Review: Lahave Audio Khara Speaker


Category: Speakers

I purchased these Lahave Khara speakers used here on AudiogoN. I had not heard of the company before, but the speaker design caught my interest. I have always been attracted to smaller audio companies making outstanding gear with passion and care.

I spoke with Jim the owner and decided to buy them unheard.....ya took a risk for sure. I am open to risk however!

The speaker is about 44 inches tall and weights 125 pounds. It is a two way speaker using an OEM Raal tweeter that is outstanding! The 8 inch mid woofer is the excellent Seas Excel Magnesium model. This is a very high quality mid woofer. 90db efficient and 8 ohm.

The crossover has no resistors and very high quality. I would describe it as follows. First order high pass on the tweeter. The Raal ribbon tweeter is transformer coupled, thus the inductance of the transformer may make it second order.

The woofer network is a first order low pass but with a very deep trap in parallel, which makes it act like a much higher order filter.

The speaker cabinet is an absolute work of art and unequalled in my experience. No right angles, 2 inches thick in many places, and not a hint of cabinet resonance to be heard or felt folks. Stunning build quality that easily places it as the finest speaker I have owned over the years.

I did upgrade the crossover parts to Jupiter caps and North Creek 10 gauge inductors. This brought with it some real and enjoyable improvements. Lahave will use SOTA parts on a new build, simply ask for parts such as Duelund, Jupiter etc....

This speaker sings with one voice and is utterly seamless top to bottom. This combined with the complete absence of cabinet resonance makes for a very musical and live experience. This speaker sounds nothing like many of today's Hifi sounding speakers. The best way I can say it is this. Please hear what I am saying now as it is the difference maker. It is as if I don't own speakers. I hear individual instruments performing in precise locations before me and all within their own space. Sure, I have thought past speakers disappeared, but this my audio friends is a completely new and awakening experience.

Oh my, you should hear a piano on these. What a revelation to my ears. The resolution is stunning in it's impact and the tone striking. I hear the same energy, fast strike impact, and natural resonance of a live performance.

This is the same for all instruments. It is so much fun to hear all my music over again. Most times it's as if I really never heard the recording or instruments before. Over and over I am taken back on how darn real and un-stereo like my music has become. These speakers play music....music....not a facsimile of it.

The bass is very deep and powerful making this a true full range speaker. They have a side firing port which I have not seen before. My previous speaker had 4 - 10 inch woofers per cabinet and the bass on the
Khara is deeper, tighter, and far more articulate. The bass goes down to 30 htz in my room.

I am not familiar with the other models in the Lahave line as I have not heard them. These retail for some $15,000 or so I understand.

I could not be more pleased with a speaker. These will stay for a long while as they just do it for me in a way no other speaker has. I loved my Soundlab speakers, but prefer these in the end. They just sound more like the real instrument. It is an uncanny listening experience.

What speakers? Lahave should trademark that line!

Take care

Associated gear
TRL Dude tube preamp
Aesthetix Romulus dac/CD player
TRL Samson amps
Dennis Had Inspire KT 150 SET amp
Sistrum racks under the speakers and Aesthetix
Amadi Silver cables throughout
Acoustic treated listening space

Similar products
Coincident Total Victory III
Soundlab M1
Dali Grand
Silverline Bolero
Merlin VSM - several iterations
128x128grannyring

Showing 22 responses by grannyring

Forgot to mention that I have some Psvane WE845 tubes coming based on comments on the net and Jeff here on the Gon.
I forgot to mention how open and involving these are at low to moderate volume levels. I find I don't need or care to turn it up loud with these speakers. At 70-80db levels I hear well into the music and am very satisfied and "into" the music.

If you like to listen at lower volumes and still want the full musical experience, then these speakers deliver.
4orreal, yes I found out the same thing from Jim. He is a great guy for sure. I think they will be expanding their website, but the quality of a website has never been a prioiry of mine when considering a builder. Quite frankly, the best gear I've heard is often linked with a bare bones, antiquated website!

I think I purchased the pair you were considering. They are the only gloss black set Jim has made over the years.

Thanks for the note.
Just an FYI, I am Bill, not to be confused with Gary although he is a great guy :)
Oh ya, I forgot Ernie. The Coincident speaker is very different. The Lahave
is better in most every aspect including;

Far better resolution
More articulate bass
Far better imaging
Disappears in a way the Total Victory cannot
Just a more refined speaker overall

The Coincident speaker has cabinet resonance and is not nearly as fast or
clear sounding.

The Coincident speaker throws a bigger stage and can play music louder. It
is a better rock speaker perhaps.

One must turn up the volume more to hear the Total Victory open up and
come alive. The Lahave sounds great at lower volume levels.

Instruments sound more homogenous with nowhere near the micro detail
retrieval of the Lahave speakers.

The Total Victory speaker is a comfortable sounding speaker that tows the
middle ground if you will. It has nice warmth, but ultimately falls short of
sounding as real as the Lahave. Lahave sounds like music and the
Coincident sounds more like a speaker. Relative to each other these
statements sum it up pretty well.

Keep in mind the Total Victory speaker is no slouch. It is a very good
speaker and my comments are in relation to the Lahave speaker only.
Roxy54

Lahave does in fact use a Jordan tweeter on several designs. At least they have in the past.
Charles, I had to sell the Thor amps to pay for a brand new set Of TRL
Samson amps! They play well with my Dude and are keepers. Paul made
me a very nice set indeed.

They are pretty easy to drive and since they sound so good at low volumes
the 10 watts worked fine. The 300 watt Samson amps, however bring them
to another level.
Tubegroover

The speakers are about 43 inches tall and 16 inches deep. The front of the speaker is 13 inches wide and tapers to the back which is 9 inches wide. They weigh 125 pounds each.

They come stock with Stillpoints Ultra SS footers. I sold them and use Sistrum Apprentice stands instead. The Sistrum stands just worked better on my carpet over concrete floor.
Well hi Bob. I never owned Dale's speakers, but have heard that model on several occasions and for extended periods of time. One time with Dale's uber expensive SS monoblock amps.

They are both cut from the same sonic cloth in many ways. Fast, resolving, dynamic and no hint of a speaker box at all. They are both boxless in presentation.

The biggest difference is the Lahave, after my crossover upgrades, have slighter better natural tone and a more present midrange. They have more meat on the bones also......better mid bass and fullness.
I still love the speaker. I have done a pretty involved mod however. I placed the internal crossover outside the speaker and upgraded all the parts substantially. As it now stands it is the best speaker I have owned to date.

My last upgrade was using Path Audio resistors.
I would love to add some pictures, but don't think it is possible? Seems there is now way to upload more or new pics on this review?
The Avaza did sound very good indeed. The build quality was outstanding also. Just beautiful cab work!
I have not posted most recent pics. I will tell you what was done, that is, the
most current mod. I have removed the crossover from the cab completely.
A must in this speaker as the crossover was located right behind the
woofer!

I then ran Jupiter pure copper 14 gauge solid core copper wire from the
drivers out the back of the speaker. Two runs on the woofer and one on the
Raal tweeter. No, the wires never touch the ground. The crossover is now
placed on a board with the board placed on four layers of thick cork board.
The entire five layer board is then placed on cork footers and placed in a
metal outboard chassis. The board is floated or placed on several inches of
Repti-sand (the Quartz type only). I then completely cover the crossover
and parts in the Quartz Repti-sand. Each chassis contains 40 pounds of
Reptisand. Yes, they are completely isolated from vibration and Emi, RFI
etc...

The parts include 10 gauge Noth Creek inductors, Duelund CAST and
Jupiter copper foil caps. I also included a Path Audio resistor of .5 ohms to
offset the lower DCR of the heavy guage Noth Creek inductor. I also felt the
speaker needed more mid bass bloom.

I soldered my speaker cable from the amp directly to the outboard
crossover. In additon, I did not use binding posts to connect the wires
coming out of the speaker to the crossover as they degrade the sound no
matter how good. I simply used the binding posts to clamp the tinned
copper wires from the speaker and crossover together. Best connection
possible!

I also placed the speakers on Star Sound Sistrum stands as they sounded
better then the stock Stillpoints footers with A/B testing.

The speakers are wonderful sounding and an involved project.
These speakers really love tubes. The best sound I have heard from them came from pairing them with an 845 SET amp. Just wonderful.
10 watts is plenty and I have not heard any sign of distress or compression.
I sit only 8 feet away and listen at 75 to 85db weighed average most of the
time.

These glorious 10 watts are absolutely perfect for me. I do think my amp's
10 watts are a powerful 10 watts. Not every 8 watt 300b would be a good
match, but your amp and the Frank amps would be great. Not all 8 watt
amps are created equal as you both know so well. I had a 12 watt Dennis
Had amp on them that did show signs of stress and never loaded my room
with the sound and bass this Larry Moore amp achieves. The 10 watts of
my 845 amp delivers all of the scale, dynamics, speed, bass response
etc... that I was used to with my other amps cranking out 30-300 watts.
Again, I don't listen at 95db!

The difference is my music sounds more real and live with the 845 amp.
I looked into Elrog, but they seem to have reliability issues? I did not know Jeff used them? I assume he has had no issues. I bet they are wonderful sounding tubes.
Rgs92

They are great speakers indeed. I am going to try SET amps and 100db efficient speakers for a change and will be selling my speakers soon. If you know anyone interested in a great set of floor standers for a great price, then please let me know. I really had fun with these!

I am glad to have enjoyed Lahave Audio speakers!
Hi guys. I love these speakers, but it is time to move on! Why? Because I have seen the light. Well, I heard the 8 watt SET amps we all love on true high efficiency speakers and I fell instantly in love. These Lahave speakers are 90db and somewhat easy to drive, but with 97-100db speakers these wonderful tube amps open up a new sonic world for me:)

The directness and intimacy are intoxicating with these types of speakers. I am looking at single driver speakers as well as some Audio Kinesis models. I have tasted of this with my entry level Cain & Cain Abby speakers which are a single driver Fostex design. I have to dive into this deeper and experience it! I just have to:)
Thanks Bob. I have decided to keep my speakers. I listened to several good high effeciency speakers, but the sound of my speakers was, in the end, more to my liking.

My SET amp really opened up after burn in and it drives my speakers very well now. I have settled into a finished system that is amazing and easy on my back! The Electra Fidelity EL34 SET amp is just so musical. Very special design. Real innovation in this design.

Luxman DA60 dac that is a pretty large leap forward in sound quality compared to the other days I have owned. I have always ignored Luxman for some reason. This dac has earned universal praise by reviewers and I now know why.

So the speakers are staying with me! They just play beautiful music with the Luxman dac and Electra Fidelity amp.
Sorry. Typo. The DA 06.

The Yamamoto dac is very good and my favorite until the Luxman showed up. However the Luxman has a retail price of $5000 and that is twice the current price of the Yamamoto. I purchased mine for a great price used and it is not a black market 100v unit, but a 115v USA unit.

The Luxman betters the Yamamoto is every way and quite convincingly. My speakers sound about 30% larger while the tone is even more natural and real. The DA 06 excels in its ability to convey the heft, scale, richness, and natural tone of the human voice or instrument. Instruments now have the body and weight you hear live while every tiny micro nuance is revealed.

I will post my system again as it is settled in.
Bob, I bet those 2a3 amps combined with the shocking resolution and
dynamic impact of your speakers is a joy to listen two. I have always liked
your speaker and wondered how they would sound with the right tube amp.

Ernie, now you have to buy a Luxman! Kidding. If you cannot find a used
one, 115v, then the Yamamoto is still a very special dac. The best way for
me to compare the two it by saying this; The Luxman sounds like a fully
matured adult version of the young millennial Yamamoto. Both are born
from the same blood line! I think of Van Morrison's voice when he sang with
Them. His voice was young and lively with some of the deeper tones,
resonance, and fullness still to come. The Luxman is Van's voice at its
peak, both lively when called for and with the fullness and deep resonance
we hear when Van was in his 30's and 40's.

Charles, I will post my system again.