TJ, you've quickly updated your Systems listing, I was wondering which Parasound amp these amps replaced.
Hopefully you can post some further observations after you have lived with them a bit.
Steve
Steve,
They replaced a Parasound NewClassic 2250.
Observations...
I've been home sick that past two days, so I've had a lot of listening time with them. I first connected them up around 1:00pm yesterday. To be honest, they didn't sound all that great. I could hear a smoothness in them that was nice, but there was a sort of odd distortion sound to some of my favorite tracks. In some ways I heard good, and others not so good.
However, I think it was around 6:00pm that night, things sounded very different. I even replayed the tracks I heard some strangeness on, and everything was now just fine. I don't know why this would have happened, but it was very clear to me.
So after listening most of today, I have to say that these amps are nothing short of spectacular. I used to hear what I called "cheapness" in my old setup. The addition of my Perseus preamp helped this some, but it was still there. I don't know how to explain it, but it may have been a lack of articulate bass, a grainy sound in the upper midrange, or both? What I was missing before the Odyssey's came was a little air in the treble, maybe some midrange smoothness, and my bass had a rounded lack of detail sound. The Odysseys fixed all of this. The treble is extended, crystal clear, and has a touch of air. The midrange is smoother and detailed and I can't detect any of the "cheapness" sound I've been plagued with for the last few months. The bass is unbelievable! I used to run a sub for music, but since the Perseus came, I've been listening with out it. Now it's like it's back. The bass is full, detailed, and very balanced sounding right up into the midbass. The bass has a perfect weight to it, as if being produced by much larger driver. I don't miss my sub at all. (Please understand that I'm no bass head and my sub was used mostly to correct room modes and it was EQ'd perfectly flat and sounded wonderful).
Another contribution the Odysseys have produced is a deeper sound stage and the last place the music seems to come from is my speakers. Depending upon the recording, you'd have a hard time locating the speakers. The sound seems to mainly come from behind my speakers and I have a gigantic wall of sound with fantastic imaging and separation. Everything sounds so coherent and real with the most subtle details showing through. My Salk speakers have never sounded this good. The more I listen, the better it seems to get. I just keep finding new things to appreciate in nearly every track I play.
For the last year, I've had a sound in mind that I wanted to achieve. I have never been closer to achieving that sound than right now. It's amazing that the things I would have tweaked from adding in the Perseus have been added by the Odyssey amps. I could not be more pleased with the system synergy I have right now. Everything I listen to seems to have a little magic to the sound. I am completely floored!
