[kannibal]

The Odyssey room at CapAudioFest was just awesome. I went to hear a few brands of speakers, and I was not disappointed. Almost everything at the show sounded good, of course, but the Odyssey room was something else. Incredible soundstage, detail, tonal balance, and great fullness, and a presence that was lacking from other rooms. Truly a great listening experience.

Hopefully others will post pics, but thank you, Klaus! The experience really made my weekend.

[Loki57]

What was Klaus using for speakers?

[Big Hendy]

This was my first show (unbelievable) and I had a grand time.  There were several really good sounding rooms, but only two phenomenal sounding rooms (IMHO), of which Klaus's Odyssey room was one.  The key here is that the entire system that Klaus is selling was far less expensive than a single power amp contained in the other room to which I allude.  I need to give a big should out to Klaus for being such a great host in his room as well as educating those who were wise enough to enter.  I didn't mention it to Klaus, but one of the ways in which I judged the various presenters and there equipment was by the length of time that I saw attendees remain in a room.  While I was in a number of rooms where people were in and out in under 30 seconds, in the Odyssey room, people would line the walls and wait long enough to then sit in one of the near-field chairs.  They would then participate in the group discussion - speaks volumes about the quality of what we were all hearing as well as the interest in learning about the quality of the equipment.

As for what he was playing, a brand new (for the show) pair of Liquids with black oak side panels and blonde front and top panels (appeared to be ash, but I am far from an expert).  Good news for Klaus was that he didn't have to trailer them back to Indy, as I relieved him of these beautiful sounding and looking speakers.  Been a long-time Odyssey electronics customer (and Symphonic Line Legato owner) - but now able to really up the caliber of my own home listening experience.  Great show Klaus!   You rock!!

[kannibal]

Yes, it was my first show as well, and it was so much fun. Congrats on the Liquids. I heard him offer them sale and I wondered to myself what “cost” was as I was smitten, even though I knew I couldn’t afford them.

Good point on the group participation of the listeners. I hung out two separate times and saw the same thing. Not that there weren’t some that came and went quickly, but there were plenty that stayed and engaged Klaus and other listeners, which was awesome.

One of my favorite things was when a listener in the prime seat (Klaus lets them choose the music) choose a track from his Imagine Dragons LP. Now most rooms just play well recorded Jazz or hand picked “audiophile” songs, so of course the system will sound good, but here was a real challenge. A modern popular recording! I’m not a fan of Imagine Dragons, but they probably sounded the best one could ever hear them being played on the full Odyssey system. It was awesome, and showed how well Odyssey plays a variety of music, not just the snooty stuff!

[hi_watt]

Thanks for the reports, as I was really looking forward to them!

[Woodsea]

You made a great purchase.  I am saving my pennies, his whole set-up I want/need in my man cave.  It sounded fantastic when he played Roger Waters, Amused to Death while I stood and then sat in the front middle seat. 

[woodsyi]

One of my favorite things was when a listener in the prime seat (Klaus lets them choose the music) choose a track from his Imagine Dragons LP. Now most rooms just play well recorded Jazz or hand picked “audiophile” songs, so of course the system will sound good, but here was a real challenge. A modern popular recording! I’m not a fan of Imagine Dragons, but they probably sounded the best one could ever hear them being played on the full Odyssey system. It was awesome, and showed how well Odyssey plays a variety of music, not just the snooty stuff!

Ha!  That was me giving Klaus a taste of modern stuff.  Imagine Dragons are a hoot at live shows.  I will say I enjoyed them a lot more than JayZ/Beyoncé.  When you got a sixteen year old daughter, you get to go to these shows.  I took her to all my shows when she was younger; now I get to go to hers -- Kali Uchis, Halsey, Twenty one pilots, Tyler the creator, Run the Jewels to name a few.  I did play a second selection featuring Norah Jones/Herbie Hancock/Wayne Shorter.  This is a not the usual Norah Jones you hear either.  I get tired of hearing same songs over and over and am trying to bring something different.


Anyway, the room with Liquids sounded really good.  I think it's the best Odyssey has sounded at CAF. 


Then we went to the same restaurant for the second year and ordered the same dish.  I think this may become a tradition at CAF for Klaus -- Osso Buco at Filomena.

[Big Hendy]

Woodsyi and Klaus,

I am more than happy to make dinner at Filomena an annual tradition.  I was impressed at the way Craig put it down.  Also, I especially like Klaus’s breakfast of champions.  The only issue is that people were taking food out of the mouth of my child Emma, who complained about the lack of left overs coming her way.

[klaus@odyssey]

YUP...Filomena...hmmmmmmmmmmm.....woke up at night for my Tiramisu take home package.....


Anyway,  as for the show:  in my 100 + shows,  this was, without doubt and by a large margin,  the single best sound I have ever had...Will put it up against 100 K + systems any day of the week,  that's how ridiculously good it has been...and yes,  the write-ups (albeit a small number as this is still a smaller show) will be fantastic,  as was the feedback...now,  I also read some comments from some people at other sites....guys,  I set up the system for a single nearfield seat...and then the person sitting there has to tell me what kind of music he/she wants,  or give me their own discs....if you just come in,  stand at the wall or sit way off-axis,  you should have learned the 101's of no-nos by now....ridiculous and idiotic......

Anyway,  yes,  that center front seat was magic,  just magic.  The best soundstaging I have heard to date in a show system,  and it was mine,  all mine ahaaaaaarhaaaarfggh......

Late,

Klaus

[vkohl]

Klaus is a funny dude !

Nice sounding room.

Roger Waters & Jeff Beck a winning combo !

Seig Heil Odyssey ! 

[klaus@odyssey]

Vkohl,

thanks for the kudos man,  BUT  ABSOLUTELY NO SIEG HEIL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


NO fascistic references, even in jest...none.

[kannibal]

Well, I couldn’t help myself. After such a great showing at CapFest, I had to call Klaus and order something. Of course it was awesome chatting with him and working out what it was I needed. Now I can’t wait for my new phono pre!

I’m going to have to take a look at some of these reviews. I was always surprised to see people come in, stand in the corner for 15 seconds and leave. Hopefully anyone who posted saying they didn’t care for it, actually spent some time in the room. I don’t think it would be possible to leave a bad review if one spent meaningful time in the room, but we are all different, so anything’s possible, I guess.Was the center seat out of this world? Yes, but I sat or stood all over the room, and there was a very large area in the center where it was obvious how good the system sounded.

Man, CAF has made my month. Great time. Thanks Klaus!

[woodsyi]

Some how I quoted myself and made it post.

Instead of showing nothing after I delete it, here is something. 




Here is Liberty leading people to a revolution -- for affordable audio gear.

[ricmon]

Klaus's room was a fun listen but he uses a huge ringer in his demos.....that $20K + turntable and cart set up.  Which is kind of smart as it shows the potential of his electronics.

Ric

[kannibal]

Klaus's room was a fun listen but he uses a huge ringer in his demos.....that $20K + turntable and cart set up.  Which is kind of smart as it shows the potential of his electronics.

Ric

Do you think he shouldn’t use such a high end (expensive) turntable? I think a good argument can be made either way. I definitely appreciate hearing the potential in the system, but as I stated in an earlier post, I also like hearing how a system sounds in less than ideal situations, as well.

[Big Hendy]

So Sunday after the show I brought home the new Liquids and that awesome Symphic Line CD player Klaus was show casing in his room.  Unfortunately, I only had time to hook up the CD player Sunday night and listen for an hour (but talke about smooth and warm, you would never guess it’s a digital device). 

Hooked up the speakers Monday night - but had to go out of town.  Just got home and have been listening for two hours.  Klaus, they are awesome and are only going to get better with age.  I was thrilled to hear that you thought this was you best sounding room at CAF ever because, as you know, for the most part I am recreating in my listening space what you were playing in CAF.  Kid in a candy store.

[mix4fix]

Do you think he shouldn’t use such a high end (expensive) turntable? I think a good argument can be made either way. I definitely appreciate hearing the potential in the system, but as I stated in an earlier post, I also like hearing how a system sounds in less than ideal situations, as well.

I thought about that myself this year. Many vendors using Avenger turntables, Triode cables, etc.

I came to the conclusion that it is a double-edged sword: either they will all sound the same, or they will all sound the same. But, I give props to any vendor who hooks up any other vendor. I remember my first CAF at the mansion. There was a vendor called Grape Vine Audio. Apparently, their pre-amp broke so Tim/Luminous gave them an Axiom passive pre-amp to use. That is class. Same for Pete/Triode, Dan/ModWright, and any others who do that.

(Klaus needs to step up)
 

----------

On a side note, a new vendor is forming and wants to debut at next years CAF. He wanted to use his old personal turntable, but it was discussed to use something more practical/reliable like a VPI Scout.

[klaus@odyssey]

????????????????????????????????


Well,  3 years ago I stupidly damaged a Suspiro,  and we borrowed a step up from Bob's...I also killed a cartridge and borrowed from Musical Surroundings...other times I was unable to count ahead of a show and borrowed some cables that I needed....we also gave out pre's and power amps over a dozen of times over the years to other exhibitors who had a problem...this is normal.
As for using other companies,  we also teamed up with several,  Magnan, Symphonic Line and VPI in the room.  That obviously is also normal....
And yes,  the Avenger is my own personal one and of course I'll use it for demos...however,  in the past we also used a very old TNT as well as a regular Technics !!!!!  All depends on what I want to achieve in the demo.  This year I obviously was going for all out performance considering how good the Liquids are,  and still only used Khartago monos instead of my hyper Kismets in order to bring down the system cost to under  10 K for amplification and speakers....


And if everybody would use similar front ends, then you would indeed have a better grip on the actual differences in their individual systems rather than what ???  All sounding the same ????


I have to step up  ????   to using other companies'  components that we also actually manufacture and sell,  after the $ and work that goes into a show,  and aiming for show exposure and business.....after all of this  is taken into account then stepping up to  using  other vendor's products rather than my own because that shows class ??????

Are you insane ????

[mix4fix]

You probably did load out gear. But, all these CAFs I can't remember what I saw last week let alone years ago..

It was more of a tease since it is your section. Don't take it wrong. You always have a consistently good system.

[Loki57]

Any pictures?