Taming the Kharma.....at last....
In the old version Midi Exq, the diamond tweeter drew too much attention to itself, but it was certainly very shinny and ear-catching. The new black diamond integrates better with the mid-range. That automatically improves the lower-mid bass. The cabinet is less damped than the old version but still the bass is not open enough. The bass still stays inside the cabinet but with very high resolution. You can hear all the bass notes harmony, pitches etc. The bass just stays inside, but the mid-range and above are just the opposite - they come to embrace you. It is thus wrong to say the Kharma lacks bass. I think a fair description should be "absence of bass openness."
It was the first time I got a real chance to audition the Zanden 9500 in my own place. Before that, in my subjective experience, the old Midi Exquisite reached the peak performance when they were mated by the almighty Baldur 300 mono-blcoks. It was so good that Marvel decided to bite the bullet within a day after he listened the Baldur driving the Kharma with the subwoofer located wrongly in the far right hand corner.
Many months had passed. The new midi exquisite with black diamond tweeter are back in actions. The subwoofer is now back in normal position, meaning in between the main speakers, with all the bass drivers align on a horizontal line. The Baldur 300 is serving the new midi well. I have no complaints. The soundstage construction capability of the Baldur is unique - hard to describe in words. There is always a strong sense of wholesomeness.
When the 9500 arrived, I simply swap the amp without changing anything. We were not happy in the first 10 minutes. The trebel was lost. The whole soundstage sounds very dark. I actually think there may be something wrong with the tubes. Then we listened longer in order to understand the problem. I got a feeling that the tonal temperate of the Zanden is warmer than the Baldur. I might need to change the parameter in the subwoofer again.
The original setting of the sub is 40hz (high pass) at 6db, the most gentle slope I can choose from the menu. I did not change the high pass but raise the slope to 12db, so that the transition from the main to the sub can be done quicker. The volume of the sub remains unchanged at -7db. That is the only change I made and the result was so great that prompt me to write down this article to share with all of you.
I neither hear the diamond tweeter nor the subwoofer. (In the past, I was so stupid to boost up the volume because I want to hear the bass more. How stupid!).The whole frequency range is blended in the most coherent manner I have ever experienced in my own setup. I reckon the slower bass response of the Zanden 9500 somewhat filled the HOLE of the Kharma midi. The HOLE is located in the section around the lower-mid-bass area. I am not saying there is no bass. I am merely saying the open-ness of that secton is somewhat retarded in comparison to the mid range and above.
You need very big power to get the bass out of the cabinet. That is why many Kharma users are using warmer sounding power amp to drive the Kharma. No exception here. The 845 based 9500 mono block possess a warm tonality that fits well with these hard-to-tame ceramic drivers. The explosive power of the 845 tubes is very strong, at least strong enough to get the damp bass power out of the cabinet. The bass response may not be as quick as the Baldur 300 but this is exactly what I need to fill in the empty hole.
The final touch is the application of a set of reference feet beneath the Zero transport and the O1SE dac. Upon 3 hours of intensive listening of big scale symphonies and orchestra, I believe the damn Kharma are finally tamed this time.
I strongly recommend AE customers to come and feel the TRUE potential of the Zero transport and O1SE. I have tested many symphonies and orchestral scores over the past two evenings. I am repeatedly impressed by the dynamic capability of the source which I could only feel now. The interconnects are simply the Argento basic Serenity SE RCA cables. All powercords are Level One or Level 0.5 with only 1 EE power feeding the ORB powerbar.
I have no intention to change anything.
It was the first time I got a real chance to audition the Zanden 9500 in my own place. Before that, in my subjective experience, the old Midi Exquisite reached the peak performance when they were mated by the almighty Baldur 300 mono-blcoks. It was so good that Marvel decided to bite the bullet within a day after he listened the Baldur driving the Kharma with the subwoofer located wrongly in the far right hand corner.
Many months had passed. The new midi exquisite with black diamond tweeter are back in actions. The subwoofer is now back in normal position, meaning in between the main speakers, with all the bass drivers align on a horizontal line. The Baldur 300 is serving the new midi well. I have no complaints. The soundstage construction capability of the Baldur is unique - hard to describe in words. There is always a strong sense of wholesomeness.
When the 9500 arrived, I simply swap the amp without changing anything. We were not happy in the first 10 minutes. The trebel was lost. The whole soundstage sounds very dark. I actually think there may be something wrong with the tubes. Then we listened longer in order to understand the problem. I got a feeling that the tonal temperate of the Zanden is warmer than the Baldur. I might need to change the parameter in the subwoofer again.
The original setting of the sub is 40hz (high pass) at 6db, the most gentle slope I can choose from the menu. I did not change the high pass but raise the slope to 12db, so that the transition from the main to the sub can be done quicker. The volume of the sub remains unchanged at -7db. That is the only change I made and the result was so great that prompt me to write down this article to share with all of you.
I neither hear the diamond tweeter nor the subwoofer. (In the past, I was so stupid to boost up the volume because I want to hear the bass more. How stupid!).The whole frequency range is blended in the most coherent manner I have ever experienced in my own setup. I reckon the slower bass response of the Zanden 9500 somewhat filled the HOLE of the Kharma midi. The HOLE is located in the section around the lower-mid-bass area. I am not saying there is no bass. I am merely saying the open-ness of that secton is somewhat retarded in comparison to the mid range and above.
You need very big power to get the bass out of the cabinet. That is why many Kharma users are using warmer sounding power amp to drive the Kharma. No exception here. The 845 based 9500 mono block possess a warm tonality that fits well with these hard-to-tame ceramic drivers. The explosive power of the 845 tubes is very strong, at least strong enough to get the damp bass power out of the cabinet. The bass response may not be as quick as the Baldur 300 but this is exactly what I need to fill in the empty hole.
The final touch is the application of a set of reference feet beneath the Zero transport and the O1SE dac. Upon 3 hours of intensive listening of big scale symphonies and orchestra, I believe the damn Kharma are finally tamed this time.
I strongly recommend AE customers to come and feel the TRUE potential of the Zero transport and O1SE. I have tested many symphonies and orchestral scores over the past two evenings. I am repeatedly impressed by the dynamic capability of the source which I could only feel now. The interconnects are simply the Argento basic Serenity SE RCA cables. All powercords are Level One or Level 0.5 with only 1 EE power feeding the ORB powerbar.
I have no intention to change anything.
0
Comments
PT
Caution that the influence of the FLOOR is not negigible at all. I never use the steel plate that comes with the Kharma as vibration will bounced back from the steel plate via the steel spike all the way vertically upward. You can say I am crazy but I have done numerous experiment in different homes and conclude that it is advisable to use WOODEN plate.
I believe a pair of wooden amp stand for the 9500/Baldur will further reduce the influence of the floor. When the floor influence is reduced, one can hear another layer of bass ambience which in turn would lift the whole soundstage upward.
PT