14 DAY TRIAL // I have written about the France-based excellence-producing company named Cabasse - they're sworn on one thing solely: making the best-sounding loudspeakers available to man, at any cost. And truly, I guess that the price is one of the last things they think of when designing new speakers. Their last release sells for the rather confusing sum of no less than $24,000!
Karissma is the name for Cabasse's latest creation. Indeed, it looks like the result of a creative struggling mind: the shape is so simple and at the same time noble yet retaining the single-axis alignment of MF/HF drivers atop of the structure as specced for the La Sphere project.
The overall appearance of the Karissima line denotes a minimalist yet futurist way of thinking things out while achieving the sound quality Cabasse have become renowned for. The upper unit comprises three drivers responsible for the 80Hz-22kHz range and it sports a removable cloth grill (maybe for those who could feel rather awkward while being stared at by the sound-"eye"). The most important feature for the MF/HF tri-driver unit is its orientability: the listener can adjust the positioning of the top unit for a more precise localization of the soft spot.
As for the low frequencies, the Nomex honeycomb structure of the 22" woofer in La Sphere has proven both its reliability and perfect destination for such a range of speakers; thus choosing the Karissima line came naturally.
A 12" woofer was placed in the body of the new model, right below the TC23 tri-driver unit, almost forming a 4-way sound-source. The woofer has an outstanding 94dB sensitivity and it can resonate down to 27Hz - a true sub-bass machine made to shake your paintings off your walls!
And, as such, driver-technology was embedded in the Karissima line, the "box" had to excel as well: the rounded, multi-ply wooden body of the new line was proven the best choice for eliminating as many of the standing waves generated inside, thus minimizing distortions to an almost virtual zero.
Sophisticated bracing and bitumen damping-solutions had to be employed to ensure the correct behavior of the whole ensemble. Knowing the fact that vibrations transmitted in the whole body of the loudspeaker decrease the overall purity of the sound, the Cabasse engineers have built a bracing structure resembling a racing boat with internal resistance-beams: vibrations were almost gone.
Even the baseplate of the Karissima was carefully engineered from solid granite rock, with elastomer O-ring fittings for the aluminum feet to ensure vibration-free performance even on wooden floors.
Finally, the crossover of the Karissima itself is nothing but a splendid piece of audio engineering and it was born as an heir of the groundbreaking active digital processing unit present of the La Sphere series. SCR capacitors have been used for the Karissima as SCR is the undisputed leader in the industry of audiophile-grade capacitors. The Karissima line is bi-ampable by means of the 4 connectors at the back, so if need be, one can use this feature as well (audiophiles are most likely to do that).
Finally, Karissima comes in three finishes: the traditional wild cherry with pearl black sphere, the Santos finish with wild cherry veneer and dark-red taint with black pearl sphere and Wenge finish with light pearl sphere. 70 kg per unit with a 1,260W peak power and with a minimal impedance of 3,2 Ohms, the Karissima can be yours for 24.000 US Dollars. Each!
