Describing the Kharma Elegance S7·S Signature as an elegant and expensive floorstanding loudspeaker is technically accurate, for, indeed, that is what it is. But once your eyes really begin taking it in, examining every exacting line and curve, every flawless detail, that description almost seems an injustice. There’s a slight otherworldly vibe about the S7-S. The exterior finish is a bit too deep, the heavy nameplates and impeccable chrome trim a little too lustrous. Something akin to obsession is suggested by the gently radiused corners of its baffle, the brushed aluminum bell of its port, the skin-tight seams where the crossover p late abuts the back panel-something that sets it far apart from the commonplace.
Reviews
Banc d’essai Kharma S7 Haute-Fidélité N° 207
La Hollande fut le berceau de quelques-uns des peintres les plus célèbres au monde. Elle est aujourd’hui la patrie d’un des fabricants d’enceintes acoustiques les plus exceptionnelles de la planète. La nouvelle Elegance S7 en est un éclatant exemple.
Le catalogue Kharma est composé de plusieurs gammes de produits qui incluent bien évidemment les enceintes acoustiques et les câbles, mais également du matériel professionnel (enceintes et électroniques) et une nouvelle famille baptisée Butterfly, solution compacte très haut de gamme (superbes satellites et subwoofer). La gamme Elegance peut être considérée comme la gamme du compromis entre la série phare Exquisite et la famille «Papillon», compro- mis dans le sens où le ticket d’entrée au club des possesseurs d’enceintes Kharma devient plus accessible. Sinon, dans le cas de l’Elegance S7 et de son prix qui frôle un début de démocratisation, l’esprit et la philosophie Kharma n’ont pas quitté le produit : finition à tomber, technologies de pointe et écoute de haut niveau.
High-end van eigen bodem; Kharma Butterfly en Elegance dB7
Het merk Kharma staat wereldwijd bekend om zijn compromisloze weergave en oogstrelende design. Zeker uit Engeland, Duitsland of Japan? Uit de VS dan? Nee, Kharma is gevestigd in Breda.
Opvallend is dat de erkenning, de waar- dering en de bekendheid van de Bra- bantse fabrikant buiten onze landsgrenzen groter is dan er binnen. Een verklaring zou kunnen zijn dat er aan de producten van Kharma prijskaartjes hangen die de genoemde compromisloze instelling weer- spiegelen en ‘ons ben nu eenmaal zunig’. In een nimmer aflatende zoektocht naar het perfecte klankbeeld werden er door de fabri- kant technische oplossingen bedacht die niet alleen resulteerden in verschillende patenten. Ze werden uiteindelijk omgezet in klank bepalende onderdelen, zoals een geraffineerd scheidingsfilter of een speaker- unit met daarin een membraan dat een gering gewicht koppelt aan een extreem grote stijfheid. De optimale combinatie.
StereoTimes: Kharma Elegance dB9-S
Like many of my audiophile friends, we’ve all got a special thing for a certain high-end product and I’ve always had a my eyes on Kharma loudspeakers. Manufactured in Holland, Kharma is well known for their impeccable cabinet design and superb sounding loudspeakers. In my experience (at trade shows until now), the Kharma sound has always been one that incorporated a sublime balance with transparency and musicality. I describe their sound as rich, full-bodied and detailed – without unwanted artifacts or colorations. That may sound like any high-end loudspeaker. True, but to my ears, most systems at shows don’t touch me like the Kharma has.
Kharma lost its visibility here in the USA, but I have been able to enjoy them at the High-End Munich show for the past few years. I was particularly impressed with their newest model in the Elegance line called the dB9-S. I gradually would spend extra time in the Kharma suite getting to know it better: listening and but thoroughly enjoying it at the same time. This time around, I liked it so much, decided to personally request a review sample. Vivienne van Oosterum, the company’s marketing manager very graciously agreed.
Kharma Grand Reference cables
The Kharma Grand Reference Speaker Wire
We were sitting around listening to Renée Fleming’s impossibly beautiful voice on the Grammy award-winning CD Bel Canto [Decca 289 467 101-2]. Bruce Fetherling and the guys from Acoustic Dreams had just installed their Ayon Signature speakers with their own home-brew speaker wire. We put on track 10, Bellini’s “Il pirata”, as good a test of big dynamics as any I’ve heard. The orchestra begins softly and grows, and grows some more, until you’re about ready to hit the volume control. Only this time the orchestra didn’t impress us that much, and Renée didn’t sound quite right. So we swapped the home-brew speaker cables for the Kharma Grand Reference. The amazing result was confirmed by all present.
