Odyssey Audio, Alex, Klaus, Mike - The adventure

Vr3 · « **on:** 6 May 2011, 04:57 am »

Some folks on here may remember a few years ago where I ranted about the disaster that took place in me ordering amps from Klaus and getting used amps instead, etc etc etc.

Well, Klaus and I are definitely ok at this point - I have purchased a Symphonic Line CDP from him, Alex hot rodded my Candela...

But about a year and a half ago my left amp died on me. Basically melted an output transistor (craziness). So off they go to Klaus. While they are there I decide why not just trick these out a little bit and had them become Kismet/Stratos amps...

Well Fast forward a few months the left amplifier blew AGAIN. Incredible...

Boxed them up and sent them to Klaus...

Fast forward a few months and the amp caught FIRE. I am talking flames - just wow.

That time I sent him my Candela, Amps, Cables, CDP, EVERYTHING! Just craziness.

Well fast forward maybe three weeks and the left amplifier blew a capacitor... I am talking explosion, flames, smoke all over the house, bad smells, just - straight up explosion. I even took a picture of the explosion.

Well having spent probably 500 dollars in freight in the last year and a half + the cost of upgrading to the Kismet a while back I was not to happy.

I will have to hand it to Klaus - he made this right for me. He took my Stratos chassis and threw in all Kismet guts (tranny, caps, everything) and built me brand new amps from the ground up.

I am still burning them in but I would like to thank Klaus for going out of his way to take care of me even though I did ultimately purchase these amps used in the beginning...

Would like to note he got the new amps to me in under 2 weeks. Alex has also been stellar in this process!

Thanks guys!

klaus@odyssey · « **Reply #1 on:** 6 May 2011, 07:09 am »

Yes, this has been very interesting, and expensive !!!!
However, after dissecting every single avenue here with Alex it is clear that the culprit at least in this instance were the MIT Interface cables.
Incredible what they do with these IC's, how ultra high their values are.
Soooo, we have had a blow up of amps so far 6 times over 12 years, with well over 1000 x amount of amps out there. We're talking about a really bad one, burnt parts or blown caps etc. Why ??? Either owner problems with parts of the system or mishandling or parts failures,

Some amps in countries such as Australia / NZ, or Singapore have measured voltages of well over 255 Volts in the customers houses. 255 Volts and never a problem !!!!! We have very, very adventurous speakers paired with our amps, most little known, others more, such as the original Apogees. How about 1.2 Ohm nominal with 79 dB efficiency ???? No issue running these aaaaaaarghhhhhs %%*&(*^_(_(*^%&^$#^& with our regular monos. So, the track record is excellent here.

None of these circumstances gave us one iota of problems.

In Trey's system with the MIT "s ????Different story altogether.
Thankfully Trey has bought new cables since then.

And of course I try to make things right no matter what. Regardless of whether this is a parts problem and by default our bad, or an obvious system problem. Of course........

Late,

Klaus

dangerbird · « **Reply #2 on:** 6 May 2011, 11:34 am »

Great story-- kudos th Klaus and crew--Trey-- glad you've got your amps back-- did the amps "see" something they did not like with another component/cable? Sounds like you had to -re-create the isuue.Glad the cause was discovered. Atta'boy Odyssey folks.

bassraptor · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 May 2011, 10:25 pm »

Wow, scary story ...

Klaus, I've been using my Khartago stereo amp with MIT input/output interconnects and cables (CVT 1 and CVT 2) for the past year, no issues so far. In the process of trading up to the monoblocs ... should I be worried about the MITs? Oh, I'm using the Tempest preamp as well ...

soundbitten1 · « **Reply #4 on:** 11 May 2011, 12:30 am »

This is a coincidence. I've been using MIT Terminator 2 IC's with my Stratos for about 7 years and never had a problem until lately when the amp started kicking in and out of protection occasionally. I replaced the MITs a few days ago and everything seems to be fine now.

bassraptor · « **Reply #5 on:** 11 May 2011, 04:09 am »

Could it be something in the old cables shorting? Good to check it out.

I notice the Khartago monos seem to run warmer than the stereo, and I'm sure its not my imagination. Further experiments being conducted soon with inexpensive cables ...

soundbitten1 · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 May 2011, 12:36 pm »

Quote from: bassraptor on 11 May 2011, 04:09 am

Could it be something in the old cables shorting? Good to check it out.

It could be. I'm gonna try them in another system and see what happens. They always fit sorta loose compared to other cables.

bassraptor · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 May 2011, 12:53 pm »

Quote from: soundbitten1 on 11 May 2011, 12:36 pm

It could be. I'm gonna try them in another system and see what happens. They always fit sorta loose compared to other cables.

You may want to test them for continuity or shorting first ...

F-100 · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 May 2011, 03:03 pm »

You guys should try the Groneberg TS Premium IC with your Odyssey amp. You have no idea of what your system is capable of until your try these high end cable from Groneberg.

*Hint* there is one for sale in the accessories

woodsyi · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 May 2011, 03:16 pm »

Vr3,

I would avoid using the phrase, "burning in," if I were you.

bassraptor · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 May 2011, 03:59 pm »

Quote from: F-100 on 11 May 2011, 03:03 pm

You guys should try the Groneberg TS Premium IC with your Odyssey amp. You have no idea of what your system is capable of until your try these high end cable from Groneberg.

*Hint* there is one for sale in the accessories

I did email Klaus about getting groneberg wires for my system last year but he must have missed it. I'm in Malaysia ...would like a 2.5m pair of spkr cable n 2 sets of interconnects ...

klaus@odyssey · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 May 2011, 06:40 am »

Hey Bassraptor.

Didn't get your mail.
Please send again.....
Probably spam blocked. Use my personal: kbunge1@comcast.net

ducky7566 · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 May 2011, 02:56 pm »

hello guys ...

since you speak Groneberg cables, me to ...

I see a lot of you say they are excelente !!!!!
here in France, difficult to find, just in europe, but they are quite expensive ...

Briefly, I found opportunity, and I'll buy them.
2 X 3 M 80. quattro reference
question: there are 2 red son, 2 black son, a copper braid and a
braid "" silver "...

how I do the editing for hps ...

what art is what I am doing with the 2 braids
or I delete them ...

some say it must have the quattro "everywhere", to get a result?? true or false ?????

thank you for your advice and answers ...

if you have a good place to buy ...

ducky7566 · « **Reply #13 on:** 26 May 2011, 03:30 pm »

UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nobody to help me...

srb · « **Reply #14 on:** 26 May 2011, 04:27 pm »

Perhaps too many emoticons?

aaron.luebke · « **Reply #15 on:** 26 May 2011, 04:30 pm »

I'm using the Quatro Pro's for interconnects and speaker. I've moved from low end up to this so I have no experience with any high end speaker or IC. Prior to these cables I used both speaker and IC's from Signal Cables and, in spite of those cables keeping me happy, the Groneberg cables were much better - much better!

I have no intention of changing cables - it's that price point thing again - in order to upgrade I'd have to double, triple or more the amount I've put into my existing cables.

I love the sound - love the philosophy of having the same cable end to end (or as close as you can get to that).

ducky7566 · « **Reply #16 on:** 26 May 2011, 04:38 pm »

Quote from: srb on 26 May 2011, 04:27 pm

Perhaps too many emoticons?

yes, I know ...

I try to stop, but it's so hard !!!!!!!!!!!!!

ducky7566 · « **Reply #17 on:** 26 May 2011, 04:44 pm »

Aaron hello ...

me, for now, I use Belkin Pure AV Cable HP ...
i like it well.
I tried a few cables, focusing instead on hardware.
but many people speak well of quattro !!!!!

so, how do the editing, what do I do with copper and silver braids ???????

thank you ...

aaron.luebke · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 May 2011, 05:59 pm »

Based on what I've seen done - and read somewhere?

When looking at the cable the end that the "G" in Groneberg is on should be the end that the shielding is used - so if you're making IC's the two black wires, the copper center and the braided silver all get connected to the ground - it's quite a bit of work to get all that wire attached but it can be done. I believe if you attach the copper center and the braided silver to both ends you get a "floating ground" that can introduce hum. I think the combined document on the web site says this is the end you attach to the preamp.

At the other end of the IC you cut the copper center and braided silver off and insure it does not come in contact with what you are attaching the black wires to. Of course insure that the red wires never come in contact with any black, copper or silver wires at either end - bad things happen if they do.

ducky7566 · « **Reply #19 on:** 26 May 2011, 06:21 pm »

thank you Aaron ...

there, if I understand you are talking about a cable area??
Me, I want to make a cable to the speakers ...

that's why I do not know what to do braids ...

for the sector, I am a cable myself, and yes, it assembles the braided copper ground wire on the plug Schuco, not on iec
but for the hps, I do not believe??

HERE MY CABLE /