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.
What are hifi reviews useful for? (1) Identifying products you should demo in person at a dealer. (2) Learning which products reviewers unanimously praise as the best they've heard (this means they probably are legitimately great). (3) Identifying a product's attributes that satisfy your idiosyncratic needs and tastes. Beyond that, we often discount what reviewers say because they heap praise on most products—and are often apprehensive about publishing strong criticism or comparisons between products. Further, they seldom have more than a few products on-hand, often relying on their memories to compare past products. Always listen for yourself.
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Exquisite Classique
reviews
Video Review
Manufacturer details
Features
Specifications
- Type: EXQ-CS-2.1-S
- System: 3-way
- RMS power: 250 Watt
- Program power: 500 Watt
- Frequency range: 22 Hz - 90 kHz
- Nominal impedance: 4 Ohm
- Efficiency: 90 dB (2.83V/1m)
- Maximum SPL: 113 dB
- High-frequency: 1x 1" Diamond concave tweeter
- Mid-frequency: 1x 7" Kharma Omega-7 driver
- Low-frequency: 1x 12" Nomex Kevlar driver
- Dimensions (HxWxD): 1270 x 565 x 849 mm (50 x 22.24 x 33.43 inch)
Description
The Kharma Exquisite Classique is the prime model of the Exquisite Collection and shows the true dedication of Kharma without any compromise. The Exquisite Classique was previously known as the Exquisite Reference, but had an upgrade in the name since it can be stated as the Classic model of the Exquisite Collection. The Exquisite Classique comes with the Signature treatment of Kharma, which is first of all implemented to improve the structure born vibrational properties of the driver chassis and secondly to enhance the magnetically field handling as well as proprietary techniques. Furthermore the incredible attention to detail has led to the use of pure silver and gold alloys for internal cabling.
The Kharma Exquisite Classique is the prime model of the Exquisite Collection and shows the true dedication of Kharma without any compromise. The Exquisite Classique was previously known as the Exquisite Reference, but had an upgrade in the name since it can be stated as the Classic model of the Exquisite Collection. The Exquisite Classique comes with the Signature treatment of Kharma, which is first of all implemented to improve the structure born vibrational properties of the driver chassis and secondly to enhance the magnetically field handling as well as proprietary techniques. Furthermore the incredible attention to detail has led to the use of pure silver and gold alloys for internal cabling. Resulting that the Exquisite Classique has now struck an unbelievable level of detail.
Release Timeline
Manufacturer Site
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.
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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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Avg. Product Price
$100,001+
Used For Sale
5
Available (Scroll Down)
Brand Popularity
330
of 900+
Badges
Top 50 Brand
Top 250 Brand
Products Listed
27
Founding Year
1993
Our take on the brand
Kharma is a hifi speaker brand that stands out for its iron-free magnet motor system in the Enigma Veyron Collection, which eliminates Eddy Currents, and its use of the largest Diamant tweeter surface in the industry. Their Exquisite series showcases unique engineering through minimal contact surface design with Tungsten balls and multi-layer high pressure laminate construction that reduces mechanical vibrations to near zero.
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Kharma
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Kharma
Exquisite Midi Grand 3.0
220391
/
Released
2021
The Kharma Exquisite Midi Grand is part of the flagship series of the Exquisite Collection and materializes the absolute end of the high-end in audio, with only reality as a real competitor portraying musical recordings in their realistic size. The drivers of the Exquisite Midi Grand can be seen as the engine of this loudspeaker, which created the musicality that can be expected of the uncompromised design of this special loudspeaker. The quality of this Dutch Masterpiece is without a doubt guaranteed by using two Diamond tweeters as a standard in the Exquisite Midi Grand. The cone of the Diamond tweeters is the most essential part of the tweeter because it is capable to create impressively pure high frequencies.
Kharma is a hifi speaker brand that stands out for its iron-free magnet motor system in the Enigma Veyron Collection, which eliminates Eddy Currents, and its use of the largest Diamant tweeter surface in the industry. Their Exquisite series showcases unique engineering through minimal contact surface design with Tungsten balls and multi-layer high pressure laminate construction that reduces mechanical vibrations to near zero.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Implements high pressure laminate (HPL) in a multi-layer construction that is CNC machined and adhered in vertical plates to dampen mechanical vibration to almost zero
- Allows incredible control of both the internal cavity shape and the volume of the cabinet
- Ensures the reduction of diffraction and phase anomalies
- Produces a sonic signature that connected with reviewer Matthew Clott on a very deep emotional level
- Offers subtlety and refinement, tonal structure, timbre, and texture
Product Considerations
- Very high price point
Takeaway: The Xquisite is a meticulously crafted speaker designed to eliminate vibration and control sound, creating a deeply moving and natural sound experience for the listener. Its unique construction makes it a standout choice for audiophiles seeking exceptional sonic purity.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Kharma is a hifi speaker brand that stands out for its iron-free magnet motor system in the Enigma Veyron Collection, which eliminates Eddy Currents, and its use of the largest Diamant tweeter surface in the industry. Their Exquisite series showcases unique engineering through minimal contact surface design with Tungsten balls and multi-layer high pressure laminate construction that reduces mechanical vibrations to near zero.
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Burmester
BC150
150000
/
Released
2021
The new BC150 loudspeaker model by Burmester is now making the innovative leaps in sound quality, technology, and design from the Signature Line possible for other product lines. Within this loudspeaker model, elements of the BC350 loudspeakers from the Signature Line were incorporated.
Burmester, a high-end audio brand renowned for its German craftsmanship, designs and handcrafts its components in Berlin. Known for its distinctive industrial aesthetic with chrome finishes, the brand supplies premium sound systems for Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Detailed, exciting, dynamic, and transparent sound
- Vanishingly low cabinet coloration, contributing to speed and detail
- Lung-emptying, bowel-clearing, demolition-grade bass
- Bass integrates well with the rest of the frequency range for an integrated musical performance
- Voices have breath and contour, yet the result always retains a minimum of warmth
Product Considerations
- Room acoustics should be a strong consideration, as the BC150 reveals room issues
- Needs a lot of quality electronics upstream
- Requires firm control and ample current capacity from the amplifier
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The BC150 sounds more like a Burmester B38 with greater abilities to scale
Takeaway: The Burmester BC150 is a high-precision audio instrument that is both musically communicative and musically analytical, offering a detailed and transparent listening experience. It offers clarity and purity of sound, and brings music to another level.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Burmester, a high-end audio brand renowned for its German craftsmanship, designs and handcrafts its components in Berlin. Known for its distinctive industrial aesthetic with chrome finishes, the brand supplies premium sound systems for Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
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Borresen
M3
283975
/
Released
2023
The M3 speakers are the perfect blend of form and function, which reflects the excellent and highly productive partnership between two great minds in the audio industry – Michael Børresen and Flemming Erik Rasmussen. The sleek and elegant design of these speakers, combined with their outstanding audio performance, makes them a testament to Audio Group Denmark's commitment to audio excellence.
Børresen Acoustics stands out for its iron-free magnetic motors and cryogenically treated metal components, which reduce inductance for clearer sound. The brand's speakers feature unique elements like zirconium-based 3D-printed baskets and a patented ribbon tweeter design, combined with series crossover networks for phase-locked electrical current across frequencies.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- The M3 presents music with an unprecedented degree of individuality and specificity, without sacrificing tonality, texture, or body
- Remarkable level of resolution
- Astonishing transparency and is resolute
- Accurate tonality and represents timbre faithfully
- Exceptional high-frequency detail and speed due to a planar tweeter
- Accepts only banana terminations
Product Considerations
- The planar tweeter misses the very last measure of extension, shimmer, and effortlessness accomplished by the very best available today
- Low-frequency extension was limited to the high 20 Hz, low 30 Hz range
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to Magico M9, the M3 has recalibrated the resolution yardstick by which all other loudspeakers must be measured and compared
- Compared to Von Schweikert Audio ULTRA 9s, the M3 has recalibrated the resolution yardstick by which all other loudspeakers must be measured and compared
Takeaway: The Børresen M3 loudspeakers boldly represent the realization of striking potential in audio and push known boundaries. People who choose the M3 will enjoy a specific level of playback that is unavailable from other loudspeakers.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Børresen Acoustics stands out for its iron-free magnetic motors and cryogenically treated metal components, which reduce inductance for clearer sound. The brand's speakers feature unique elements like zirconium-based 3D-printed baskets and a patented ribbon tweeter design, combined with series crossover networks for phase-locked electrical current across frequencies.
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Wilson Audio
Alexx V
154000
/
Released
2021
The original Alexx loudspeaker, launched in 2016, quickly gained critical acclaim throughout the industry. Alexx benefited from several elements developed during the five years Wilson Audio's founder David A. Wilson, and his unwavering R&D team, brought to life his magnum opus: the WAMM Master Chronosonic. Now, five years after the monumental accomplishment of the WAMM, Alexx V builds upon the original Alexx's success by offering a completely re-engineered performance envelope without greatly increasing the footprint. Comparing the overall size of Alexx V to the original, Alexx V is only 1" deeper and 1" taller while maintaining the same width.
Wilson Audio is often considered the quintessential American high-end hi-fi brand, a staple in premium audio dealerships across the country. Many reviewers use Wilson speakers in their own home systems, reflecting their reputation for outstanding dynamics, bass depth, and the ability to reproduce classical music with remarkable realism. Wilson focuses on creating an uncolored sound, aiming to replicate the experience of live, unamplified performances.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Sublime image size and expansiveness, coupled with an ability to be driven as hard as your ears or your amps can take
- A sense of balance to the sound of the Alexx V makes renewal possible, expressive and articulate from the deepest bass to the highest treble
- Trickle-down benefits from the WAMM Master Chronosonic and Chronosonic XVX
- Bass performance is otherworldly
- The Alexx V has the ability to uncover and continue to deliver micro-details at extremely high SPLs, even after that slam of a transient
Product Considerations
- Some power behind the throne is needed, because the loudspeaker's impedance plot drops to two ohms at 250Hz
- The dome tweeter does sacrifice the last ounce of micro-detail, compared to the insane resolving power of the best diamond and beryllium drivers
- The choice of finish needs to be considered with care
- Cable management can impact performance
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to the original Alexx, the Alexx V is a massive improvement—closer to a baby XVX in so many ways
- Compared to the Alexia 2, the Alexx V was more than a mere additive sum, a step-function improvement
- Compared to the Wilson XVX and WAMM Master Chronosonic, the tweeter is effortless and resolving by normal standards, but no match for the extraordinary levels of detail retrieval
Takeaway: The Alexx V offers a sublime listening experience with excellent balance and dynamic range that allows the listener to get closer to the music. It is a worthy contender for those looking to upgrade their listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Wilson Audio is often considered the quintessential American high-end hi-fi brand, a staple in premium audio dealerships across the country. Many reviewers use Wilson speakers in their own home systems, reflecting their reputation for outstanding dynamics, bass depth, and the ability to reproduce classical music with remarkable realism. Wilson focuses on creating an uncolored sound, aiming to replicate the experience of live, unamplified performances.
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Linn
360
110180
/
Released
2023
360 is audibly invisible. It produces a performance with unprecedented clarity and realism, that's entirely absent of sonic colouration. Incorporating innovative drive unit and amplifier technologies, 360 turns out our lowest ever levels of audible distortion. The honed curves of its cabinet are partnered with meticulously matched drive units to deliver the cleanest possible dispersion characteristics.
Linn is a hifi brand known for its modular designs, particularly the Sondek LP12 turntable where users can upgrade virtually every component over time to maintain performance across decades. The brand stands out for developing its own technologies in-house, including the Organik DAC with FPGA processing and Space Optimisation, which models room acoustics without needing microphone measurements.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Excellent imaging, providing a strong stereo image for multiple listeners due to wide dispersion and Space Optimisation+
- Flexible and capable of playing all kinds of music, getting out of the music's way, and suitable for both large and smaller rooms
- Dynamic, detailed, and can play at a wide range of volume levels, from quiet listening to near PA levels
- Features a new driver array, including a Beryllium dome tweeter, thin-ply woven carbon fiber midrange (used on NASA's Mars Rover), and aluminum-magnesium alloy bass units
- Incorporates new amplifier technologies—'Power DAC' for the lower bass and 'Adaptive Bias Control' for the mid and treble—reducing distortion
Product Considerations
- The midrange dome is exposed, which might be a concern with children
- Owners of previous Linn systems may find the price difficult to accept
- Some audiophiles may prefer Linn to trawl its past rather than building its future, and they will want an Isobarik
- Some audiophiles may not be able to see past the LP12
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The 360 offers significantly improved imaging and soundstaging compared to the Klimax 350
Takeaway: The Linn 360 is a high-end loudspeaker that provides excellent sound quality and flexibility, making it a great choice for enjoying music with friends or for personal listening sessions. Its innovative design and technology deliver a detailed and immersive audio experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Linn is a hifi brand known for its modular designs, particularly the Sondek LP12 turntable where users can upgrade virtually every component over time to maintain performance across decades. The brand stands out for developing its own technologies in-house, including the Organik DAC with FPGA processing and Space Optimisation, which models room acoustics without needing microphone measurements.
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