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Verity Pars.Encore vs Kharma Ce 1.0

My friend asked me to pose this question.He currently owns a Kharma 1.0 driven by SOTA analog and digital(LEV-390s,COSMOS/Transfig/Graham,Audio research,cool cables etc.).The room is 12x20 with a vent off area going to a hallway.The amp is a ROWLAND 8t solid state.The perceived problem,by many listeners,is that there seems to be too much energy,sort of a hardening in the midrange,with a forward soundstage.Positioning of speaker is fine.

The original speakers were Avalon Eclipse's,that showed none of this hardening character.however the Kharma's are more dynamic,but when played loud,tend to get hard.We are beginning to feel that a design like the Parsifal Encore would be a better match for both the ROOM and Rowland.Seems almost everyone is using tubes with the Kharmas.BTW,there is excellent electrical characteristics on hand.Interconnects and speaker cables are the top Synergistics.Power cords are also PRIMO stuff.Everything seems primo,except that damn hardening,which is much more prevelent on classical(his passion)than on pop.Ceramic driver mismatch with the previously great(in spades) solid state ROWLAND?

Could some of you, that may be experienced here, add comments,please?Also,please keep comments to the 2 speakers mentioned here.Thanks so much!!
sirspeedy70680e509
lousyreeds1's avatar
lousyreeds1
286 posts
 
Why did he get rid of the Avalons? That would be helpful to know.
pbb
1,140 posts
 
Don't worry, be happy!
krjr
12 posts
 
SirSpeedy - I noticed a similar thing when I was first driving my Kharmas with a Plinius solid state amp. The 1.0's are a discontinued model with the replacement being the 1.1--which in my opinion offers quite an upgrade. In any case, I worked closely with my dealer and we were able to solve the problem by using the Kharma Grand Reference speaker cables. These cables have the same silver/gold conductors that the Kharma speakers and crossovers are wired with. There seemed to be a real synergy in keeping the same impedance from the amplifier to the drivers. All harshness in classical disappeared and the music emanated
from the speakers like a stage at an orchestra hall. In contrast, I have also owned the Verity speakers which were eventually retired to my bedroom and later sold. The Veritys had an overall dark and closed in sound--quite reserved and not nearly as lifelike as the Kharmas.
Hope this helps---Krjr
islandear
208 posts
 
Krjr, what were you driving your Parsifals with? Lamms or your Plinius? I've owned Parsifals for five years and I would not describe the sound that they produce as dark or closed in, but everything is system dependent, just as everything is derivative. The only time I've really been underwhelmed by Verity speakers was in their room a few years back at CES when they were driving their new Lohengrins with a Lamm and (I believe) Clearaudio combo. During the recent process of auditioning new digital front ends in my system the Parsifals have been extremely revealing (or "lifelike" if you prefer) and "read" very well in a largely untreated room. While Parsifals love tubes they have melded successfully with my BAT solid-state amp - though I have not heard them with Rowlands. Certainly, the types of music one listens to will bear heavily on the system one builds and, in my case, my library is dominated by jazz which is inevitably more intimate and less in-your-face like rock or large orchestral works. Really, another case of YMMV.
krjr
12 posts
 
Islandear--I drove the Veritys with the Plinius and my
observation of overall dark and closed in sound is only relative to my comparisons made with Kharmas which IMO are more lifelike, open and natural.
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