimation. However, I will put the care, the quality of manufacture, the complexity, even the reputation of the Lamborghini against this speaker (and associated amps etc.)and I am sure this Kharma product does not come close. Even so, the Lamborghini is not $1,000,000! I am sorry to be so close minded on this one, but this is a cynical attempt by an audio manufacturer to create value by advertising and promotion rather than building it into the product and charging an appropriate amount for it. I understand what you are saying, Lotuss4, that one man's cup of tea is another one's ... , but if we stretch that concept so far, we lose our basis for evaluation of anything and everything, and thus our ability to even express our sense of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with everything. I don't want to live in a world where I can't say more than "I don't like it" or ".. given the price/performance, it is not my cup of tea." Given the sarcastic responses to this thread, I think a lot of people would agree with me. |
Hiwaves: if you don't have genuine interest or useful input, please go to Walmart chat room. This is not the space for your attempt at "creative humor". |
I agree with Lotuss4. While I may not be able to afford, or for that case even desire a $1,000,000 speaker, who am I to place limits on what others may covet? I don't drive a Rolls-Royce, but I respect the right (and it is their right) to indulge themselve. Arguing over whether the speakers represent a good value is missing the point. |
Hiwaves and Saturn99 - humor is always welcome, especially in such a light-hearted thread. I couldn't stop laughing at the offer of the speakers as settlement in the dead neighbor lawsuit and the observation of the dampened excess vibrations. But seriously, do people really feel that if I can find a pair for $600K used that this is a good price? |
Something to think about: why do people complain (or make fun) about the cost of audio equipment, while we seldom hear any complaints about the rising cost of Ferraris ? or diamonds? a single carat of diamond can cost $25,000. If I can't (or don't want to) spend a large amount on something, I would just leave that choice to someone else... why doubt the worth or make fun? (at least see the product first before making the decision.) Can you imagine the courts in this country making decisions before all the evidence (no matter how insignificant) is seen/heard? |
Bravo saturn99. great wit. My best laugh this week. cheers steve |
I can only afford to buy 1 so if anybody is in the same finacial boat as me,let me know and we can go in together and buy a pair then split them. |
priced speakers. Hey, talking about serious things, do I want to have some 5 deaf and ilegales mexicanos in a pair of absurdly priced Dutch speakers? Ahum, pardon me, I guess that sort of absurdity might make sense especially from a country and people that when pressed again the sea by the Zulus and then, sandwiched by the sea borne English landing from the Cape gave us the greatest gift of it all in Apartheid!....I guess if you really look into the term "Apartheid" it might make some sense.....that person who buys this mostruosity must have their brains "Apartheid" from their sense. hahaha |
Hi, my name is Monica Lewinsky, I heard these speakers at the White House, while smoking a Cuban cigar. At first, I thought they Sucked. The Speaker lacked the balls that other speakers have. Plus, The speakers sounded very stiff. But after listening to them for awhile, I was blown away by them. I got the million dollars, by doing commercials for 7 11. I was promoting the Big Gulp. I always knew I would become a millionaire. Did you know in High School, I was voted most likely to Suck Seed. I must say, before doing this review, I was in a car accident. I blew a tire. |
I only went into K-Mart to buy some boxer briefs on sale for $1.99, but when i saw these speakers, I had to have them! I put it all on my Discover card; I will be getting almost $10,000 cash-back bonus, which should cover the first month's finance charges. Unfortunately my wife can't hear the arguments on her favorite talk shows, over the sound of my Emerson speakers, when I am playing the TV theme songs, whose exquisite source materials, require me to have an audiophile speaker of the highest caliber. Therefore I will be putting them up for sale on ebay with a reserve price of $1 + $125,000 for shipping and handling to the continental US. Shipping to Hawaii and APO/FPO addresses is an extra $500,000 The bid increment is $800,000, so make sure you're first to bid. Good luck. HEY WAIT, I WOULD ALSO BE WILLING TO TRADE THEM FOR A BIG MAC AND A SHAKE. CHOCOLATE ONLY THOUGH! |
Very good idea indeed. A genius marketing strategy. I am an audiophile and rapidly following up media, I never heard about this Kharma brand. But after seeing the topic, I searched for their web-site, found the products and checked most of them. I know Kharma anymore like another 50 people who were interested in this topic. Very clever indeed. Check the reviews at their site, they are all related to how expensive the speaker it is nor how good it is. |
Saturn99: Lewinsky: do you realize that behind your jokes is a real person with feelings that can be hurt? How is your humiliation of this person going to make humanity better? It is much harder to have compassion for those who have made mistakes than to simply condemn. Her mistakes aren't even towards you! what harm has she intentionally inflicted to you? All this happened a long time ago, and I am sure this human being is trying to move on with her life. How long will you continue to prosecute her? her family? how long will you have fun at her expense? Have you made any mistakes when you were her age? Please do not take my suggestion as a direct insult, but consider her right to live a life- whatever is left of it. This may even make you a better human being. |
I believe the 1 million includes the construction of an underground room. Does it have a sauna, too? |
YOU GUYS HAVE TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HAND!!!!! |
Now, I could buy an underground room and share it with a large pair of speakers, or spend the million on buying an island in Fiji. It really is hard to take that choice seriously Lotuss4 - by the way, does this mean you own a series 4 Lotus? I used to race Lotuses and the series 4 was manufactured here in NZ for a while - a very crazy vehicle indeed. |
Lotus, you need to chill out on the Lewinsky thing. Who are you, her father? |
No, I am not her father... but you are right, let's make more jokes and let's find a way for us to really keep her buried in shame for the rest of her life! Let's take her out and really beat her up some more! that'll make our lives much better. |
I never thought of someone doing Dick, or was it Bill, a mistake. Well maybe if he was married, it's a hard call. |
I heard a great joke about Monica and Bill today, but I sense this is not the right time to tell it. |
Yes, the poor little rich girl that got rich off being infamous...the poor thing, we should all just let her run for the US Senate or something, and learn to love her again! How silly of me, I have learned the error of my ways... |
Excuse ME !!! My name is Kimmy Kharma. I designed and built the Grand Enigma and I am very insulted by the negative comments on this website. How dare you pass judgment on my product without even listening to it ?? And some of you are critical of the retail price. Well, let me tell you that there are not very many really good speaker systems available for under a million dollars these days. I know, I have listened to them all and there is no question that the Grand Enigma is the best by far. Just name one system that can reproduce sound at a distance of 25 feet and still sound real !!! See, it's not so easy, is it ?? And poor Monica L. You treat her so badly. Don't worry Monica. I will name my next system after you. Monicas' Enigma Variations. Yes!!! It is perfect. And I will raise the price to 2 Million Dollars just so the riff-raff can not purchase it. They will die of envy. And we shall dance in the streets !! |
Let,s see. A million dollars. You could surely rent the services of a major orchestra at least once a month for a year (that is, if you could convince the resident maestro to work free). If you prefer a smaller scale, a major chamber ensemble (string quartet, jazz ensemble,rock group etc.)could probably be heard weekly for that year. On the other hand, perhaps a kit version could be had for less. Or perhaps the mfr. will make a similarly sounding set of headphones. Since I can't afford any of those options, I'll just wait for the Radio Shack knock-off. |
It's quite interesting to see the responses here, given that most people in here are supposedly audiophiles. So everyone thinks that it is appropriate to ridicule a $1 million speaker that nobody has actually heard? True, there are not many people with the means to spend $1 million on speakers, but in the ultra high-end, as long as there are no better overall speakers out there for less than a million, then the Grand Enigma would represents fair value, to those that can afford it. To a few extremely wealthy individuals, $1 million is pocket change. Heck, if I was a billionaire, with a $50 million mansion, I would buy the Grand Enigma, and would build a 45,000 square foot listening room on my estate to put them in, if just to brag to my other billionaire friends that I own the most expensive speakers on the planet. Money is no object. But I've also noticed how bloody defensive some of the same individuals are about the stuff they have in their own system. So why is $20,000 for a pair of Sonus Faber Amati speakers acceptable value whereas a $1 million for a pair of speakers is subject for ridicule? Going the other way, it is the same snotty audiophiles that sneer at people listening to mass market $300 mini-systems and preach from their high horse that the 'regular folk' knows nothing about music. While audiophiles feel that their own $5000 speakers represent incredible value for money, non-audiophiles question the sanity of certain people who spend more on a single power cord than most people would spend on an entire system. |
