Kharma DB9 S

EspenL

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2014
73
30
250
Norway
Hi

I have listened to Kharma elegance DB9 S a little over time and must say that this is one of the best speakers I've heard in my ears.
Simply impressed with the way they present sound !
And they look amazing too :)








Espen L
 

Diapason

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2014
325
39
260
Dublin, Ireland
The Kharma "buzz" seems to be much less than it used to be, maybe because representation in the US dried up for a while, maybe because Kharma seem to be targeting the ultra-high-end more than ever, but I agree about these speakers. Really lovely.
 

Erik

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2017
6
2
85
netherlands
Hi
Yes indeed , the Kharma DB9s is a great speaker, i have heard them in the factory in Breda.
But it was above my budget, so i bought the Kharma DB7 S, and i am very happy with them .:)
 

EspenL

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2014
73
30
250
Norway
Hi
Yes indeed , the Kharma DB9s is a great speaker, i have heard them in the factory in Breda.
But it was above my budget, so i bought the Kharma DB7 S, and i am very happy with them .:)

Hi
Did you experience a big difference in sound between DB9S and DB7s ?
And what was the biggest difference ?



Espen L
 

Erik

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2017
6
2
85
netherlands
Hi
The soundstage is bigger with the DB9 S, and you get more bass.
but not each livingroom nead more bass, so i was happy with the DB7 S

But if you go for the DB11 S thats a big difference,much bigger soundstage than the DB7 or DB 9
thats really a great speaker, thats nice if you can go to the factory in Breda,they let you hear the difference
between those speakers.
1448376604057.jpg
thats my speaker in the factory, you can see the filter
1448376556877.jpg
1448376623540.jpg
nice pictures, you don,t see this much:)
 
Last edited:

EspenL

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2014
73
30
250
Norway
I was so impressed with Kharma Elegance DB9s that I have now bought them :)
 

EspenL

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2014
73
30
250
Norway
Gratulations , and enjoy them , it,s a good sounding speaker, they are new ?

Thank you very much :)
They are brand new!
 

Erik

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2017
6
2
85
netherlands
It will take some time , before the speakers will come to there full potential, my speakers did take it several weeks,
 

EspenL

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2014
73
30
250
Norway
It will take some time , before the speakers will come to there full potential, my speakers did take it several weeks,

How many hours did you play on them before you felt they were there full potential?
 

Erik

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2017
6
2
85
netherlands
He , i can,t tell exactly , but after a few month,s i realise , that the bass was more present ,and the tweeter after a few weeks i think.
If you play some music now , and after a few months the same numbers ,you will here the difference.[/ATTACH] 2011-production-process-elegance04.jpg 2011-production-process-elegance05.jpg
some pictures from a DB9 in the factory in Breda
 

analyzer

VIP/Donor
May 20, 2016
315
137
220
Torino - Italy
I must tell you that the last Kharma production was in my taste a little disappointing. My system got in the past three different speakers from Kharma (3.2; 2.3 and Grand Ceramique), this was during 2005-2015 and in these years the Dutch brand had a great success and was very well regarded by music lovers. I loved many speakers with the ceramic Accuton drivers.
I listened to DB-7, DB-9 and DB-11 from the past Italian importer, often partnered with Vitus amps; none of them satisfied me. Too dark in the upper mid-highs, a little bit costrained; I find that they require a large amount of watts in order to sounds live; at moderate levels they were a little bit dead in dynamics.
Also the demo in Kharma's room in Munchen 2017 confirmed me a sound just too dark (and they demonstrate the new small Veyron model... > 100 K... ).
About external appearance otherwise... simply stunning and superb; probably the best in the high-end audio.
Just IMHO ... obviously...
Marco
 

EspenL

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2014
73
30
250
Norway
I must tell you that the last Kharma production was in my taste a little disappointing. My system got in the past three different speakers from Kharma (3.2; 2.3 and Grand Ceramique), this was during 2005-2015 and in these years the Dutch brand had a great success and was very well regarded by music lovers. I loved many speakers with the ceramic Accuton drivers.
I listened to DB-7, DB-9 and DB-11 from the past Italian importer, often partnered with Vitus amps; none of them satisfied me. Too dark in the upper mid-highs, a little bit costrained; I find that they require a large amount of watts in order to sounds live; at moderate levels they were a little bit dead in dynamics.
Also the demo in Kharma's room in Munchen 2017 confirmed me a sound just too dark (and they demonstrate the new small Veyron model... > 100 K... ).
About external appearance otherwise... simply stunning and superb; probably the best in the high-end audio.
Just IMHO ... obviously...
Marco

Hi Marco
Everything is taste, I did not like Kharma so much as they used accuton drivers! They became clearly better with Omega driver after my ears. I have owned in my living room Burmester B50 and B80 and Magico Q3 + Qsub and Q5 and Sonus Faber Stradivari and MBL 116F.
Kharma Elegance DB 9s are much better speakers after my ears of all those i`ve had! but that`s my taste on my equipment :)

(sorry for my english writing)


Espen L
 
Last edited:

Erik

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2017
6
2
85
netherlands
Espen ,your are right in my opinion about the kharma,s
I also underscribe the meaning of Stereotimes ;

The longer I listened, the more I appreciated them. The dB9-S’s ability to get out of the way and embrace the music will remain unforgettable. The KharmadB9-S’s are highly recommended!
– Stereotimes
 

EspenL

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2014
73
30
250
Norway
Espen ,your are right in my opinion about the kharma,s
I also underscribe the meaning of Stereotimes ;

The longer I listened, the more I appreciated them. The dB9-S’s ability to get out of the way and embrace the music will remain unforgettable. The KharmadB9-S’s are highly recommended!
– Stereotimes

Hi Erik

I'm getting more and more impressed with Kharma! These are speakers that are going to stand in my living room for years to come without a doubt!
I am very pleased with the way they present music.
 

sale

Well-Known Member
Dec 15, 2014
54
2
113
Toronto
I must tell you that the last Kharma production was in my taste a little disappointing. My system got in the past three different speakers from Kharma (3.2; 2.3 and Grand Ceramique), this was during 2005-2015 and in these years the Dutch brand had a great success and was very well regarded by music lovers. I loved many speakers with the ceramic Accuton drivers.
I listened to DB-7, DB-9 and DB-11 from the past Italian importer, often partnered with Vitus amps; none of them satisfied me. Too dark in the upper mid-highs, a little bit costrained; I find that they require a large amount of watts in order to sounds live; at moderate levels they were a little bit dead in dynamics.
Also the demo in Kharma's room in Munchen 2017 confirmed me a sound just too dark (and they demonstrate the new small Veyron model... > 100 K... ).
About external appearance otherwise... simply stunning and superb; probably the best in the high-end audio.
Just IMHO ... obviously...
Marco

I fully agree with you. This was my impression too. I thought I was crazy and searched internet thoroughly until I found this post. Thanks! Glowing reviews etc. mean nothing whatsoever. Take for example Elegance S7 Signature. It sounds so BAD compared to 3.2fe that one cannot believe. I think what happened was that Kharma wanted to cut corners and produce their own drivers. But as always, you can only be a champ in one thing. The result is a disaster. Side by side, 3.2 sounds 5 times better than S7. How is this possible, I don't know. I am searching forums for an answer. Thanks again for you observation.
 

sale

Well-Known Member
Dec 15, 2014
54
2
113
Toronto
Hi Marco
Everything is taste, I did not like Kharma so much as they used accuton drivers! They became clearly better with Omega driver after my ears. I have owned in my living room Burmester B50 and B80 and Magico Q3 + Qsub and Q5 and Sonus Faber Stradivari and MBL 116F.
Kharma Elegance DB 9s are much better speakers after my ears of all those i`ve had! but that`s my taste on my equipment :)

(sorry for my english writing)


Espen L

I don't think it is matter of taste. For example, I can upload to Youtube 10 different genres of music recorded from Kharma 3.2fe / T-A setup, and you can do the very same with your DB 9s / Burmesetr setup. And compare side by side, cancelling of course distortions listening from Youtube. I guarantee that 3.2 setup will win over 10 times more expensive system. I cannot explain why, but I am certain of it. If S7 (I heard both S7 and 3.2fe live and auditioned for 2 hours each) sounds 5 times worse than S7, why would DB score any better? Something is very wrong with these lates drivers from Kharma (if we assume that polymers inside baffles are as good as they were in the past; btw, I am not sure that is true; Maybe Kharma cut corners BIG time and piggy-backs on its past success; Yes, baffles are glorious, but what is inside counts, as well as proven drivers like those from Accuton and others). Just my 2 cents.
 

EspenL

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2014
73
30
250
Norway
Hi
How you want the sound goes on taste and it's not the same for everyone!
The Accuton driver sounds thinner and not as natural as the omega drivers in my opinion.



Espen L
 

sale

Well-Known Member
Dec 15, 2014
54
2
113
Toronto
That's what I say. Upload to YT, side by side, the same representative set of songs. Then watch spectators and listeners around the world clicking like or dislike. Very often, the number of views is measured in 1000s, and vast majority of these viewers and listeners are audiophiles. Which means any results thus obtained are statistically significant. Anybody's personal opinion is removed from the equation as with statistics only population as a whole counts, individual preferences no longer mean anything. For example, YT revealed disastrous performance of Magico S line with the exception of S7. Further, all Wilson Alexia 1s failed miserably. Same thing with Kharma S7. Same thing with highly praised Vivid Giyas with the exception of G1. Many, many such examples. In contrast, there are also many very good sounding speakers, many from the same brands that failed expectations on some models, but exceeded on others. The simple truth of the matter is that if something sounds very good, there will be a dealer or audiophile who will upload it to YT, like for example Kharma Exquisite and Lamm ML3 combination that sounds very good but costs 100s of 1000s of dollars. There are also many good recordings of Kharma 3.2s. But in between, there is nothing. Coincidence? I don't think so. There is nothing in between that sounds very good (i.e. above average), that's why nobody uploads anything. Only on the shows, you can get conformation of what I said. On the show, you can see some of these models e.g. S7, with upscale electronics, but sounding hard or bad, or both. db7, db9, same thing. Nobody uploads because it is a hype, a hoax. But don't take my word for it. Upload and you'll see. japanese dealers and audiophiles are doing it for almost a decade, quite often comparing speakers side by side. In one such presentation, one can clearly hear that TAD E1 is in no way better than Vienna Listz, although twice the price. Thus nobody is buying E1a on used markets. Same thing with Revel Ultima Salon 2s, and many others (who were stupid to upload as they really believed that they speakers and systems sound wonderful).
 

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