Tempest Break-in?

Cmarnett · « **on:** 4 Sep 2004, 01:02 am »

I have a Tempest Extreme, which I’m currently breaking-in, and was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of what to expect over time. I’ve had the unit for approximately 2 months now and it still sounds very harsh. I had the same experience with my Mono Extremes, which went from night to day sonically after about 5 weeks. Can I expect the same with the Tempest?

KarlDL · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Sep 2004, 02:43 am »

Suspect some other culprit in your system. My Tempest, prior to its Extreme upgrade, was not at all harsh and equal to my (modded) Acurus RL-11 after only a few hours powered. The circuitry is so unchanged in the Extreme upgrade that I can't imagine a long break-in requirement. Do you have another pre to substitute? Does the harshness then abate? If so, return the Tempest to Klaus for a checkout.

djbnh · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 Sep 2004, 11:26 am »

KarlDL,

When can readers expect to read your review of the Tempest Extreme?

Cmarnett · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 Sep 2004, 02:18 pm »

I don’t currently have an extra preamp at my disposal, but prior to purchasing the Tempest I had the IRD Purist in my system for a couple of weeks and there was absolutely no harshness whatsoever. The highs were very smooth without a hint of grain. I’ve also had the Music Fidelity A3.2CR in my system with very enjoyable results. I spoke with Klaus and he suggested more break-in was needed. That was several weeks ago and not much has changed. I’m going to try a couple of different power cords and ICs today, which hopefully will help tame the situation.

Cmarnett · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 Sep 2004, 04:34 pm »

I put the stock power cord that came with my Tempest on this morning and there was an enormous improvement by and large. The high frequencies have mellowed considerably and more detail is present. Now my system sounds much more as I remember it to sound with the Music Fidelity and Purist in place. I had been using a cryoed Belden 19364 with Marinco plugs, which seemed to be where the harshness was coming from. Thanks, KarlDL for getting me going in the right direction. I would have been waiting without end for it to break-in. It seems that power cord (and probably IC) selection is very important with this preamp. With that said, any recommendations? Per conversations with Klaus I’ve been considering Groneberg throughout my system. Any thoughts?

alex_odyssey_sg · « **Reply #5 on:** 4 Sep 2004, 06:29 pm »

Hi,

When the Tempest first came into our showroom and had a first listen. My first thought was (to be brutally honest)...I couldn't sit down for 15 mins and listen to it...

Yes...it was harsh...soundstage was limited...it sounded dead cold. But 2 months on...it's a totally different animal. So do give the Tempest a chance to really run-in. Was listening to the system in our showroom today:

Xindak SCD2
Tempest
Stratos Stereo Plus
Nightingale
All Groneberg

It was so sweet...we played The Police, Nanci Griffith, Sarah Brightman. And eventually a customer stepped in and first comment was 'Are you guys working?' Cos we were just enjoying the music and just looked at him as if he was intruding into our nirvana session...hahaha...(to some extent, he was intruding...hehehe) All I know was I was listening to music...and not hifi. That's the difference. And that is what Odyssey is all about...music and that little piece of heaven...

Anyway...back to the Tempest...:p Do give it a good run-in period. It is now running with the Groneberg reference and also tried a Kimber PK10 with good effect. But my Siltech power cord was disappointing. So the power cord does play an important role in the system. Match it well and you will get that balance...

Alex

amartincool · « **Reply #6 on:** 4 Sep 2004, 08:06 pm »

I am waiting for Groneberg power cord.
in the mean time I am using Clearaudio as powercord and I am very satisfaied with them.
Not harshness and musical.

Cmarnett · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 Sep 2004, 06:03 pm »

I spoke to Klaus recently and he assured me that my Tempest is still in the process of breaking-in. He explained that the process is much more subtle with the Tempest that with the power amps. He said to expect much smaller improvements over time vs. the dramatic jumps my Extreme Monos made (eg. be patient).

While I had Klaus on the phone I also ordered a full round of Groneberg cables (power, IC, and speaker cables) for my system.

Eduardo AAVM · « **Reply #8 on:** 17 Sep 2004, 07:06 am »

Believe the man, in my case after some strange listening sessions over some weeks I still had a harsh/a little fatiguing sound from my Nightingale speakers, Klaus told me about this but I thought too much time had gone by and something was wrong, upps, my mistake just yesterday the system, my system sounded incredible, I loved it I enjoyed it very much.

By patient, with Odyssey, patience is a very valuable virtue that ALWAYS BRINGS BETTER THINGS.

Thanks Klaus...

Cmarnett · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 Oct 2004, 03:14 am »

After months of mental anguish I finely determined the problem in my 2-channel system and it wasn't the Tempest Extreme. I was just about to put the unit up for sale on Audiogon when I decided to roll the tubes in my CDP to determine if I could improve the still disappointing sound. All I can say is that the Tempest is everything I hoped it would be and then some. Absolutely the finest preamp I’ve had in my system. It is exceptionally musical without a hint of harshness. It seemed that the tubes started to disintegrate approximately the same time I received the preamp. I assumed because the Tempest was the only item new to my system that it was the cause of the harsh fatiguing sound. The more I tried to break-in the unit the worse the tubes became and the worse the sound. You know what they say about those who assume……sorry Klaus

.

Randy · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Oct 2004, 04:54 pm »

So it wasn't a problem with the Belden power cord?

Cmarnett · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 Oct 2004, 11:43 pm »

No, the cord wasn't the problem. The sound was a bit smoother with the stock cord on, but that was with bad tubes in my CDP. I was able to tame the harshness somewhat with different PCs and ICs, but the problem was defiantly the tubes. I haven’t tried the Belden cord subsequent to rolling the tubes. I currently have a Groneberg PC on the Tempest and I’m very pleased with the results. When I have some spare time I plan on comparing the two cords.

KarlDL · « **Reply #12 on:** 27 Oct 2004, 03:12 am »

Those of us who cut our teeth in electronics during the waning days of the (mainstream) vacuum tube era remember all too well the kind of ugly sound produced by valves on the verge of subpar transconductance, or worse. I've always been a firm believer in having a set of known-good-spare tubes on the shelf in order to truth-squad problems like this. The degree of renewed satisfaction when good tubes go in is something one must experience to appreciate. Kinda like a good, peak-year Bordeaux or Napa Cab after some central-California swill cuvee of questionable vintage.