Avalon Opus Ceramique versus Kharma 3.2


Hi,

As a lot of people who had chance to heared Lamm amps, I will made a system for one of those wonderfull amp.
At the moment I've the M1.1 (hybrid) and will upgrade to a tube ML1.1 or ML2.1 in few months.

I know the Kharma 3.2 - I love their medium with Lamm amp, but not my wife !! She said they look like a coffin ! Bad WAF !!

So, to keep my wife... I'mlooking for speaker not like coffin but also with ceramique drivers,to keep this wonderfull medium, in the same price level.

Avalon Opus ceramique look good, but here in France, I don't have the chance to heard them - and with a Lamm amp it will be really difficult.

If you have the chance to hear this combo, please, give me advice !

thanks

David
davidri

Showing 1 response by mikelavigne

David, a friend had Avalon Opus Ceramique speakers and i did enjoy them; but they were not in the class of the Kharma 3.2 in terms of refinement and naturalness. like other Avalon speakers they need a fairly 'tubey' sounding amp to sound natural.

another issue is that the Avalon is only 87db efficient and is a 5 ohm load; which, depending on the size of your room and the music you listen to, may not be a good match for the Lamm M 1.1, let alone for either the ML1.1 or ML 2.1.

Avalon's are typically power hungry speakers; properly fed they can sound very good. but my viewpoint is that the amps that it takes to make Avalon's sing are not my favorite.

i have not specifically heard the Avalon Opus Ceramique with your Lamm amp so i am guessing here to some degree; but it is an educated guess. i have heard the 3.2's with your amps many times and it is a good match; but your amp is certainly not overkill for the 3.2's in terms of dynamics.

A European speaker that uses the same (actually one step up) Accuton Ceramic driver that does have a different look is the Marten Coltrane from Sweden. to my ears it sounds similar to the Kharma, which i love. the only problem is that the Coltrane is about $45k here in the U.S. the Coltrane is only 89db efficient but i have heard them on 15 watt SET amps in a large room and they sounded great.