exquisite classique - kharma international · perfect shape, materials and sound... that sense of...

EXQUISITE CLASSIQUE Loudspeaker system

KHARMA K H A R M A H I G H - E N D P R O D U C T S B E Y O N D I M A G I N A T I O N

Kharma International b.v. Kalshoven 7 4825 AL Breda The Netherlands T +31 765715010 F +31765714773 [email protected] www.kharma.com Chamber of Commerce: Breda no. 20125438 VAT: NL0090.92.833.B01 This document may be subject to changes. No rights can be derived from the content.

Exquisite Classique

Description Creating a Kharma Exquisite loudspeaker is a very long process. Looking for the

perfect shape, materials and sound... that sense of graceful elegance you would

expect from a handcrafted loudspeaker. The far-reaching attention to detail makes

this speaker range a class of its own. This even more becomes clear by the Diamond

tweeter which is standard in the Exquisite Collection. This all is the result of our

unique reputation and style, which is realized by a team of highly dedicated,

committed specialists.

Especially the Exquisite Classique, the prime model of the Exquisite Collection, shows

the true dedication of Kharma. For many years the Exquisite Classique has been

Kharma's flagship, and the reference speaker for many audiophiles. Until the

development of the Exquisite Grand it has been the ultra-high-end product of Kharma.

The Exquisite Classique recently had an upgrade in name, from Exquisite Reference to

Exquisite Classique, because for sure this speaker can be stated as the Classique

model of the Exquisite Collection.



Features Cabinet The cabinet of the Exquisite Classique is a piece of art in every way, from the use of

perfect materials to construction and finish, all are exceptional. The cabinet is built up

using vertically layered panels with carefully computed irregularity shaped cut-outs,

which minimizes air born resonance. This minimization of air born resonance inside

the cabinet is important, because the cabinet should absolutely have no contribution

to the sound field itself.

The combination of high pressure laminate panels, the irregular shaped cut-ours,

sophisticated acoustical damping and the de-coupling substance between panels to

prevent structure-born energy travelling from one panel to another guarantees a

resonance-dead cabinet. The Exquisite Classique has as result a patented cabinet

which doesn’t contribute to the sound field itself. Simply every form and every detail

on the Exquisite Classique has a purpose in the mechanism to create an absolute

sound.

Crossover This Exquisite loudspeaker can only achieve astonishing musicality by using complex

crossover techniques, which can be seen as the beating heart of this loudspeaker.

This complex in-house developed crossover will lead all drivers to the right music

composition.

Therefore the crossover can be seen as an orchestra conductor, which will have to

turn the information received through the loudspeaker cable into a musical spectacle

as if it was read from a music sheet.

Kharma has mastered the art of retaining musical wholeness with the proprietary

crossover technique used in the Exquisite Grand. This technique is seldom used by

other manufacturers because of its complexity. This results in the Kharma crossover

where simply is no gap in information.

Stand Mechanical residual vibrations of the cabinet are terminated by the Spike Disk

Suspension System (SDSS) by minimising the contact area between the cabinet and

the floor. The SDSS stand also provides a fixed and levelled orientation for the cabinet

drivers, because each spike can be adjusted individually in the vertical direction.



Signature treatment 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 magnetical field handling as well as proprietary

techniques.

Furthermore the incredible attention to detail has led to the use of pure silver and gold

metallurgic alloys for internal cabling. These internal cables have been refined by

proprietary Kharma processes, which are belonging exclusively to the Signature

treatment. As a result the Exquisite Classique has now struck an unbelievable level of

detail.

The connection of this loudspeaker is executed in the Silver/ Gold Signature version

of the Kharma Binding Post System (KBPS-SGS). The connection is made of very

pure, solid silver/gold alloy, which has exactly the same metallurgical alloy as the

Kharma cables. In addition the connection is also treated with the proprietary

treatments of Kharma to influence the conductance behaviour.

With this all we realise an uninterrupted chain of pure silver/gold conductors from

amplifier to driver. Although this extra reward for the musicality of the system can only

be achieved when the advised amplifier and external cable are used.



Drivers • High-frequency: 1-inch Diamond concave tweeter

• Mid-frequency: 7-inch Kharma Omega 7 driver

• Low-frequency: 12-inch Nomex-Kevlar driver

The drivers can be seen as the engine of the loudspeaker, which must create the

musicality that may be expected from the uncompromised design of the Exquisite

Classique. Therefore the quality of the drivers is crucial for creating an ultra high-end

sound.

Diamond concave tweeter Without a doubt the quality is guaranteed by using a Diamond tweeter as a standard

in the Exquisite Collection. These high-frequency drivers are true technological

wonders. The tweeters have a diamond cone which have been realised by the so

called CVD process. With this process incredible stiffness is reached with a minimum

of thickness of only 50 μm. Notice a human hair is in the range of 17 to 180 μm. The

cone is the most essential part of the tweeter and because this cone is made of

Diamond the tweeter is capable to create impressively pure high frequencies.

Kharma Omega 7 driver The midrange of this speaker is formed by our in-house developed Kharma Omega 7

driver, where the number is referring to the 7-inch size of this carbon based driver.

The new cone technology used for the Omega 7 driver is based on Ultra High Modulus

carbon fibres, which is the best fibre available on the globe today. The use of these

ultra stiff carbon fibres and an unique resin displaces the break-up frequencies of the

cone, in comparison with a standard cone material, to a whole other level. These

increased break-up frequencies ensures the cone is free from almost all resonances in

the intended frequency range for this midrange driver. Moreover, the cone shape is

optimized with a finite element analysis to utilize the full potential of the carbon

material. This combination of the best carbon fibre and an optimized cone shape has

resulted in a near perfect behaviour for the Kharma Omega 7 driver.

Nomex-Kevlar driver

The woofer has a 12 inch sandwich-honeycomb-Kevlar cone which also again is

completely free from structure born resonances in the used frequency range.



Technical specifications The prime model of the Exquisite Collection has impressive performance for many

years now, but still upgrades are done to improve the Exquisite Classique. In this way

the Exquisite Classique has only reality as competitor.

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 2.83V/1m: 90 dB

Maximum SPL: 113 dB



Dimensions The cabinet of the Exquisite Classique is a piece of art and in combination with the

SDSS stand, which terminates the mechanical residual vibrations of the cabinet, has

the following dimensions:

Including stand Width: 565 mm / 22.24 inch

Height: 1270 mm / 50.00 inch

Depth: 849 mm / 33.43 inch

Excluding stand Width: 391 mm / 15.39 inch

Height: 1208 mm / 47.56 inch



Advice

Advised amplifier The recommend amplifier for the Exquisite Classique is one of the mono power

amplifiers of the Kharma MP1000 Series. There are several reasons why we

recommend an amplifier of the MP1000 Series as amplifier for the Exquisite

Classique.

First of all it has sufficient power to drive the Exquisite Classique to its full capacity,

allowing you to drive the system in both small and large spaces. The amplifiers of the

MP1000 Series have an almost infinite damping factor which allows a very well

controlled bass, which is why even a large Exquisite Classique can be used in a

limited sized room and still fulfil all audiophile wishes. A tube based power amp would

create too much base in a small room.

The second reason is that the system has been voiced in with the amplifiers of the

MP1000 Series during many listening sections. Although during development we use

several top quality brands as amplifiers to drive our loudspeakers, we optimise the

sound of Kharma with our own amplifiers. This will result in a system which exactly

performs like we want it to.

Advise on bi-amping Technically the Exquisite Classique is suitable for bi-amping. Bi-amping is a

controversial subject. It is musically almost impossible to have two amplifiers sound

as one, even if they are almost identical. No two electronics are exactly the same and

the human hearing is extremely sensitive. So no matter how many advantages bi-

amping will be able to bring you, there will also be added a little bit of second source

feeling.

By using bi-amping the sound will become more powerful, more dynamic, better base,

less distortion, but musical coherence will be offset just by a notch. That is why

Kharma will always advise to go for the best amplifier that can drive the whole system.

But like we say in the beginning, the subject is controversial because at one point

maybe the two amps are a musical match and than you have a match made in heaven.

Who is it to say? One can always try, but now at least you know how Kharma feels

about it.



Advised external cable The Exquisite Classique has an uncompromised design to the finest detail. For this

reason there can only be put justice to the quality of the Classique, when the used

external cable is also uncompromised to the highest level. Therefore the Enigma

Signature cable series is advised to complement the ultra high-end sound of the

Exquisite Classique.

First of all we use in our external cables the same quality conductors and isolators as

internal. So you get a sonic match. Furthermore an important reason for using these

cables is that you will get exactly the sound that the Kharma team had in mind during

the development of both the loudspeaker and the cables.

For the true connoisseurs of musical art, Kharma offers the possibility to even go one

step further by complementing their Exquisite Classique with the Enigma Extreme

Signature cable series.



Product Program Structure A Kharma product must not only have an unbelievable refined sound, which meets the

needs of a true music lover, but also must have an astonishing finish to compete with

the musicality of the system. As known by Kharma, every customer can have a taste

of its own. Therefore Kharma developed three programs to be able to fulfil all levels of

customization.

Primary Stock Program This program has been targeted as to create the shortest possible delivery time for

the official Kharma products. This program is therefore based on the most popular

Kharma finishes, which have proven their looks in the past by many successful sales.

In this way we can deliver both the high refined sound as the astonishing finish that

can be expected from Kharma.

Stock Program: Paint Colour

Stock Program: Panel Material

* Colours / Materials shown only give an indication of the real paint colour / panel material,

contact your dealer for references.



Kharma Optionary Program The Kharma Optionary Program gives the freedom to tune the system both visual, to

personalize the look of your speaker, as well as technical, to further refine the

astonishing sound of your speaker.

The visual tuning in the Optionary Program will give the customer the opportunity to

choose between special selected Kharma colours. These finishes have a higher level

of customization and therefore the delivery time will be slightly longer than in the

Stock Program. There is no extra charge for the Optionary paint colours, except for

the colour indicated as special. The technical updates in this program will bring extra

costs and can vary per update.

Optionary Program: Paint Colour

Optionary Program: Technical Updates

• Extreme Signature treatment

• Signature Extended (external crossover in Signature version)

• Diamond Stand

* Colours / Materials shown only give an indication of the real paint colour / panel material,

contact your dealer for references.



Kharma Privileges Program The Privileges program gives access to the most exclusive treatment Kharma has to

offer, which only can be accessed by the happy few who purchase a loudspeaker

from the Exquisite Collection. The main high-lights of the Privileges Program:

• Lifetime Guarantee first owner

• All Privileges Program products will be individually tuned. This can be

compared with automobile tuning, where absolute synchrony in power and

shifting for optimal acceleration and performance is reached by this treatment.

In practise the Kharma tuning is an iteration of tweaking the product on

individual basis and executing extended listening tests.

• Technical customization comprising the enhancement of the sound quality of

the product can be arranged in consultation with the customer.

• No limitations on visual customization:

o Any desired cabinet paint colour is possible

o Panel finishes can be of any type of leather, carbon and lasercutted

wooden panels with special inlay of other wood types, pearls, gold

and/or silver. There is simply no limitation.

o Customizable flanges and spike cones. These flanges and spike cones

can be matched with the panel finish or matched to any other desire.

o The product can be monogrammed on different manners.

• Set-up by qualified Certified Technician, which has achieved training from

Kharma International

• 2 year Concierge Service, including acoustic advises.

• Lifetime Kharma Platinum membership, including amongst other exclusive

invitations for major Kharma events.

• The main rule of engagement for this program is to pay full price only once in a

lifetime. Once you entered this program a special arrangement will be made

when you want to upgrade to a higher model of the Exquisite Collection. When

you are interested in this program, feel free to ask for the extensive conditions.

A glimpse of what is possible

exquisite classique - kharma international · perfect shape, materials and sound... that sense of...

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