Heathow Hi-fi Show,

Oh come on.

Sorry if I missed the disclaimer whereby I add "I respect your opinion but..." to every counterpoint I offer.

 

Yes that's the one.

Whilst The Cat is, 95% of the time, rather deluded. I do think to some extent he knows what good subjective sound is and his thoughts on Kharma's and particularly the hifi press reflect my own to a large degree.

 

Well, trading digs at each others kit aside, it is really interesting how tastes differ.

I've been into hifi for over 30 years, owned all sorts of nice stuff at all sorts of price levels, been to lots of concerts and I know what real music sounds like .... and I think the Kharma speakers I owned are supremely musical. That article you posted is simply ridiculous and self-aggrandising. Just plain daft. I can't relate to it at all (or your own comments on Kharma either, for that matter). All IMO of course!

 

Had the oppurtunity for an extended listen to the Big Kharmas ( not the canoe shaped ones ) in Munich, the Continuim turntable guy wasn't happy with them, they tried every Wavac amp /room placement. They are peculiarly coloured , I haven't heard enough ceramic drivers but aren't they just a marketing ploy, just part of the 'hi-end speaker kit' along with diamond tweeters?

 

I went to the show on Saturday, and in general I thought it was crap.

The various T/Ts made the most musical sound, IMO. The funniest/most ridiculous room of the show was the Krell room. Here we had tens of thousands of pounds of gear demonstrated by a guy who looked like Jon Pertwee, and the most ridiculous looking woman I have ever seen. Think Lily Munster with more wrinkles than an aged oak tree, in a short skirt -- not a good look. And she was so rude. Where on earth do they get these people from?

Anyway, the sound was shockingly bad -- bright, thin...just horrible. It was entertaining though from a comical point of view.

But where were all the exhibitors this year? I expected to see some horns, Kondo valve gear, Rega, some gear from Walrus, weird shit from small boutique manufacturers...all sorts of stuff was missing. Maybe the Spring show is the one to go to?

It was very disappointing. I even ended up spilling my chicken cup-a-soup inside my carrier bag

------------
Paul

 

The Thiel & Partners ceramic units can be really entertaining when you overdrive them. The early ones had very poor power handling, and would hit the end stops at very modest volumes.

The high spot of my career was blowing one up during an orchestral crescendo. It was bloody fantastic, bits of opalescent man made sapphire all over the carpet, lol.

Wish I'd have got a slow mo movie of the event, would really go down well on Youtube.

Graham.

 

I hate it when that happens, Chicken bag-a -soup. That krell room, that woman, I shan't forget either in a hurry, I only lasted about 30 seconds in that room, in fact i manage all three AS rooms in a minute and a half, next year I am going to wear roller-skates.

 

We could try to re-create it, you bring the screw driver ,I;ll bring the camera, we just need to remove those grills and turn it up!

 

Yes, hilarious wasn't it.

You'll definitely find more left field stuff at the spring show. Roy doesn't charge as much for the rooms.

Graham.

 

I don't think the modern units break as easily as the early ones, circa 1999/2000.

BTW, there's no need to remove the grills, all the aluminium oxide goes straight through them, all your left with is a bloody big hole, the suspension, and the magnet.

 

Ah, that'll explain it. I've been into music for a similar length of time. There's an important difference.

 

I heard the same demo Keith. It was probably the perfect example of hifi for hifi's sake - resulting in a multi thousand Euro sound system that reduced music to musak and couldn't hold a torch to the Puresound room at Heathrow.

Maybe the Wavacs couldn't control the Karmas but it was a sickly example of hi end gone wrong to these ears. Bling.

 

Ho ho ho - how about answering my points?

Yes, they are tricky ones to disagree with, aren't they.

 

Isn't that a couple of months down the line?

 

What points were they if I might ask?

The one about the Roundtree Fruit Speakers that were innovation for innovation's sake and sounded average (reinventing the wheel)?

Or the one about the PS Mains conditioner that many think is the work of Satan and really isn't missed when taken out of circuit (IME)? Is mains quality as good as it was thirty years ago?

Or the Ceramic drive units that everyone has royally crucified domonstrating that they certainly do not represent a genuine advance?

Or was there another point I missed? I'm sorry if that sounds a little harsh and it's not meant to offend - it's just that one listen to a pair of Tannoy Westminsters or GRF Autographs driven by say some AN gear and a decent DD turntable from the early eighties will I feel ably demonstrate just why many feel the industry is not making advances.

 

:newbie: :zzzz: Just the same old "oh yes it is - oh no it isn't" waste of time.

I could wheel on a whole bunch of positive views & reviews for ceramic drivers. So what? It doesn't make me right or wrong.

Rountree speakers re-inventing the wheel? Not any wheel I've ever seen (nor you, I would think).

Your post doesn't seem harsh - just uninformed, biased, closed-minded and contrary for contrary's sake.

IMHO it's people like you who are always whingeing and whining that things aren't what they used to be in my day (coff, wheeze, ooh me back) that are at the root of many of the industry's problems.

Speakers, for example, have advanced by leaps and bounds in the last 20 years. Tannoys? - don't make me laugh! IMHO my old Kharma's, ceramic drivers and all, would totally destroy any Tannoy ever made in terms of what matters to me about music reproduction - viz. neutrality, lack of grain, soundstage. Just my opinion.

 

Oi!!!!! Hitting below the belt of a Tannoy (DC) fan. The Westminsters or GRFs that SM has mentioned are the amongst the most enjoyable speakers I've ever heard. I still prefer my 30 year old monitors to most of the modern designs, but that's just me.

Oh, OK then.

 

Tannoys versus Kharma's one colouration for another, but soundstage Jerry! It doesn't exist.

 

Sod colouration. I'm talking enjoyment!

 

And a very telling one I might add.

Neutrality. Lack of Grain. Soundstage. Interesting set of priorities.

If that matters to you then I suspect you are really impressed by developments. I would argue however that these qualities are of importance primarily for sound reproduction, not for music which rather fits in with your stated interest in hifi.