Kharma 3.2 to MidiGrand Upgade???

It's nice to see the support for people in the industry. Tenor did a hell of a job with the 75 OTL and then tried to get the 300 watt hybrids going for people with more difficult loads before things went south. As an owner of Tenor, I can say that Tenor was truly dedicated to good sound and I know the former owners Robert and Francois truly love music. The techs, Stephan and Etienne (sp?) are some of the nicest and most helpful people you'll ever meet and the main designer Michelle was ALWAYS willing to help.

If you think about it, just how many people do you know (say how many out of a thousand?) are into high end audio (say where you spend more than a thousand dollars on a front end piece or >$2000 on an amp or speakers)? One half of one percent, 1/4 of one percent? Probably less? And yet look at all the numerous choices we have of great high end gear. Heck, how many TURNTABLES do we have a choice of today alone? WELL more than when analog was king.

I bring this up because with high end audio being such a small niche market and with so many designers and options available, I submit that MOST of the high end manufacturers are NOT heavily capitalized and many are either still in the basement or barely out. And I applaud their dedication. As such, I posit that MOST high end companies, financially speaking, are not that far from Tenor's position if you had access to their financial picture. As far as I understand such people and companies as Albert Von Schweikert, Counterpoint, ESP, Hales, Genesis, Sonic Frontiers, Threshold, oh heck you know how many gifted designers and companies have gone under - some, thankfully, have resurfaced - either under the same name or with other companies.

Myself, I hope and pray Tenor comes back, not just because I own them or like the guys involved, but for our hobby's sake as well!

I agree wholeheartedly with Fmpnd's sentiments.Unless you are a Krell or a WILSON the VAST majority of high end gear is manufactured by VERY small firms.We,also,must take this into account when dealing with companies like these.Case in point:I recently paid fairly serious dollars(UP FRONT, which I'd normally never do)to have my SOTA COSMOS turntable updated by the folks at SOTA.I had met them at HE-2004,and,they seemed like extremely fine folks.Well,after sending out my table I,still,had to wait almost 4 months to get it back.Fortunately this was in summer,and,I was really involved with my tennis(my first love),so,I really didn't care about the delay.However the table came back to me with a motor that was faulty.This REALLY pissed me off!I gave it some time to see if the platter, not getting up to speed until about a dozen rotations, would work itself out.With my luck,as of late,it did not get any better.I was actualy more upset that I would have to disassemble the table/arm,and repack and ship everything during the NFL playoff weekend,and,since I'm really tired of the endless tweaking to get everything right,I NO LONGER HAVE THE DESIRE TO "PATCHKA" any longer.I'm not getting any younger and I viewed the whole breakdown process as a MAJOR PAIN!So I called the owners of the Co. and spoke with Kirk(an owner)who then asked if I could wait about 5-6 MORE weeks to send the unit back,as he was getting in newer motors,and,wanted to put these in my unit.Any normal person,at this point,I believe,would "freak out".Truthfully,the guy is SO NICE,and was so appologetic(sp?)that I simply didn't have the heart to act agitated,even though I had a sneaky suspicion that this latest delay may have been brought on by the post Christmas orders SOTA may have gotten.In truth,being an adult(I think?)I realize that this is probably a scenario Fmpnd is alluding to,and I'd rather not put additional pressure on a company,like SOTA(whom I believe have their hearts in the right place).I'm set to send my table out in about 3 weeks.In the meantime my Levinson 390s CD player will have to do(poor me).I really do firmly believe that when my COSMOS does return it will be of exemplary performance,and condition.This has almost been sworn "in blood"to me by an owner.Try getting the CEO of Lexus or Mercedes to give you that kind of a personal guarantee!

Sirspeedy, I surely couldn't agree more with you about Kirk and Donna Bodinet, husband and wife team who own and do everything at SOTA. Super people, very friendly and professional, with a genuine can-do attitude. Living in the Chicago area and having owned a Cosmos for several years (SOTA is in the southwest suburbs), I can tell you they are willing to do anything to make things right. Saw both of them at CES and they were just as cordial as ever. And there are other wonderful folks in the industry who are just as much a pleasure to know, Andy Payor of Rockport Technologies being a stellar example.

If Tenor can come back to provide service and possibly sell new product, it would be encouraging especially for current owners.

Brian

Even if TENOR never comes back there are always quality repair/update vendors that can do the type of work necessary.I just hope that those that bought the,ECELLENT,Tenor products don't bail on them.This would,of course,be a boon for the "looking for GREAT used stuff,cheap"crowd(which I'm beginning to think are some pretty savvy folks).I recently had my Audio Research SP-15 updated by an independant vendor(GREAT NORTHERN SOUND).I have owned the SP-10 and the SP-11,both great units.I knew the SP-15,being a hybrid was not held in as high regard as the all tube models,but,Steve Huntley,of GNS,was Audio Research's former Chief engineer,and had almost guaranteed me I'd be thrilled with the results.Also,I felt the SP-15 had quieter backgrounds than the SP-10 or 11,and certainly smoked the previous units in frequency extremes.My impression was that at the time the SP-15 was marketed, there was a shortage of quality tubes and the original ones that came with the SP-15 shall we say"SUCKED".I was given a choice(based upon my own listening tastes)of what caps to use in the linestage as well as a different variety in the phonostage.BOY!Was I glad I chose to go this route.I counted at least 60 new parts exchanged out of the unit when it came back.An independant MOD vendor,with a great reputation.Even if Audio Research was not around anymore I'd still have recourse in case of a problem. The same should hold true for TENOR products,which I've heard on so many occassions.Never once have I heard any of them sound anything less than fabulous.Case in point(sorry for being longwinded,by the way)at HE-2004 TENOR was showing the Hybrid 300 watt monos driving the EPIPHANY 12/12 speakers driven with Meitner gear.The sound was stunning.I was in the room when a fellow(Reviewer for TAS)was auditioning them.He whipped out CD after CD from his private stash.I was sitting just behind this,Kharma/Lamm lover(PROMOTER).My point being,I had been in that room for at least 4 hours over 2 days.That,to me,and I know it was only my own dumb opinion,was by far the best sound at the show.If I owned the Tenor stuff there is NO WAY I'd be worried right now.I'd be thrilled to own such great stuff,and with a little legwork there is always support for these types of products.This is not NEW CIRCUIT DESIGN,created in a vacuum.By the way, the reviewer in question,upon his show report,proceeded to pronounce the TWO Kharma rooms(supported by Lamm/Walker stuff)as by far the best sound at the show.These rooms were very small,"as in tiny".The TENOR EPIPHANY room was large and perfectly supported that set-up,unlike(in my ,opinion,and those of my friends,as well as one non "ALL EQUIP ON LOAN FOR CONSTANT EXPOSURE"audio magazine)the rediculously small Kharma/Lamm based two rooms.P.S.Guess what equipment is in this reviewer's home,on loan?To gat back to my original point,The Tenor stuff IS great.Will always be great,and will always be able to be maintained, so you lucky owners can enjoy their greatness.Even when those that have their own agenda tell you they are not as great as as you hear them to be.Sadly I know those that this would affect.