Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

"I betcha John Atkinson can!" wrote KR, regarding the effect of the Ceramique CE-2.0's unusual series-topology crossover. Unfortunately I can't. The Kharma speakers were the victims of a rare shipping accident. (Given the large amount of shipping we are involved in, with components being sent back and forth between the magazine and its review team, we have had almost zero problems in this area.) Kal had the Ceramiques picked up from his Manhattan digs by RPS (now FedEx Ground) but they never arrived in what used to be Stereophile's HQ in Santa Fe, NM. RPS traced the speakers to their main depot but although they never appeared to have left, a physical search revealed nothing.

The magazine then relocated to New York, followed to our surprise a little later by just one of the Kharmas, minus its shipping crate but with some cosmetic damage to its cabinet. I measured its impedance (fig.1), and all appeared well, with the speaker offering an easy electrical load to the partnering amplifier, and the saddle in the magnitude trace at 30Hz indicating the port tuning and implying good low-frequency extension. Upon close inspection, however, some serious fractures were apparent in the ceramic midrange cone and when I touched it, the cone came to pieces in my hand.

Fig.1 OLS Kharma Ceramique CE-2.0, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 ohms/vertical div.)

Further measurement work was not possible, therefore. We will include the usual set of measurements if and when we subject new samples of the speakers to a Followup review.—John Atkinson