Kharma 3.2 Owners, your thoughts...

Is this guy for real ?
I bet you still think the Soviets are behind the crappy weather I had this weekend ...

I love the Kharma line.. maybe its not for every one but to generalize on pretty much the whole line with a conspiracy theory ..well..a tad surprising..

Good luck anyway !

Matt

I have just ordered some Siemens 6922 tubes for the Conrad Johnson Preamp. I have been told that the sound of these tubes are vastly superior to the current Sovtek tubes and that part of the issue I'm having with the sound being a bit etched can be directly attributed to the Sovteks which have that reputation. I'm hoping that with a tube change and an eventual interconnect update that my problem will be solved. I will respond on the sound difference the tubes will make when they arrive in about a week.

My bet Henry is that as Rives notes above, the problem is the room. Tubes will certainly make a difference in a system but I don't believe that the etchiness is an issue of the pre-amp but of the acoustic properties in your room, most likely too much reflective energy which can definitely retard an organic cohesive soundfield. I have personally been around on this issue. Often the most overlooked component in the system is the room simply because beyond a certain point, there are no compromises left to make but a better room. You might need professional help at this junction. I have heard the Kharma's albiet briefly and they sure didn't sound etchy to me and using similar components to yours.

"In terms of all Lamm equipment, I realy love being able to use the remote volume control which Lamm does not provide. Would it be plausable to use the Lamm L2 with the placette volume control?"

Henry:
I remember reading an interview with the designer of Lamm equiptment and he was asked about not using remotes in his design.There is a plausible reason and that is he found that it created interference.To the best of my recollection that is what he said.

As far as using Protection I would watchout whatever you do decide to use as it might have negative effects.Most amps are said to work best directly pluged into the walloutlet.I am having a problem in my area with fluctuating voltages.

There are things which might help in my case like Monsters AVS2000 unit,ExactPower or BPT's unit.

I am using a set of Modified NEARs which are pretty close in design to Kharma's.They use Inverted Domes also.Wish I had the $$ to get into Lamms and higher priced equiptment ,must be nice.Do not ruin it by adding a remote attenuator.

JMO

I have recently changed my tubes in the preamp from Sovtek to Siemens (NOS). The difference was not subtle. A lot of the etched sound which I complained about earlier was erased and replaced by a more rounded and earthier quality. I had heard that tube rolling could be a rewarding tweak but I was not prepared for the dramatic changes which it brought to my system. I guess it goes without saying but these speakers really reveal all of the problems in a system and a recording. I suppose that the Kharma 3.2's combined with the Lamm ML2's could be thought of as scientific instruments to be used to test weaknesses elsewhere in the chain. I still have some brightness on certain (supposedly excellent recordings) and additional research will have to be spent on finding these flaws. I suspect that room treatments will provide additional benefits.