Some questions about Kharma Exquisite Reference

i owned the Kharma Exquisite Reference 1D. first i had it in a 12' x 18' x 10.5' room and then later in a 29' x 21' x 11' room. i used the Tenor 75w OTL's, the Tenor 300 mono hybrids and very briefly the darTZeel NHB-108's. over my 4 years of ownership i did try a number of other amps too.

there are a few variants of the Exquisite Reference. there is the 'E' which has the diamond tweeter, and then the 1-A which has the outboard crossover and 'a higher level of internal wiring'. there may be combinations of these 2 or others. i know that Kharma made some running changes in some of their speakers in the last few years and i have not kept up on all the details.

i would recommend contacting GTT to get some clarity on the various models.

i loved my 1D's and might still have them if i would not have built a much larger room. in your room i kinda agree with Fmpnd that the ML2.1's might not be enough considering the Exquisites are only 90db efficient. the darTZeel would be my choice for many reasons; all the stuff i loved about the Tenor OTL's but with more power and a lower noise floor.

in my experience my Exquisites came alive at medium to high volume and were a bit closed in at lower volumes. this characteristic would tend to push one to make sure you have enough grunt to get them moving. i cannot say all the Exquisite Reference iterations were the same but from Fmpnd's comments that is possible.

in any case the Kharma Equisiste Reference is a very special speaker.

Mike,
Honestly, I'm interested in the Kharma Exquisite Reference speaker just because I saw pictures regarding your wonderful system before. Did the smaller space of your previous audio room ever cause any problem? Can you elaborate the reasons of suggesting darTZeel NHB-108? Is one NHB-108 enough to drive Kharma Reference?

Seitei,

thanks for the kind words; i'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. the Exquisite Reference is a very elegant speaker to look at.....my wife still misses that look. Charles Von Oostrum (Mr. Kharma) is an artist and i've always considered these speakers to be works of art.

there was always something very special about my previous room and they way the Exquisite Reference ID synergized in that room. even with the Tenor 75w OTL's the ID's were able to easily 'hook up' or 'presurize' that room with ease for a wonderful immediacy and intimacy. OTOH a 12' x 18' x 10.5' room has limitations as to what level of SPL's it can support before it falls apart. i used lots of absorbtion in that room next to and behind the speakers. these limitations ultimately were one of the main reasons (also the whole wife sleeping--noise control issues) i moved and built the new room.

i think the size of your room is more ideal for the Exquisite Reference than either of my rooms. but it will take time to work things thru. it had taken 7 or 8 years to get the small room to really work (in my early learning stages as an audiophile).....and it has taken 3 or 4 years to get the larger room to work.

yes; a single NHB-108 would be enough for the Exquisite Reference in your room. this is somewhat based on the type of speaker that the Kharma is. it is not a speaker which has unlimited SPL capabilities.....it will not knock the house down with bass slam.....no matter what amp you use. it is very micro-dynamic and full of texture and nuance. which is why i went away from it in my new, very well damped, large room. it simply did not move enough air to energize the room to my satisfaction. when i switched to the VR9's i got all the energy i wanted; but it took me a couple more years and a switch to the Evolution Acoustics MM3 before i was able to get back that intimacy i had lost when i left my small room.

the darTZeel NHB-108 is a very lively amplifier; in the right way. it can operate near it's limits and still sound musical. the Kharma is very demanding of naturalness in an amplifier and so the choices of enough power, naturalness and clarity are limited.

you can always add a second NHB-108 if you feel you need more power.

my second choice for the Exquisite Reference would be the Tenor Hybrid 150's or maybe even the new darTZeel integrated.

i hope this helps.