Eidolon vs Opus

last week ,i listened opus with graaf and eidolon with pass amps.
and as jtinn,
i think that kharma (1.2 or 2.3) are much better.

Rich, The Eidolons continue to be the best speaker I have ever heard, but I've not heard the Kharma's, Sound Lab A-1/U-1 or some other contenders. If Jtinn is not using a fair amount of hypberbole in his comparison -- you should buy the Kharma (but which model is not clear). Jtinn has always seemed to present very fair and balanced information in this forum.

Nonetheless, for my listening preference (acoustic music, primarily classical), the Eidolons are superb speakers. They match the speed, clarity and coherence of electrostactic speakers and they present a holographic soundstage that must be heard to be believed. They are a reasonably easy load to drive, but they will be extremely revealing of everything in the signal path.

To your specific question comparing your current Opus to the Eidolon, Robert Harley wrote an excellent review of the Opus for TAS (Issue 122, Feb/Mar 2000) and made a very detailed comparison of the Opus to the Eidolon. At the time of the review, he had lived with Eidolons for a year and it served as his point of reference. You can download the review from the TAS website for a fee:
http://www.avguide.com/product/Main_Speakers/Speakers/Avalon_Acoustics/Opus/545.jsp

Key points of Harley's comparison:
* Opus has a bit more relaxed sound, being a bit less forward in the upper midrange. It also is described as more forgiving of source and amplification shortcomings.
* The Opus has a similar sound through midrange and treble (same drivers).
* Very different bass reproduction, with Eidolon being "exceptionally smooth and uncolored, with amuscularity and extension not even approached by previous Avalon loudspeakers." The Opus has more midbass coloration, but perhaps more impact that some listeners may prefer - "a better party speaker, the Eidolon a more accurate reference monitor."

Hope this helps. If you like the Opus and value its strengths, I think you will really enjoy the Eidolon. For me, there is a very signigicant and worthwhile improvement in sound reproduction that goes well beyond just a more bass extension.

I find Jtinn's strong comments on the Kharma vs. Eidolon a bit perplexing. Eidolons with fast and resolute electronics, like Spectral and the top ARC amps, is as coherent, transparent, and resolute as I have heard, very close to electrostatics in many ways. I have heard the Kharma Exquisite and Lamm combination only at shows, and it was clear that the Kharmas are excellent speakers with fuller, more fleshed out bass than Eidolons; however they were probably imaging the bloom provided by the Lamm tubed electronics. Eidolons will also image bloom from tubes, as was evident in Harley's many comments on the ARC/Eidolon combination.
In the end, you should listen to both Eidolons and Kharmas (which Kharmas?) with your own choice of electronics. I can't imagine being disappointed with the Eidolons, which have been widely praised for the same characteristics that Jtinn mentions.

Flex: I am not dismissing how good the Avalon speakers are, I am very familiar with them and they are quite good.

I have heard the Avalon's with Spectral, ARC, Ayre, Atma-sphere, and many others and my conclusions were always the same. Personally I thought the best combo I heard was with OTL's.

The Kharma's are just amazing. The Avalon speakers do tend to be on the thin side and do not integrate the bass and midrange as well as the Kharma speakers. As good as the imaging and staging is with the Avalon's, the Kharma's take it up a few notches.

The Kharma / LAMM synergy is quite good, however when matched with the Tenor amplifiers, they are the most lifelike speaker I have ever heard.

MES had the combination of Eidilon's and ARC Ref 300 MK II's. He hated his experience with them. He found the lower midrange to be very bloaty.

As a reminder, I am a dealer for Kharma and not for Avalon. If I liked the Avalon speakers enough, I would carry them.

Jtinn, nice follow-up. Thanks for the additional clarification and for reminding everyone that you are a Kharma dealer. I must admit that I don't hear the mid-bass bloat you say MES complained of with the Eidolon and ARC Ref 300 MK II's. I run my Eidolon's with Atma-Sphere MA-2 MkII's and find the integration to be outstandlingly good. Given what I hear with the Eidolon/Atma-Sphere combination, the Kharma truly must be outstanding.

BTW, you never did clarify which model of the Kharma you're referring to.