Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Bloggers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below. Links to full reviews follow.
Product Strengths
- The Elegance dB11-S loudspeaker is praised for its design and engineering, winning a 2014 CES Innovations Award
- The speaker provides a rich timbre for woodwinds, massed strings, voices, guitars, and percussion, approaching a live performance in a great concert hall
- The product produces thunderous, extended, and articulate bass, negating the need for a subwoofer
- The Kharma dB11-S provides excellent clarity and no smearing on recordings of solo piano
- The speaker is capable of negotiating huge dynamic swings
Product Considerations
- The bass can occasionally seem slightly overblown on smaller-scale jazz recordings
- The aluminum bass drivers can occasionally seem to lag ever so slightly behind the midrange and tweeter drivers, producing a smidge of thickness in midbass
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The Elegance dB11-S outdistances the Raidho Eben X-3 as the reference for solo piano
Takeaway: The Kharma Elegance dB11-S loudspeaker offers great design and engineering, providing realistic and engaging audio. Its ability to produce high-quality sound and negotiate dynamic swings makes it a valuable addition to any audiophile's collection.
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Manufacturer details
- Type: EL-dB11-1.1-S
- System: 3-way
- RMS power: 380 Watt
- Program power: 760 Watt
- Frequency range: 21 Hz - 30 kHz
- Nominal impedance: 4 Ohm
- Efficiency: 89 dB (2.83V/1m)
- Maximum SPL: 115 dB
- High frequency: 1x 1-inch True Beryllium tweeter
- Mid frequency: 1x 7-inch Kharma Omega 7 driver
- Low frequency: 2x 11-inch Aluminium woofer
- Dimensions (HxWxD): 1288 x 469 x 794 mm (50.71 x 18.46 x 31.26 inch)
Brand highlights
Taking a step back to look at reviewers' thoughts of the brand's entire lineup—not just this product—what stands out most is the following:
- Kharma loudspeakers distinguish themselves through the meticulous construction of their polygonal cabinets, crafted from high-density MDF and strategically damped to minimize unwanted resonances and optimize phase behavior.
- They pioneered the use of carbon fiber in their Omega 7 midrange drivers, which Kharma claims are stiffer and less prone to breakup than traditional materials, resulting in improved clarity and detail.
- Kharma emphasizes creating a holistic audio experience, designing their own cables and electronics to synergize with their loudspeakers and ensure optimal system performance.
- A hallmark of Kharma is their unwavering commitment to aesthetic excellence, seen in the flawless finish of their cabinets, the artful integration of chrome accents, and the availability of bespoke color options to match individual preferences.
Select products
Elegance Series
- Positioning: Entry-level line, designed for modern appeal and improved audiophile performance.
- Description: Features Kharma Composite Drivers with carbon fiber and a pure Beryllium tweeter, offering a clear and refined audio experience. Compared to the Exquisite and Enigma Veyron series, the line is more accessible in terms of price, making it suitable for those seeking high-quality sound in smaller rooms or with a moderate budget.
Exquisite Series
- Positioning: High-end line, known for its exceptional materials and construction.
- Description: Uses advanced Diamond dome technology for tweeters and Kharma Omega drivers with ultra-stiff carbon fiber, providing musical wholeness and detail. This series is more sophisticated than the Elegance line, offering superior soundstage and build quality.
Enigma Veyron Series
- Positioning: Flagship line, representing the pinnacle of Kharma's technological innovation.
- Description: Incorporates Omega-F drivers and large Diamond tweeters, delivering extraordinary sound quality with high resolution and dynamic range. It surpasses both the Elegance and Exquisite series in terms of technological sophistication and performance.
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Used
Kharma
What if you spend more?
Product Strengths
- Convenient cabinet size and uncompromisable technology allow it to perform beyond imagination
- Justifies its price due to the quality of its parts, design, fabrication, and materials, and its spectacular performance
- Offers something unique and performance that is at or above its competition in its price class
- Offers flexibility others can't come close to
- Breathtaking performance
Takeaway: The Exquisite Midi loudspeaker is a pure luxury item with convenient size and amazing technology. Its breathtaking performance and unique qualities make it a world-class speaker.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our summary
Product Strengths
- Unique design where form follows function, resulting in a contemporary and sleek aesthetic
- Incredibly tight, impactful, articulate, and controlled bass response with impressive dynamic power and clarity
- Seamless integration of midrange and tweeter via the M-Array, creating a virtual point source for maximum imaging and soundstage
- Exceptional clarity, transparency, and detail retrieval across the entire frequency spectrum
- Soundstage is incredibly wide, deep, accurate, and immersive with instruments placed precisely in a three-dimensional field
Product Considerations
- Significant power from amplifiers is required to perform optimally, with recommendations ranging from 200 to 1600 watts RMS
- The Hyphn is a large and heavy speaker, needing a decent-sized room and strong flooring
- Sensitivity is rated at 86 dB, which is considered low and necessitates high-power amplification
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs Sonus Faber: Hyphn has a far more forward-sounding presentation compared to the more relaxed and recessed soundstage of Sonus Faber
- Vs JBL Everest DD67000: Hyphn's bass is not as 'huge' as some monster high-end speakers like JBL's Everest, but it is tighter and more tuneful
Takeaway: Monitor Audio's Hyphn is a state-of-the-art loudspeaker with a unique design, delivering exceptional clarity, deep bass, and a wide soundstage. If unrestrained performance and a forward-looking aesthetic are desired, the Hyphn is worth considering for an immersive listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Product Strengths
- Impressive midbass solidity
- Remarkable fidelity at lower volumes due to the alacrity of its drivers
- Comprehensive and dynamic sound signature with plenty of detail and clarity
- The newly developed tweeter allows for faster response and a frequency range that easily extends to 28,000Hz
- Features a modular design, offering flexibility with passive, iTron active, and all-in-one wireless streaming versions
Product Considerations
- Integrating the Spacehorn subwoofers requires careful alignment
- High-quality source components are needed to match its performance level
- Some reviewers found that the iTron amplification did not produce the requisite bloom and musicality for classical and jazz music
Takeaway: The Avantgarde Trio G3 speaker is a top-tier audio system known for its exceptional sound reproduction and flexibility with different configurations. If you appreciate high-quality audio performance and aesthetics and want a sound system that sounds exciting and sophisticated, it is an excellent option.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Product Strengths
- An all-encompassing sound keeps listeners rooted to their seats
- A unique 360° sound wave design creates a natural balance of direct and reflected sounds
- A truly huge, yet meticulously crafted, soundscape is created
- Not physically evident in the aural landscape, offering a sound that seems to have no origin
- Integration of the woofer's and melon's outputs was far smoother than previous models
Product Considerations
- High-powered amplifiers capable of delivering ample amounts of current are required due to its insensitivity (around 80dB)
- Placement can be tricky, needing more space away from room boundaries than some rooms can provide
- The biggest problem has always been the audible lack of seamless integration between the bass box and the stack of omnis atop it
- A 'chesty, compressed, almost grainy midbass coloration' can be exhibited if placement and other factors are not optimized
Takeaway: The MBL Radialstrahler 101 E MkII loudspeaker offers a distinctive and immersive listening experience thanks to its unique omnidirectional design. It can fill the room with a natural and balanced sound, creating a captivating musical soundscape for the listener.
Video review
Our take on the brand
What competes at this price?
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- The Elegance dB9-S delivers a transparent and resolved midrange, and a treble presentation that is outstanding, along with an exceptional richness of overtone and proper timbre
- The attention to detail is a direct reflection of Charles Van Oosterum's perfectionist approach to loudspeaker design, even the packaging is superbly thought out
- The cabinet is made of 35 mm high density MDF to increase the neutrality of the cabinet, and is equipped with advanced acoustic damping material
- The Kharma dB9-S loudspeakers should appeal to the audiophile who values the reproduction of the aural cues that make live music sound live when played back at home, specifically the decays of the sounds of percussion instruments and resonant bass
- The industrial design of the Kharma Elegance dB9-S will appeal to the buyer who wants to be reminded of the luxury nature of high-end audio
Product Considerations
- The Kharma dB9-S speakers don't accept banana plugs—spades only
- The dB9-S's are very low in coloration and distortion, and high in transparency without ever sounding analytical or threadbare, as such, they sound great with whatever was thrown at them—as long as they were fed with high quality upstream signals
- Precision in speaker positioning will be the key to proper bass balance
- Rooms for which their bass output might be too much could easily be envisioned
Takeaway: The Kharma Elegance dB9-S is an exceptional loudspeaker in its innovative design, exquisitely finished cabinet, and stellar performance, offering a dynamic, meaty, and detailed sound. It appeals to those seeking the luxury of high-end hifi and the realistic reproduction of live music.
Video review
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Each detail of the Signature has been carefully crafted and sees numerous updates over the standard 801, including crossover upgrades and a modified cabinet with a refined downward firing port
- The bass presentation on the 801 Signature was better across the board, it was tighter, a little more pronounced and forward, and definitely more defined
- Bass goes beyond just hitting the low notes, the woofers showcase some of the clearest, most audible detail and texture
- Vocalists and actors have better inflection, greater scale, and detail playing at low volumes
- When properly set up, the Signature is one of the most holographic windows to music experienced
- Speakers need power, the Arcam was impressive and even got the 801s to play loud, but the Macintosh MC312 made the Signature sound flow-like water
Product Considerations
- The Signature's impedance fluctuates wildly, ranging from a nominal 8 ohms and dipping lower than 3, so you need an amplifier that does more than just work
- Placement matters: if placed too close to the wall, the bass response became too pronounced and even boomy at times
- The Signature can come off as bright, and in extreme cases, it might be fatiguing to some
- Poor recordings won't get a free pass, there's bound to be a track or two that's going to leave your playlist rotation
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to the Klipsch La Scala, both speakers excel at the recreation of space in true-to-life dynamics
- Compared to the Wharfedale Elysian 4, the Elysian doesn't play as deep, is richer in the mid-range, and nowhere near as extended up top, so it's not the Signature's equal
- Compared to the Wilson Audio Want Puppy, the two speakers are similar in size, driver complement, build and finish quality, price, and target market
- Compared to the SVS Titan, the Titans sound two-dimensional and fat, compared to the Signature's far more realistic and natural-sounding bass
- Compared to the KEF R11 Meta, the Signature's beefy presence makes for a far grander statement
Takeaway: The 801 Signature is a speaker that elevates the listening experience to another level because it is designed with incredible attention to detail. It will be an emotional and immersive experience to own these speakers.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Powerful and deep bass with fast transient attack and rich tonal shades
- Sweeter-sounding tweeter that integrates more fluidly with the midrange without sacrificing detail
- Balanced and coherent presentation across the frequency range
- Sounds are reproduced with clarity, detail, and dynamic contrasts
- Impressive soundstage imaging with accurately-sized images, providing a wide, tall, and deep soundstage
Product Considerations
- High-quality amplification with plenty of power is required, designed for use with amplifiers of up to 1000W
- Due to its size and the power it requires, it needs to be placed in a large room
- The weight of over 100 kg per speaker can make placement difficult—requiring assistance for lifting and maneuvering, especially on non-smooth surfaces
- The grilles can be a tricky fit
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Vs 800 D3: Faster and tighter bass register with a sweeter-sounding tweeter and improved decoupling
- Vs 802 D4: More bass, the 802 D4 had better blend
Takeaway:
The 801 D4 is a high-performance speaker known for its powerful and nuanced sound, exceptional imaging, and refined design, and it is capable of delivering a captivating listening experience. It is worth the investment for audiophiles who want detail and high-quality sound.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Alexia V brings many of the qualities of the Chronosonic XVX to a smaller and more affordable loudspeaker
- Spectacular bass performance delivers powerful weight and muscularity without sounding thick or overblown
- Midrange shares harmonic beauty and warmth with the XVX, offering smoothness and ease
- The Alexia V presents real life to the listener in a way that previous versions cannot match
- Every detail of the design and build exudes the highest level of quality and craftsmanship
Product Considerations
- Premium-priced, putting it out of reach for many music lovers
- Alexia V sounds a bit more forward, incisive, and "extraverted" compared to the XVX
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Alexia V shares many sonic characteristics with the Chronosonic XVX, but sounds a bit more forward, incisive, and 'extraverted', the XVX is more subtle, refined, darker in tonal balance, and 'bigger' sounding
- Alexia V is unequivocally superior to the Series 2 in every way
Takeaway: The Alexia V brings many of the best qualities from Wilson Audio's top-of-the-line speakers into a more manageable size and price point. The sound is both powerful and refined, making listening to music an engaging experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Exceptional transparency and is capable of reproducing quiet details with precision
- Accessible and easy sound that draws the listener in
- The EVO-K Hybrid Tweeter is superb, providing silky highs beyond belief, regardless of volume
- Massive, subtly rounded, full-bodied bass which is remarkably deep, and delivers incredibly clear and defined punch
Product Considerations
- A large speaker that will dominate a room, requiring a large listening space to truly sing
- Bass can be somewhat elevated, depending on the room size
- Not exactly modest in its choice of amplifier
Takeaway: The Epikore 11 is a high-end speaker that combines power and refinement to deliver a transparent, detailed and engaging listening experience. It is also well-built with premium materials and is beautifully styled.
Video review
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