[jarcher]

Good to hear you're  almost there. I also have 1.7s, and I'm also a big wireworld fan, but have found that sometimes their higher end models don't necessarily work better than their lower end ones. Each has their own sonic signature and the extra cost for some can be due to more expensive materials (silver clading, OCC copper) or marketing that doesn't necessarily guarantee better results.  I ended up trading back in my wireworld equinox interconnects for the cheaper oasis, and aurora for cheaper stratus power cords. I found that the equinox model ended up too opaque / dark and the oasis on the other hand had better clarity, detail, and soundstage depth - all the things you said you wanted.

I had similar issues with the aurora power cable - though obviously the Electra is in a higher category - though also leaning towards the warm side. The stratus power cord in addition is probably the best cheap power cord I've ever heard. 

And lastly - the new series 7 is surprisingly better than the 6 / 52 : more vivid, better bass.

So all I guess Im saying is you may want to demo at least a pair of oasis 7 interconnects - and maybe even a stratus 7 power cords. Fortunately they are relatively cheap, but a good dealer or the online dealer like the cable co should be willing to let you demo without financial risk - at least that's been the case with my dealer.

[ronwills]

So many things happening since my last post. I had a chance to speak with Klaus on the phone while he was driving home. He gave me instructions for biasing my mono-amps at about 200 words per minute! I was hurriedly scribbling notes and hopefully got it all down. This was about 6-7 pm Eastern time and Klaus said to call him back by 9pm Eastern time. I went ahead with the instructions and began biasing the mono-blocks. Each amp has four settings - two for each side of the amp. I believe Klaus said the first setting is the Offset, at least that is what I wrote down and the second setting is the bias.
 
Per Klaus' instructions, I removed the covers of my amps, placed them on a flat surface, had plenty of light with two halogen overhead lamps and plugged in and turned on for one week. I recorded the "as is" settings on the amps and found that my amps were biased at about 17 volts except for the right one which one-half was biased at 17 volts and the other side at 19 volts. Klaus recommended that I bias the amps at 19.8 volts throughout which I did do but you have to know that the bias setting varies so that all settings were + or - about .3 volt. Once you get the hang of it, it doesn't take more than 10 minutes (assuming you have already taken off the covers, placed them on a flat surface with plenty of light).
 
While I was biasing the amps, I took out my Nikon camera and took photos of the mother board then went to my PC and created instructions for the future if I ever wanted to bias them again. I have about 6-8 pages of instructions with photos and arrows indicating where and when to bias.
 
I will get into the sound on my next post, particularly because I ended us selling my Morrow SP5 Reference speaker cables in the middle of all of this updating and really can't compare the performance of the Odyssey amps against what I had heard with the BADA amp and the very nice Morrow speaker cables. I have WireWorld speaker cables on order and I am currently using coat hanger wire AKA Anticables which do sound amazingly good for their price but don't let through the last bit of detail that the Morrow cables provided.
 
About 8 pm I had sent Klaus an email with the before and after settings along with my instructions to have him take a quick glance to make sure I was doing the biasing correctly. Shortly thereafter I received a call from Klaus who was laughing - in a good way - with my efforts to document the biasing of the amps. I must say that dealing with Klaus is about the best I have ever had with any product I have ever purchased in my life. Considering I just turned .... well I am getting up there in age and have had great experiences with other companies such as Wyred 4 Sound and others but this, by far, was the best experience. The fact he took time to make sure that my amps were working optimally and shared his enthusiasm for audio with me was really something special. Thanks again Klaus.
 
In the next post, I will get into the sound, but here is a preview: My search for the "perfect sound" within my budget is taking an unexpected turn. With the BADA, I had very detailed outlines of each musician. I play a lot of Mozart, Haydn and Paganini concertos. Typically 4-6 players although, I have a number of Paganini recordings of just Violin and Guitar. When listening, I had what best could be described as a black background with spotlights in a darkened room on each musician playing his/her instrument. I have seen this in some old time B/W movies where a spotlight is on a particular musician but all around him/her is black. With the Odyssey amps I am getting the whole stage lit up.
 
The sound with the Odyssey amps is different and intriguing. It is a more complete presentation. It is detailed without the etched outlines of each instrument or singer. The BADA is like turning the contrast up to get the "wow" factor in the picture on a really nice TV. The Odyssey is much different. Even without the etched outlines which I do enjoy, I for the first time could hear different parts of the violin section of a Haydn symphony. Previously, I could hear the violin section, the cellos, bass etc. But now, for the first time, I could hear within the violin section and a few of the musicians playing just slightly different than the remaining players. Very cool.
 
For Magnepan owners, the Odyssey amps transform the bass. With my Wyred 4 Sound STI-500 with 500watts into 4 ohms or the BADA amp, my Magnepans sounded a little lean. The BADA was better than the W4S but neither were even close to the Odyssey amps playing through the Magnepan 1.7s. If you only played classical music, I could see not needing a subwoofer with the Odyssey amps.
 
One final note on the sound. I mostly refuse to play rock recordings on my Magnepan loudspeakers. They just don't sound right. It was as if the Magnepans were so accurate that they would dissect the sound of the rock recording and you would lose the impact and visceral feel of the recording. That has all changed and dramatically so. I have recently purchased some re-engineered Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Beatles and other classic rock recordings. With the naturalness of the Odyssey amps, it sounds fantastic.
 
More to come...

[rikhav]

Hi ronwills
Sorry for deviating the thread as I will be talking about the stratos extreme where as you have khartago monos

My idea of not starting a new thread because I have a somewhat similar problem as yours

Allthough the amp is with me since some time it took me a shile to discovee due to various problems.

I face the same problem of having a shrunk soundstage comparing my old tube integrated wrt to both width, depth and placement of instruments.

I also like a wide and a deep stage with the vocalist and instruments having a definite place of their own.

I am using supra power cords and I will straight switch back to stock power cables and see if they sound better or if they improve stage.

Again for a layman, with my setup sound will be really good with good extension and superb mids but the live presentation is lacking

You have any idea if the bias goes a bit off by its own? My amp is approx 4 years old

Also since you had taken measurements could you find a big fifference in voltage readings when amp was just turned on, few hours afte4 switching on and after 7 or 8 hours being powered on

Thanks in advance

[ronwills]

rikhav,

I am still settling in with the Odyssey mono amps. I set the bias to 19+ volts and got a warm sound that drove the Magnepans very well. It was the first time I felt the Magnepans could run without a sub-woofer. However, I had ordered the Rythmik F12 sub-woofer and added it to my system. The NuForce AVP-18 allows me to set the Magnepans cutoff at 50 hz rolling over to the sub-woofer so it negated the benefit of the Odyssey amps running the Magnepans direct.
 
I have found that to detect subtle but important changes in sound, I need several weeks listening prior to switching to another piece of equipment. This helps avoid the insertion of a new cable, amp, preamp, etc. and thinking that the change in sound is necessarily a good thing. Often, something may initially sound clearer but becomes fatiguing over a long listening period.
 
So, I inserted several new items that were on order but just received into my system including the Wireworld Eclipse speaker cables and RCA cables, Rythmik subwoofer and re-biased Odyssey amps and began a lengthy listening period. Over several months, I just wasn't that happy with the clarity. I did enjoy the greater depth and wide soundstage, but felt that I had to turn it up way too loud to get the musical details I knew the system is capable of. In the last two weeks, I switched out the Odyssey amps and reinserted the BADA stereo amp and almost from the first moments, I was blown away by the details in the music that I had been missing. Just 2 weeks into the listening period, I don't want to conclude anything, just yet, however, I am enjoying music much more now then before.
 
My next step after at least a month of listening to the BADA back in my system is to re-bias the Odyssey amps to a lower setting. I am hoping that high bias (the way the amps were set) results in a warm but less distinct sound. Hopefully, the re-biasing to a lower setting, say 16 or 17 volts will tighten up the sound stage and instrument focus. There are qualities in the Odyssey that I really like and I am hoping that the re-biased setting will bring out a little more clarity while maintaining the best qualities of these amps.
 
I will say that the Wireworld cables have made either amp sound much more natural. They have been a very good edition to my system with no downsides that I can hear. This would include their speaker cable, RCA cables from the preamp to amp and power cords.
 
In conclusion, I am having the same problems you experienced in losing the "live presentation" experience that my system provides with the BADA amp. I am hoping a readjustment in the bias may bring out this quality because I really do want to keep the amps.

[rikhav]

Hi Ronwills
Very thanks for your reply

I Just hope you are able to get the sound you like but please do consult with Klaus before setting to a lower bias

Right now my setup is perfect tonally and even in details, I don't seem to be missing much but this can be subjective and I am ready to sacrifice little bit of details for that live presentation

If you don't mind can you please email me the step by step guide which you made for bias setting

Thanks and regards

[SJ David]

"...

Per Klaus' instructions, I removed the covers of my amps, placed them on a flat surface, had plenty of light with two halogen overhead lamps and plugged in and turned on for one week. I recorded the "as is" settings on the amps and found that my amps were biased at about 17 volts except for the right one which one-half was biased at 17 volts and the other side at 19 volts. Klaus recommended that I bias the amps at 19.8 volts throughout which I did do but you have to know that the bias setting varies so that all settings were + or - about .3 volt. Once you get the hang of it, it doesn't take more than 10 minutes (assuming you have already taken off the covers, placed them on a flat surface with plenty of light)...."
 

I am thinking in your reference to volts- as in 19 volts- you were meaning millivolts. So trim the bias to 19.8 mV. Yes?

Thanks for the post on your experience.

[Arcticdeth]

 could this also be a break in thing ?
I mean 6 months is not a long time, if they were on for only a few times on weekends, etc etc.
I have those emotiva 500W mono's - and in all honesty, if they have over 200 hours on them, I would be VERY surprised, I have my original invoice, which says Dec 15, 2008 - its now 2014, and  i KNOW for a fact only get played and turned on several times a year. so my 200 hours is being more than generous.
I just dont have the time to fire up 'ol flotsam and jetsam for long extended periods of time.
Buut am STILL going to purchase some Odyssey mono's, still have a wee more saving to do ($$) before I call Klaus and get the ball rolling.

 With my kid running around with milk, and peanut butter and stuff, its NOT practical to have them on all the time, nor uncovered. as he thinks they are stools.
already heard a bang one afternoon, i run in the other room, he toppled my right speaker over, still havent checked them to make sure any wiring came loose, been 3 weeks.......... shows how much time i have for music, BUT, WHEN I WANT TO LISTEN TO MUSIC, I want to " HEAR " it, not just listen to it in the background.
maybe I should actually use these damn things once in a while........... that is why i bought them in the first place. Sold my rotel rb-1090 for these ( kind of ) and that was a GREAT sounding amp, but as i mentioned, had problems with  the inrush of current during turn on,. when you see a bright flasy, hear a pop, then see a small plume of white smoke, you know theres something wrong

hopefully get the ball rolling on the new odyssey mono's in a couple  months................ Hope I am making the correct decision, not in buying the brand, just in general ( sound, reliability,...RELIABILITY, and reliability .




  i just hope i break the odysseys in before  the warranty runs out..........

[ronwills]

SJ David, I believe you are correct about mV vs. Volt. To the others, I have my amps on 24/7 for the four months that I have owned them and play music every day, sometimes for hours as I work around my home. As I mentioned, I just recently switched back to the BADA amp and I am getting better lower level resolution at all volume levels. With the Odyssey amps, I don't get the realism at low volume levels and find I need to turn up the volume before they really kick in. Having said that, the Odyssey's do have a very natural sound, better depth and excel on orchestra music. If I could only get the additional detail, it would be a slam dunk, but once I have heard it on the BADA amp, I don't want to lose it.
 
When listing to the Odyssey amps, the musicians are spread out wider, not in distance from each other, but the instrument itself is 3-5 feet wide. I was listing to some Paganini solo guitar and violin. With the BADA, I can directly point to the musicians and imagine them playing 10-15 feet away from my listening position. With the Odyssey's, it is as if the musical instruments are stretched in space - the instrument is stretched horizontally - and I don't get the feeling that there is a musician playing the instrument. The BADA also provides additional air around the instruments which provides a greater sense of a 3 dimensional instrument playing. I believe this second trait is due to the greater details that are getting through with the BADA amp.
 
The high bias setting I would assume brings out the warmth that I was experiencing and as I said before, if I was running my Magnepans without a subwoofer, I would keep this setting. It drives those speakers fantastically. I have never heard the bass sound so good from my Magnepans. With the Rythmik subwoofer, this quality is not a high priority and the NuForce AVP-18 gives me almost unlimited control in adjusting the blending of the subwoofer and Magnepans along with being able to tap 11 parametric equalizer settings for each speaker to cure minor frequency response issues in the system.
 
If I remember correctly, Klaus said that you don't want to go much over the 19.8 mV high setting but lower settings are fine. I am hoping that in the lower bias settings I would get a cooler, more distinct sound from the amps that could possibly provide the added detail that I seek. I have the Odyssey amps plugged in and waiting for the re-biasing that I may get to this weekend. Got my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.
 
Some people have requested that I provide the instructions for re-biasing which I am happy to do if Klaus says OK. I am just not sure that I have all the terminology correct (for example Volts vs. mV) and don't want anyone frying their amps using my instructions.
 

[Arcticdeth]

Any more news/thoughts on the odyssey amps?

Do you still have them?

[Chops]

Considering the OP joined here two years ago and only posted in this one thread, I wouldn't hold my breathe on a reply back from him anytime soon.