I usually don't get too involved in discussions about my products, just let it go. Served me well over the past 32 years. HOWEVER, there are times when enough is enough, especially since a casual reader really might be influenced by some posts, which, without a doubt, are key intentions for some. So, it's time now to set the record straight on some outrageous posts.
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First off, to the original post....yes, why not Pass if you don't want to go with Odyssey...Pass amps are good, and as long as you'll be happy, more power to it. Obviously many people seem to prefer Pass over Odyssey regardless if they ever had any direct comparison experiences, and how can you not be swayed by that much opinion ???? and I'm sure that there are some honest posts in this regard as well...... As for direct comparisons, and notwithstanding nilly-willy shadow posts, I can also point to a more professional, in-the-open and published comparisons: https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/11/27/magnepan-and-tekton-meet-pass-labs-odyssey-job-merrill-red...
Keep in mind though that these were early Kismets and have since then improved massively.
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As far as I and Odyssey are concerned, a little background here for the following points: In the past 22 years we have over 6800 individual customers who by far mostly bought amplifiers from us. In the past 4 years alone we have had over 400 of them who upgraded earlier models to Kismets...over 90 % of original owners still have their amps...just to show satisfaction levels of our customers. And yes, I have been nuts busy all the time, and at times simply can't find the time to address all of the issues a customer might have, but I always find time on the phone when someone calls.
Now, in the same time span there were a couple dozen deals that went sideways...some of them really, really bad, and yup, of course I screwed up several times myself and could have done much better, yes. However, I'm also not in the habit of taking s...... and am able to shut down any cooperation if I feel it's warranted.
1. Brings me to Robert's ( Bullit 5094) post. Let me just say without pulling email threads that it didn't really get down this way. Let me just say that I'm quite sensitive to being taken advantage of.
2. On a side note to Hifigeorge:
Man, I have no idea, but anything Odyssey that he ever mentioned is negative. Has been brought to my attention a few times already. As for our monos which he called crap, let me just say this, knowing all of the different models well, of course:
The monos are vastly superior to their stereo counterpart...and yes, while the wattage stays in the same neighborhood, the more important current goes up big time, however. Either way, specs aside, in musical terms the monos are much faster, detailed, fuller and richer with staging and pretty much everything in the micro- and macro area improved. Don't have any idea as to what experience he might have with other stereo vs. mono amps, but certainly not with ours.
3. Hiendmmoe: This is a legitimate former customer, yes. However:No, you don't have to constantly re-bias the amps. And the custom bias setting is not based as much on speakers, but more on the actual voltage, as the bias itself is directly dependent on it....voltage goes up, so does the bias, and vice versa if it goes down. But then again, some people just have a need to tweak and tweak and tweak, and never seem to sit still....and yes, biasing any amp is one of these things. Regardless, what peeves me off here is customer support being average at best ????
Excuse me ???? Just by pulling right now a quick search I came up already with 19 (nineteen) separate email threads with mmoe. In addition 21 (twentyone) phone calls. Hours and hours and hours of my time talking about the amps, biasing help, synergy and set-up advice, etc. Yup, just below average support after I already pocketed the thousand and thousands of $ in profits (not).
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Again, it is not the best policy for a manufacturer to get involved in online discussions about their products for obvious reasons. (and not the ones where some manufacturer or dealers go anonymously online to either hype their stuff or put down the competition, which is rampant.) It also never looks good to appear too defensive, especially since this might give more credence to the points that you address. For direct discussions we have our own circle at Audiocircle, where I also stay out of discussions for the most part. But there are moments where I have to speak up, and this is one of them.
Stay safe,
Klaus
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First off, to the original post....yes, why not Pass if you don't want to go with Odyssey...Pass amps are good, and as long as you'll be happy, more power to it. Obviously many people seem to prefer Pass over Odyssey regardless if they ever had any direct comparison experiences, and how can you not be swayed by that much opinion ???? and I'm sure that there are some honest posts in this regard as well...... As for direct comparisons, and notwithstanding nilly-willy shadow posts, I can also point to a more professional, in-the-open and published comparisons: https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2013/11/27/magnepan-and-tekton-meet-pass-labs-odyssey-job-merrill-red...
Keep in mind though that these were early Kismets and have since then improved massively.
-----------------------
As far as I and Odyssey are concerned, a little background here for the following points: In the past 22 years we have over 6800 individual customers who by far mostly bought amplifiers from us. In the past 4 years alone we have had over 400 of them who upgraded earlier models to Kismets...over 90 % of original owners still have their amps...just to show satisfaction levels of our customers. And yes, I have been nuts busy all the time, and at times simply can't find the time to address all of the issues a customer might have, but I always find time on the phone when someone calls.
Now, in the same time span there were a couple dozen deals that went sideways...some of them really, really bad, and yup, of course I screwed up several times myself and could have done much better, yes. However, I'm also not in the habit of taking s...... and am able to shut down any cooperation if I feel it's warranted.
1. Brings me to Robert's ( Bullit 5094) post. Let me just say without pulling email threads that it didn't really get down this way. Let me just say that I'm quite sensitive to being taken advantage of.
2. On a side note to Hifigeorge:
Man, I have no idea, but anything Odyssey that he ever mentioned is negative. Has been brought to my attention a few times already. As for our monos which he called crap, let me just say this, knowing all of the different models well, of course:
The monos are vastly superior to their stereo counterpart...and yes, while the wattage stays in the same neighborhood, the more important current goes up big time, however. Either way, specs aside, in musical terms the monos are much faster, detailed, fuller and richer with staging and pretty much everything in the micro- and macro area improved. Don't have any idea as to what experience he might have with other stereo vs. mono amps, but certainly not with ours.
3. Hiendmmoe: This is a legitimate former customer, yes. However:No, you don't have to constantly re-bias the amps. And the custom bias setting is not based as much on speakers, but more on the actual voltage, as the bias itself is directly dependent on it....voltage goes up, so does the bias, and vice versa if it goes down. But then again, some people just have a need to tweak and tweak and tweak, and never seem to sit still....and yes, biasing any amp is one of these things. Regardless, what peeves me off here is customer support being average at best ????
Excuse me ???? Just by pulling right now a quick search I came up already with 19 (nineteen) separate email threads with mmoe. In addition 21 (twentyone) phone calls. Hours and hours and hours of my time talking about the amps, biasing help, synergy and set-up advice, etc. Yup, just below average support after I already pocketed the thousand and thousands of $ in profits (not).
----------------------------------------------
Again, it is not the best policy for a manufacturer to get involved in online discussions about their products for obvious reasons. (and not the ones where some manufacturer or dealers go anonymously online to either hype their stuff or put down the competition, which is rampant.) It also never looks good to appear too defensive, especially since this might give more credence to the points that you address. For direct discussions we have our own circle at Audiocircle, where I also stay out of discussions for the most part. But there are moments where I have to speak up, and this is one of them.
Stay safe,
Klaus