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What improvements did you notice? Oh and please, no comments about "well I heard it at the xxxx show, and...", looking to here from actual owners that have had the upgrade done. Other Kharma owners opinions that have upgraded from the Focal to the Diamond would be interesting as well.
Follow Ups:
I'd like to personally thank all of you folks who have Kharma Exquisites; you make the insane amounts of money I have spent on audio equipment seem...sane. :)Regards,
Sane is one thing I have never been accused of. But I will say this -- I paid not much more for my Exquisites than I did for my Oldsmobile in 2001. The Olds doesn't give me one tenth the pleasure the Kharmas do, the Olds has lost over half its value already , it costs money to maintain and will be in a junkyard in 10-15 years. It's all relative!
Frank P
Frank:
ask me in Janurary.....Charles von Oostrum is supposed to visit me on the way to CES 2004 to install the Diamond Tweeter, new midrange and Enigma upgrade in my Exquisites.reliable sources tell me it is a killer upgrade.
For what this must be costing you, it had better be a killer upgrade!!! The Accuton diamond tweeter retails for $2800 each, which means it has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive driver available to DIYers.
. . . the $2,800 model is the CHEAPEST of their diamond tweeters. That tweeter is the 20mm diamond tweeter. They also make a 25mm and an insane costing 30mm tweeter that, I am TOLD, is silly expensive because it is so difficult to make at that 30mm size that it reportedly takes 10 tweeters to get two good ones, but once made they are bullet-proof. Again, this is anecdotal so take it FWIW. I have the 30mm diamond tweeter in my Exquisites and it is SO distortion free it is scary. I never realized JUST how much the tweeter adds to a three-way speaker until now.I really don't know if it is worth the price as that is a personal decision based on many facts and circumstances. For me, if I had to pay retail for it at my disposable income level, it probably would not be the smartest investment (I am talking the 30mm tweeter). However, at the price was able to get it at, it is amazing.
On thing that really struck me was the amount of new information I got. The reason it struck me was this. When you go from a $1,000 speaker to say a $10,000 speaker, it is reasonable to me to expect to hear things you have never heard on familiar CDs or LPS. BUT, when I went from the Kharma Midi-Grand Enigmas ($36,500) to the 30mm Diamond Exquisites, I didn't expect it to reveal a significant amount of new information. The new information I got from the new speakers was scary. So it getting the most from your source information is your thang the diamond tweeter may help you achieve that goal. However, that said, Mikenificant1, you might want to think about rather than investing $15,000 in a tweeter for the CE-1s (which may be be easy to re-sell), going with a pair of Midis - just a thought!
Frank P
Are inferior? LOL! Hi Frank, the Midi's are amazing! Any other big Kharma would be too big for my room. The Diamond sounds interesting though. The question is will it go for less than 15k?
Hey Mike!Lemme tell ya , I could live with the Midis and never want for anything else. The Exquisites I have are freaky (to me) but every thing is relative. I never ONCE felt I was missing anything with the Midis. But at the once-in-a-lifetime price I got the Exquisites at, well . . . audiophilia being what it is!!!
Hey, give me a call if you get a chance and fill me in on the Midis!
Frank P
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If you think the 30mm tweeter is expensive, wait to you see how much the 50mm midrange will cost!!> However, that said, Mikenificant1, you might want to think about > rather than investing $15,000 in a tweeter for the CE-1s (which may > be be easy to re-sell), going with a pair of Midis - just a thought!
Yes but the Midi-Grand's with the Diamond Tweeter and Enigma would cost about $63K. That is out of my price range right now. FYI, before Bill, a friend of mine was the distributor for Kharma and he had the speakers I own, and then upgraded to the Exquisite 1A when they became available, (with the rest of the system exactly the same, so I know how they compare because I heard both). To this day he still prefers the CE1.0 SE overall. To me the Exquisite was much smoother, and the bass was better, had more resolution, but the midrange was really not much better (it's as good as it gets on both), and the imaging and soundstaging was superior on the 1.0 SE's (due to either the wider cabinet or the large mid of the Exquisite I guess). If I were to get the Diamond Tweeter the only difference between the MGC 1.0D and the CRM1.2D (1.0 SE = CRM1.2) would be the midrange driver, everything else would be the same (except for the Enigma upgrade and the slightly larger cabinet of the MGC1.0). Don't get me wrong, if I could get the MGRC1.0 Diamond I would, but I think the CRM1.2Diamond would be better than the standard MidiGrand, and definitely the best bang for the buck. I’m hoping Diamonds are an audiophile's best friend! We’ll see.
Mike, I probably was not clear enough on my last post. I meant that the regular Midi Grand (with the standard titanium tweeter), might be better overall than the CRE-1 with diamond tweeter - but that is speculation since I never heard your speaker with the diamond tweeter. However, I have owned the Midi-Grand Enigmas and they were fantastic.My Exquisites are much different (at least at he present time until Mikel and Jtinn upgrade) than all the others in the US. They not only have the Enigma and 30mm diamond tweeter (all others in the US will have the 25mm), but they have the brand new midrange driver which, in my opinion, is noticeably better than the one it replaced. The midrange is a lot richer and more substantial with no syrupy or overly warm character.
I'll bet the CRE-1 with the new midrange and diamond would be a world beater at that level!
Frank P
Would the crossover also have to be changed for such an upgrade?
Yes, I believe it does need a crossover change but Bill Parish would be the one to ask on this one!
Frank P
Oh and are you going to post pics of the Music Makers? We are all drooling, waiting, lol.
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