Kharma 3.2 Owners, your thoughts...

I have just ordered some Siemens 6922 tubes for the Conrad Johnson Preamp. I have been told that the sound of these tubes are vastly superior to the current Sovtek tubes and that part of the issue I'm having with the sound being a bit etched can be directly attributed to the Sovteks which have that reputation. I'm hoping that with a tube change and an eventual interconnect update that my problem will be solved. I will respond on the sound difference the tubes will make when they arrive in about a week.

My bet Henry is that as Rives notes above, the problem is the room. Tubes will certainly make a difference in a system but I don't believe that the etchiness is an issue of the pre-amp but of the acoustic properties in your room, most likely too much reflective energy which can definitely retard an organic cohesive soundfield. I have personally been around on this issue. Often the most overlooked component in the system is the room simply because beyond a certain point, there are no compromises left to make but a better room. You might need professional help at this junction. I have heard the Kharma's albiet briefly and they sure didn't sound etchy to me and using similar components to yours.

"In terms of all Lamm equipment, I realy love being able to use the remote volume control which Lamm does not provide. Would it be plausable to use the Lamm L2 with the placette volume control?"

Henry:
I remember reading an interview with the designer of Lamm equiptment and he was asked about not using remotes in his design.There is a plausible reason and that is he found that it created interference.To the best of my recollection that is what he said.

As far as using Protection I would watchout whatever you do decide to use as it might have negative effects.Most amps are said to work best directly pluged into the walloutlet.I am having a problem in my area with fluctuating voltages.

There are things which might help in my case like Monsters AVS2000 unit,ExactPower or BPT's unit.

I am using a set of Modified NEARs which are pretty close in design to Kharma's.They use Inverted Domes also.Wish I had the $$ to get into Lamms and higher priced equiptment ,must be nice.Do not ruin it by adding a remote attenuator.

JMO

I have recently changed my tubes in the preamp from Sovtek to Siemens (NOS). The difference was not subtle. A lot of the etched sound which I complained about earlier was erased and replaced by a more rounded and earthier quality. I had heard that tube rolling could be a rewarding tweak but I was not prepared for the dramatic changes which it brought to my system. I guess it goes without saying but these speakers really reveal all of the problems in a system and a recording. I suppose that the Kharma 3.2's combined with the Lamm ML2's could be thought of as scientific instruments to be used to test weaknesses elsewhere in the chain. I still have some brightness on certain (supposedly excellent recordings) and additional research will have to be spent on finding these flaws. I suspect that room treatments will provide additional benefits.

Hi Henry,

Many of the above suggestions should help: improved digital source, cabling, removal of the PS300 (which can just be replaced with a good surge protector from Office Depot) and moving of the speakers (though along as they are not EXACTLY at distance evenly dividable into 12 or 18, you should be OK).

There are a couple of other things to look into will also improve the sound in a positive way (usually with little if any side effects if you are careful), and which may also fix your etched/brightness problems.

One is power cords. Many people have situations where the filled Shunyata cords: Black Mamba, Python, or Anaconda Vx filter out something coming in on the power mains that was causing irritation and that approaches like the PS Audio were just not capable of addressing.

The other is vibration control. Most tubed equipment, and especially the Lamm, respond very favorably to vibration control tweaks. We have had very good results with Acoustic Dreams amplifier stands (which are very reasonably priced) and so far have also had good results with HRS amplifier stands (which are more pricey), both with Lamm tubed equipment. Also pulsar points, HRS isolation plates, etc. There are also other fine solutions out there. The results can be astonishing and quite addictive - clearing up grunge you did not know was there (and hopefully the stuff that you do know is there!).

Hope this helps!
Mike