Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Diapason Karis Speakers by Luminator

Model:	Karis
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$2199
Description:	2-way stand-mount loudspeaker
Manufacturer URL:	Diapason

Review by Luminator on March 11, 2008 at 11:22:23
IP Address: 66.47.253.226 Add Your Review
for the Karis

For those of you who read or subscribe to my blog, this is old news.

First, click here . On the left hand side, scroll down until you arrive at the Posting Calendar. Select "Feb," "4," and "2008." Once you arrive at the February 4, 2008 entry, you will have to read each post in backwards order. Xanga places the most recent post first, and there is not, AFAIK, a way to rearrange the posts.

The review of the Diapason Karis takes place over several posts, and it does skip around. So you will have to navigate around/within xanga. But do feel free to read my other posts, too.

2/4/08: box and packaging
2/5/08: real walnut wood
2/6/08: stand mounting
2/7/08: single-wire binding posts
2/8/08: burn-in
2/11/08: grille
2/18/08: removing the grille
3/7/08: moved to secondary system
3/10/08: stuffing the port
3/11/08: comparisons

For a decade, my reference minimonitors in this price class have been the ProAc Response One SC and Totem Model 1 Signature. The Diapason Karis is every bit the equal of these two. But these three do not sound alike.

The ProAc One SC has emphasis on the frequency extremes, which can lead to a boom & sizzle personality. However, the One SC is relatively easy to drive, which makes it ideal for mid-powered tube amps.

The Totem M1S has surprising bass capabilities, but needs an amp with current and drive. Its top octave is rolled off, thus making the M1S somewhat less neutral than the One SC.

The Diapason Karis sounds fizzy with its grille on. Remove it, and you'll reveal a clean, 3D, fatigue-free, lyrical midrange. Instruments simply sound more plausible through the Karis, than through the One SC and M1S. The Karis has that ubiquitous mid-to-upper bass hump. But if you plug the port, you can reduce this bass output, allowing for greater placement flexibility. Again, as long as the grille is removed, the Karis' treble is refined, with accurate decoding of timbre. I just wish there were more of it! All else being equal, the Karis does not image as sharply as the M1S.

The Karis is finished in walnut on all six sides. So if you like that walnut finish, you're in luck. The Karis is not magnetically shielded, so keep it away from CRTs. Thankfully, the Karis is a single-wire model. So you can buy the best single-wire cable you can afford. No need to waste money and space on bi-wiring. And yes, the Karis does have enough native resolution, that it can tell the difference between, say, the Stereovox LSP-600C and Nordost Odin, each costing more than the Karis itself!

Enjoy,
-Lummy The Seahorse

Product Weakness:	Not magnetically shielded, prominent mid-to-upper bass
Product Strengths:	Build quality, small size, single-wiring

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Mark Levinson No. 431, Simaudio W-7
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Mark Levinson No. 326S, Simaudio P-8
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Mark Levinson No. 390S, Esoteric DV-60, EAR Acute
Speakers: ProAc Response One SC, Totem Model 1 Signature
Cables/Interconnects: Nordost Odin, Stereovox LSP-600C
Music Used (Genre/Selections): popular
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner

Amplifier:	Mark Levinson No. 431, Simaudio W-7
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Mark Levinson No. 326S, Simaudio P-8
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Mark Levinson No. 390S, Esoteric DV-60, EAR Acute
Speakers:	ProAc Response One SC, Totem Model 1 Signature
Cables/Interconnects:	Nordost Odin, Stereovox LSP-600C
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	popular
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner