Odyssey and tweaks

Sonny · « **on:** 10 Apr 2006, 03:02 pm »

Has anyone tweaked their Odyssey gear?
I was thinking, perhaps upgrading my Mono Extremes with some upgraded Caps, Resistors, etc...
Was wondering if anyone has done this and what the results were...
Thanks in advance

F-100 · « **Reply #1 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 03:49 pm »

I would suggest a tube preamp and a good DAC. From my experience with Odyssey gears, upgrading these two components contribute a major improvement to my system.

Sonny · « **Reply #2 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 04:24 pm »

Thanks,
I thought about the Tube Pre, but I like the phono board in the Tempest and well, having another i/c from the phono pre to the pre is not my choice, but, what tube pre works in your experience?
I tried the Rogue Magmum 66 and it was worst...so....

F-100 · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 04:50 pm »

Quote from: Sonny

what tube pre works in your experience?

I've only tried Kora Equinoxe, Dared SL 2000, and Blue Circle BC3 in my system and BC3 is clearly sound the best.
I also did a brief comparison between my BC3 and a Modwright SWL 9.0SE preamp at another AC member's house and we couldn't distinguish any sonic difference between the two. They both sound very similar.

I also liked the sound of the Kora Equinoxe but for some reason that unit produced a loud microphonic noise even when I swapped out the tubes with a new ones and eventually sold it and bought the BC3. If you're a hughe fan of vinyl, you might want to look into a Kora Eclipse.

Sonny · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 05:01 pm »

Thanks!
I'll look into it.
You never mentioned the Tempest, did you compare any of these to the Tempest (extreme)?

F-100 · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 05:26 pm »

I also owned both Tempest and Tempest Extreme and they both sound nice but I'm one of those guy who hooked on the warm and fluidity of tube sound so I got to have a tube component somewhere in the chain of my system.

BTW, I forgot to mention that I also owned a Quicksilver linestage briefly and it didn't matched well with my system. The hissing and humming on this unit drove me crazy.

bunky · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 08:22 pm »

Quote from: Sonny

Has anyone tweaked their Odyssey gear?
I was thinking, perhaps upgrading my Mono Extremes with some upgraded Caps, Resistors, etc...
Was wondering if anyone has done this and what the results were...
Thanks in advance

if i were you i would talk to Klaus about how to best upgrade the mono extremes. he has built reference versions in the past on request. have you ever heard of the full Gary version? thanks....WCW III

Sonny · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 08:30 pm »

if i were you i would talk to Klaus about how to best upgrade the mono extremes. he has built reference versions in the past on request. have you ever heard of the full Gary version? thanks....WCW III[/quote]

What is the "full Gary version?"

bunky · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 09:46 pm »

Quote from: Sonny

if i were you i would talk to Klaus about how to best upgrade the mono extremes. he has built reference versions in the past on request. have you ever heard of the full Gary version? thanks....WCW III

What is the "full Gary version?"[/quote]i believe it was dicussed on the now defunct Harmonic Discord website where the Odyssey faithful used to hang out. a fellow named Gary had Klaus and company build a pair of reference monoblocks using a selection of cost is no object parts and applying them to the Odyssey Stratos design .does that sound interesting to you Sonny ?

Sonny · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 09:49 pm »

What is the "full Gary version?"[/quote]i believe it was dicussed on the now defunct Harmonic Discord website where the Odyssey faithful used to hang out. a fellow named Gary had Klaus and company build a pair of reference monoblocks using a selection of cost is no object parts and applying them to the Odyssey Stratos design .does that sound interesting to you Sonny ?[/quote]

That of course sounds interesting, however, the Cost is no object thing would be the debate of can't..vs can..

bunky · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 10:11 pm »

Quote from: Sonny

What is the "full Gary version?"

i believe it was dicussed on the now defunct Harmonic Discord website where the Odyssey faithful used to hang out. a fellow named Gary had Klaus and company build a pair of reference monoblocks using a selection of cost is no object parts and applying them to the Odyssey Stratos design .does that sound interesting to you Sonny ?[/quote]

That of course sounds interesting, however, the Cost is no object thing would be the debate of can't..vs can..[/quote]Call Klaus at ( 317) 299 -5578 and you might be very pleased at what he can do for you at a reasonable cost. Klaus is always full of suprises! dont you think ? thanks....WCW III

speedcenter · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Apr 2006, 10:23 pm »

Quote from: bunky

Quote from: Sonny
if i were you i would talk to Klaus about how to best upgrade the mono extremes. he has built reference versions in the past on request. have you ever heard of the full Gary version? thanks....WCW III

What is the "full Gary version?"

Being unafraid of just about any tweak, I collected some info on the "full Gary" version, and was considering to mod my extreme monos gradually towards that version of the amps, but when I saw that the parts alone would be $2000+ to get there, I decided that given the zero resale value added, I'd better leave the amps alone. I did add some damping to the chassis and swapped power cords, placed them on decent supports, but nothing else.

Depending on the outcome of a comparison tests with some Class D amps in the near future, I may decide to move into that direction, or stick with the Odyssey monos and do the "Full Gary" mod myself. The good thing about being able to do your own modding is that you can take these things in stages. I'd probably spend $500 on an small first upgrade, replacing input capacitors, swapping all Wima bypasses with Auricaps, replace connectors and wiring, etc. But it'll take some serious thinking before I get started - I'm somewhat reluctant to hack up the most expensive components in my system.

The fact that I haven't done anything to the amps is quite a testament to the quality of the product. Even my speakers, which seem to be able to keep up with any upgrade I throw at them, have been modified to some extent. Everything else in my system has undergone multiple overhauls during the period I have owned the extreme monos. They simply work very well the way they are and not having the cash to simply toy with $2500 amps, I am waiting as long as I can to make up my mind about the modding.

check out my web page and you will see that I am usually not that worried about seriously modifying gear, or simply building it from scratch like my DACs.

I"m told the full Gary will make the Monos super-revealing - possibly too much for some lesser systems. So even if you could afford those amps, you may be starting to replace everything else to get things back into balance.

Randy · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 Apr 2006, 02:09 am »

"The full Gary" mono amps were how the Mono Extremes originated. At the time, Klaus said the Mono Extreme got you more than 90% of the way toward a "full Gary" at a fraction of the price. Now I wonder what the "SE" version is, but nobody is talking, at least on this board.

klaus@odyssey · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Apr 2006, 07:57 am »

Yes, the full Gary was an all out assault, obviously it is awesome, but expensive, and yes, because of Gary's custom wishes, we had the brainchild of our Extreme. So far, we only made 8 pairs of full Garys.

As for teh SE, it really doesn't exist. We played around with some parts, and had a bunch of goodies left, that were put in a few pairs. Again, everything can be customized, and I certainly would offer anybody an upgrade or custom job, just impossible for the regular cost though in most cases.

Late,

Klaus

bunky · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 Apr 2006, 12:15 am »

Quote from: klaus@odyssey

Yes, the full Gary was an all out assault, obviously it is awesome, but expensive, and yes, because of Gary's custom wishes, we had the brainchild of our Extreme. So far, we only made 8 pairs of full Garys.

As for teh SE, it really doesn't exist. We played around with some parts, and had a bunch of goodies left, that were put in a few pairs. Again, everything can be customized, and I certainly would offer anybody an upgrade or custom job, just impossible for the regular cost though in most cases.

Late,

Klaus

Klaus,although the mono extreme SE version does not officialy exist i think there is enough interest in a Hot Rodded version of the mono extremes to warrant offering them as a factory option to the Odyssey customers.as you know i am one of the few lucky people to have a pair of mono extreme SEs sitting in my audio rack and let me just say that they absolutely kicked ass cold right out of the box.Klaus and Alex did a fantastic job with the experimental SE Mods and at my request my pair of extreme SEs were wired internally with Groneberg TS premium cable to match my IC and speaker cables. parts upgrades included Hexfred bridge rectifiers, higher grade capacitors and resistors adding up to 30+ changes to the circuit boards. Klaus, if you build the mono extreme SEs i am sure that people will buy them. these are by far the finest power Amplifiers i have ever heard. a friend of mine owns a handmade John Curl, Carl Thompson,Bob Crump designed and built CTC BBQ which was the precursor to the Parasound JC1 and the mono extreme SEs sound much more liquid ,natural and refined to my ears than this legendary benchmark power amplifier does. thanks....WCW III

W.C. · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Apr 2006, 12:16 pm »

The "Full Gary" version is a real treat to listen to.

lazydays · « **Reply #16 on:** 13 Apr 2006, 02:58 pm »

Quote from: Sonny

Thanks,
I thought about the Tube Pre, but I like the phono board in the Tempest and well, having another i/c from the phono pre to the pre is not my choice, but, what tube pre works in your experience?
I tried the Rogue Magmum 66 and it was worst...so....

you need to look around as there are some really nice stand alone phono stages out there right now. I can recommend the ones from George Wright for a start.
gary