System Reboot

[DaveF]

What was your verdict on the Kharma pre amplifier?

Difficult to sum up that pre to be honest. It doesn't add anything to the sound at all really. It's VERY transparent. It just does the job of switching sources and volume control. If you were to replace say a valve pre with something like this you'd hear the difference straight away as you might miss what the valves were adding to the sound. I wouldnt necessarily pair the Kharma pre with other clean or clinical sounding components. But if you want a pre that stays out of the way so to speak then its ideal.

[mcq]

Thanks Paul.
I just couldnt get those Kharmas to sound right to me despite a whole range of amp/sources brought in on trial. In the end, I hated them.
Very happy with the Cremona's. They are easily one of the most non-fatiguing and musical speakers I've ever come across. I'm not convinced that valves are the way to go with them as the speakers themselves have plenty of warmth and bloom so valves might soften that too much. The Classe amps are pretty neutral anyway so the combo is good as it is. A valve pre might be tried at some point.
I wont be holding onto the Classe CP-800 preamp though. I tried out the DACs in it and it didnt offer anything over what the Opus21 was doing I felt. I was mostly using the pre in bypass mode anyway so I dont need or want any of the extra digital bells and whistles. I'll be replacing it with a normal pre in the coming weeks.

Congrats on the new Kharma db7 purchase. Please post up your thoughts on them when you get time.

Before I bought the Spendors, I listened to a pair of SF Cremona Ms that Cloney Audio were selling at the time and was very impressed. I heard them with a Lavardin IT and a pair of Jadis JA-30 valve amps. Both sounded fabulous with the Cremonas but I preferred the clarity of the Lavardin. I thought that the Jadis amps exaggerated the bass a little, whereas the Lavardin balanced the inherent warmth of the Cremonas very nicely. It's interesting to hear your thoughts on the Classe preamp which just shows you how good a CD player the Opus21 really is. The Audio Research CD5 might be worth an audition at some stage. I imagine an ideal valve preamp would be the Audio Research LS27 or a secondhand LS26, if you can find one. The key to any good hifi is synergy and the addition of the Cremonas sounds like a crucial step on your road to Nirvana, so just sit back for now, forget about the hardware and enjoy the music.

[mcq]

(A feeling that I perfectly understand right now, having recently upgraded my Spendors to the wonderful new Kharma Elegance DB7, about which I will post separately.)

Congratulations Paul that is a fantastic upgrade. Are you blown away with the difference. I always fancied the notion of upgrading to the ST's .No intention now as speaker pot well and truly dry and I am very happy with my cupboard of bits.

Did the Spendors ultimately disappoint or was it just a dreaded dose of upgraditis

The Spendors are exceptional speakers, Tony. They are the most balanced speakers that I've heard in their price range and don't exaggerate any part of the frequency spectrum. When I listened to the B&w 805D and 804D, I kept hearing that beautiful tweeter overshadowing everything else. With the Spendors, the treble blends seemlessly into the midrange and from there on into the bass. That kind of cohesive continuity is really important to me when listening to music. Ultimately, it took a speaker of the quality of the new Kharma to shift my allegiance away from the Spendors. For me, they were the standout of last year's show at the Burlington. The interesting thing is that they share many of the same qualities of the Spendors. Like the British speakers, they don't jump out at you and immediately grab your attention. You really have to give them some extended listening to appreciate their qualities. And, like the Spendors, there is a beautiful cohesiveness about the presentation. Nothing is unnaturally exaggerated. What ultimately made me upgrade to the Kharmas was the feeling that the qualities that I respected so much in the Spendors were magnified signifcantly in the Kharmas.

[tony]

The Spendors are exceptional speakers, Tony. They are the most balanced speakers that I've heard in their price range and don't exaggerate any part of the frequency spectrum. When I listened to the B&w 805D and 804D, I kept hearing that beautiful tweeter overshadowing everything else. With the Spendors, the treble blends seemlessly into the midrange and from there on into the bass. That kind of cohesive continuity is really important to me when listening to music. Ultimately, it took a speaker of the quality of the new Kharma to shift my allegiance away from the Spendors. For me, they were the standout of last year's show at the Burlington. The interesting thing is that they share many of the same qualities of the Spendors. Like the British speakers, they don't jump out at you and immediately grab your attention. You really have to give them some extended listening to appreciate their qualities. And, like the Spendors, there is a beautiful cohesiveness about the presentation. Nothing is unnaturally exaggerated. What ultimately made me upgrade to the Kharmas was the feeling that the qualities that I respected so much in the Spendors were magnified signifcantly in the Kharmas.

Well as said before very best of luck with the new speakers Paul you seem to have made some very nice steady albeit large in monetary terms jumps in your system over the last few years but I don't think anybody could fault your choices you have ended up with an incredible system.

[DaveF]

They are the most balanced speakers that I've heard in their price range and don't exaggerate any part of the frequency spectrum. When I listened to the B&w 805D and 804D, I kept hearing that beautiful tweeter overshadowing everything else. With the Spendors, the treble blends seemlessly into the midrange and from there on into the bass. That kind of cohesive continuity is really important to me when listening to music. Ultimately, it took a speaker of the quality of the new Kharma to shift my allegiance away from the Spendors. For me, they were the standout of last year's show at the Burlington. The interesting thing is that they share many of the same qualities of the Spendors. Like the British speakers, they don't jump out at you and immediately grab your attention. You really have to give them some extended listening to appreciate their qualities. And, like the Spendors, there is a beautiful cohesiveness about the presentation. Nothing is unnaturally exaggerated. What ultimately made me upgrade to the Kharmas was the feeling that the qualities that I respected so much in the Spendors were magnified signifcantly in the Kharmas.

Congrats on the new speakers Paul. That's quite a system you've got now. Btw, I've sent you a PM.

[Maciej]

Best of luck Dave with the next move. I have Spendor A6's and love them. I would change if the money was available.Would love to try the Spendor ST's. And lo and behold there is a pair for sale secondhand in cloneys. Another forum lad (would have to check back to get the name) has them with the Lavardin IT15. Would be a shame not to at least try out the spendors as they would be very rare secondhand in Ireland.

Hi Tony,
No excuses! You should have the money balance right, you just sold your head amp;)

[tony]

Hi Tony,
No excuses! You should have the money balance right, you just sold your head amp;)[/quote]

Hi Maciej A little birdy told me you were kind of pleased with the cayin. All the best with it I really thought it was excellent and it can also be used to drive speakers at low levels which might be useful at some stage. All you need now is something like a jkciunas dac and you will be rightly set up. BTW the ST's can stay in cloneys I think I will be searching for an el34 or kt88 amp to drive the spendor a6's or maybe even a dodgy croft just for the heck of it. Unfortunately the headphone amp has only generated enough funds to buy the buttons on the front of the meitner but it is a start!