First Impressions of Mono's with Cap and Plitron upgradesQ

audiojerry · « **on:** 2 Jan 2003, 02:46 am »

Guys, this is not a review. I've been way too busy to get to one with new Criterions and a Dezorel to evaluate. But I have been able to spend some quality time with them, and their owner, Jerry Q, paid a visit to listen to them today with the Criterions and his pair of Monitor Audio GR 60's. Jerry is letting me use them for 6 months while his home is being built. I want to spend more time with them before giving them a full review.

This is the nutshell version of our impressions. Both Jerry and I are very impressed with the results of the upgrade. Jerry listened to some music that he is very familiar with and commented that it was the best he had ever heard it. I noticed greater transparency, quickness, and effortlessness. We then compared the Mono's to my reference $10k Audio Research VT200 tube amp. Jerry felt the similarities were greater than the differences, and for his part, he prefers his Odyssey's.

We are talking about two different paths to musical truth, and both paths are very well executed. If you believe in the solid state path, then this pair of Odyssey monoblocks is the right vehicle for getting you there.

Jerry seemed very excited with the results, and I believe the cost of the upgrade is well worth the investment.
Great work Klaus!

BWentler · « **Reply #1 on:** 3 Jan 2003, 12:20 am »

I have been looking for an amp to replace my Belles 150A Hot Rod that I could not get the right speaker to work with it. After reading about the "new" mods for the Statos mono amps, the looking at the Odyssey Audio amps was stepped up a notch. Sleeping on the topic, finding what my "other" amp choices would be (like the Rowland Model 6/2 w/ the battery supplies, McCormack, etc) the Odyssey Audio mono amp became my focus. I ordered my Reference Mono amps the Wednesday before Christmas. They should arrive sometime in Febuary!

I have been trying to find every review on the mono's and, of course, the Reference version. I must ammit that I have loaded this page over 10 times reading and re-reading what you wrote and thinking, dreaming, acking for mine.

Thank you for taking the time to share your short review so quickly!

Please, if you can, keeps us informed on any other options, observations, judgements, ... that you have.!

audiojerry · « **Reply #2 on:** 3 Jan 2003, 12:53 am »

Oh, and one more very important point: that blue backlighting is really cool!

Tyson · « **Reply #3 on:** 3 Jan 2003, 01:25 am »

If the Reference Mono's are anything like the Dual Mono that I have, it'll be a month before most of the break in is done, and 2 months before it settles completely. So, it should get better and better for a little while still.

audiojerry · « **Reply #4 on:** 3 Jan 2003, 03:04 am »

Marbles, Portage is about 75 miles away. Who is BWentler?

Tyson, the dual mono's are not new. Jerry Q had them for about a year and a half before sending them back to Klaus for the reference upgrade. I believe Klaus burned them in for about 50 hours before sending them back, and I've been running them non-stop for about 200 hours. They will get plenty more hours before I write up a review, but past experience dictates that the Stratos keeps getting better for months.

Brian Bunge · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Jan 2003, 04:17 am »

I really need to look into Odyssey Audio! After all, Klaus and I have the same last name, so he must have a great product!

I've never met anyone else with our name, but I know I have relatives not too terribly far from him.

audiojerry · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Jan 2003, 03:54 pm »

I listened to the Odyssey's with the Criterions again for a couple hours last night. Either the Odyssey's are getting warmer or I am warming more up to the Odyssey's. In any event, they seem to be getting better. I thoroughly enjoyed the music - some Shady Lane with Grisman and Garcia, and some Mozart's Requiem - what a combination.

speedcenter · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Jan 2003, 08:38 pm »

Quote from: Marbles

I hate to even bring this up Jerry, but how far are you from Portage, WI?

Can't be too far

Maybe BWentler can swing by for a listen.......

hey - I'm in Madison, WI - anyone closer to me who can let me listen to the new amps?

BikeWNC · « **Reply #8 on:** 5 Jan 2003, 09:09 pm »

I received my new pair of Monoblocks with upgrade on Friday morning. There is always such a sense of anticipation with any new component. I knew that the break-in period would be long so I didn't want to place too much emphasis on any first impression. After the monos were placed onto the rack, connected and powered-up, I put a CD on repeat and left for the store to run some errands. By the time I can home, several hours later, my friend was waiting at the door to help me with some computer problems I had been having. Plan of attack -- reformat the hard drive and upgrade to Windows 2000. Seven hours later after a parade of CDs (played at low volume) and numerous driver downloads, the computer was running again but it was way past bedtime. The next morning I had to continue reloading software, but I was now ready to listen to these new amps. After playing the monos for 24 hours from first power-up, I started a CD and sat down to resume my computer chores. During the long installation of Office Pro, I got up to lower the sub volume. Whoops, in my haste to hook everything up I had forgotten to connect the sub! The low end was definitely more extended with more weight and definition than my old amp. After several more CDs, I am confident that in my system, mids and highs with the monos are smoother then my Bryston amp with better separation of vocals and space around instruments. The monos are currently more forward than the Bryston. These amps are very fast, seemingly able to respond to every nuance in the music, bringing out detail I had not heard from the 3BST. I found myself bouncing along to secondary rhythms in CDs that I had never noticed before. Well anyway, enough for now. The computer is fixed and the Giant's game is starting soon. I've read about the long break-in period and it doesn't worry me. I've got plenty of other projects to keep me busy till then.