oddyssy mono extreams


Category: Amplifiers

Let me say first I'm no reviewer. I'm not good with the written word and those who know me would say the spoken word as well. But, I'm so impressed with these amps I had to write a short synopses of my initial impressions.Well I Got the amps yesterday. No problems with UPS. They were well packaged, double boxed. I purchased them off Audiogon from Underwoodwally. So I eagerly unpacked them and hooked them up. I couldn't wait for them to come up to room temp(I live in WI, very cool yesterday). Anyway cool as they were they sounded excellent. They replaced a set of 160 watt pure class A tubed monos. They sure hold their own against them on first listening. They main thing I always notice that SS amps lack when compared to tubes is a lack of texture.
Later in the evening when they came up to temp(which isn't much to the touch) I put on Rickie Lee Jones Naked Songs. A real torture disk. I've found it to be harsh on many systems including tubes especially on underpowered amps. Too much volume can send you scurrying for the volume fast. No such problems with the Odyssey amps. These are just my first impressions. It usually takes me several weeks to really tell the differences between gear.The Odyssey amps have lots of drive and rhythm. Great dynamics. Great bass control as well as depth.
They will be with me a very long time. I'm not a flavor of the month clubber. Most of my gear I've had for many years(much to my wife chagrin).
I should say I'm using them to drive a pair of Hales Concept 5 speakers. I'm also using a tubed pre, transport and SS dac.
More as I listen.
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128x128loki1957
Your opinion of the Odyssey Extremes matches mine pretty well. I also own a pair and also love them. They've been in my system over two years. Thanks for a very nice review.
I've spent a fair amount of time listening now. The amps have been powered up constantly since Friday so everything should be fully charged. I was listening last night to Lyle Lovet's Joshua, Judges, Ruth. I'm sitting there listening to a few cuts and the music/system isn't doing much for me. Is it me, my mood, or the system. After the first two songs I turned up the volume. Ah, that's better. Turned it up some more. Still better. One more click on the preamp and things come alive. The Hales are inefficient speakers after all. Boy, do these amps clamp down on these speakers. Sound stage is truly wall to wall and deep. Front to back layering is very good, better than my big tube amps. Image separation is excellent but lacking air around the image. Bass is deep and tight. As I said I was listening very loud but the treble never became harsh or etched. The biggest thing I feel I'm missing is air around the images especially the main vocalist. More later as I get more time with these amps. They are truly great sounding.
I sent them back to Klaus last week for a full upgrade. He says this will be as much as he can do to them.
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