Bunky:
Since you and I aren't having a one-on-one on the phone, let me ask you your reasons for being so impressed with the Odyssey line. I am just trying to formulate my own thoughts about this exceptional line, but would be curious to read your reasoning.
listen to your system with the mono extreme SE's and think about how good they sound.they dont make amps that sound that good that come out of a Factory. all of this wonderful gear is built to order by hand one at a time. Klaus will bias the Amps based on what voltage i read with a multimeter from my wall socket! i know the guys who build it and Design it. i get to order the gear from the owner of the company and if i have any problems he is there for me and will take care of it A.S.A.P, my system sounds so good now that i dont plan on changing anything in it. but being a Audiophile/ Audio enthusiast i am building a 2nd tube amplifier based two channel rig because i love the aspect of building a system and tweaking it until i am satisfied with the sound of it.thanks....WCW III
Extremely well stated Bunky.
BTW - how did you know that I have SE's?
Anyways, here is my take.
These amps do everything right from the top octave to the bottom with complete ease. I hear absoultely no strain in the music whatsoever. Bunky, as you know by having read my little sysnopsis on our Toronto (TAAS) Amp Comparo, to my ears the Monos were far and away the winner.
About Klaus: I have a University Business degree. I recall the story that my first Marketing Prof told us and it goes something like this.
In a small town there was a very successful dog grooming store where the Upper class of the town brought their pooches to have the hair and nails done. Price for this service was a steep $150.00. But despite this high price the business flourished. A young couple moved to the town and as luck would have it the woman had just recieved her dog grooming license at Community College. She staked out the grooming store and could not understand how the owners were getting away charging $150.00. She knew that she could open her own store and charge $50.00 for the exact same service and still make good money. So, she did just that. She opened her competitive store, posted a sign of $60.00 for the same service, swung open the doors and waited for the canines to flock. Well......she went bust in a matter of a few months.
Why? Because people perceived that there was no way that their dogs could recieve the same level of service or even better for that much of a bargain.
Well, here we have Odyssey. I am sure that with the disease of Audio Nervosa many so called Audiophiles probably feel the same way as those small town folks. Klaus's gear can't possibly be as good or better then the overpriced big boys for the same "you get what you pay for" mentality.
But you know, Klaus has defeated that old small town mentality. His products are superb and must, without reservation, being considered some of greatest bargains in the audio marketplace.
I have listened to all sorts of amps from countless companies over the last 30 years and Klaus comes out at the top.
Let's face it; the big companies like the Krells, the Levinson, the McIntoshs all must report to the bean counters and ultimately quality of parts must be sacrificed. A very well known amp modded told me that when working on $35,000 Levinsons that a client sent him he was surprised to look under the hood and find that the parts used were certainly good but not exceptional.
And customer service - Klaus is in a total league of his own. He truly wants the client to be satisfied.
Anyways, I hope that I haven't bored to many of you, but the man does indeed deserve a lot of praise.
Cheers
