[loki1957]

Yee Ha, just bought a set of these used and they're due to arrive tomorrow. I hope the UPS man comes early.

[spacedghost]

Yee Ha, just bought a set of these used and they're due to arrive tomorrow. I hope the UPS man comes early.

You've just jinxd it....

Have fun with your new toys.

Shaun

[loki1957]

Well I Got the amps yesterday. No problems with UPS. They were well packaged, double boxed. I purchased them off Audiogon from Underwoodwally. So I eagerly unpacked them and hooked them up. I couldn't wait for them to come up to room temp(I live in WI, very cool yesterday). Anyway cool as they were they sounded excellent. They replaced a set of 160 watt pure class A tubed monos. They sure hold their own against them on first listening. They main thing I always notice that SS amps lack when compared to tubes is a lack of texture.
Later in the evening when they came up to temp(which isn't much to the touch) I put on Rickie Lee Jones Naked Songs. A real torture disk. I've  found it to be harsh on many systems including tubes especially on underpowered amps. Too much volume can send you scurrying for the volume fast. No such problems with the Odyssey amps. These are just my first impressions. It usually takes me several weeks to really tell the differences between gear.The Odyssey amps have lots of drive and rhythm. Great dynamics. Great bass control as well as depth.
They will be with me a very long time. I'm not a flavor of the month clubber. Most of my gear I've had for many years(much to my wife chagrin).
I should say I'm using them to drive a pair of Hales Concept 5 speakers. I'm also using a tubed pre, transport and SS dac.
More as I listen.

[bpape]

Congrats.  Wait till they've been on constantly for about a week.  They just keep getting better as things get fully warm and charged.

Bryan

[TomS]

Those amps were a steal!  You will enjoy them immensely.  Keep us posted.  Tom

[kmmd]

Congrats on your new amps!

I don't post here often, but I do lurk...and I saw your post on the Asylum, so I thought I'd respond.  You have a very nice system BTW. 

Hopefully, I'll be receiving my upgraded amps from Klaus soon, but his regular monos (which I use for my surround and center channels) have been keeping me entertained thus far. 

Ken

[loki1957]

I've spent a fair amount of time listening now. The amps have been powered up constantly since Friday so everything should be fully charged. I was listening last night to Lyle Lovet's Joshua, Judges, Ruth. I'm sitting there listening to a few cuts and the music/system isn't doing much for me. Is it me, my mood, or the system. After the first two songs I turned up the volume. Ah, that's better. Turned it up some more. Still better. One more click on the preamp and things come alive. The Hales are inefficient speakers after all. Boy, do these amps clamp down on these speakers. Sound stage is truly wall to wall and deep. Front to back layering is very good, better than my big tube amps. Image separation is excellent but lacking air around the image. Bass is deep and tight. As I said I was listening very loud but the treble never became harsh or etched. The biggest thing I feel I'm missing is air around the images especially the main vocalist. More later as I get more time with these amps. They are truly great sounding.

[lazydays]

I've spent a fair amount of time listening now. The amps have been powered up constantly since Friday so everything should be fully charged. I was listening last night to Lyle Lovet's Joshua, Judges, Ruth. I'm sitting there listening to a few cuts and the music/system isn't doing much for me. Is it me, my mood, or the system. After the first two songs I turned up the volume. Ah, that's better. Turned it up some more. Still better. One more click on the preamp and things come alive. The Hales are inefficient speakers after all. Boy, do these amps clamp down on these speakers. Sound stage is truly wall to wall and deep. Front to back layering is very good, better than my big tube amps. Image separation is excellent but lacking air around the image. Bass is deep and tight. As I said I was listening very loud but the treble never became harsh or etched. The biggest thing I feel I'm missing is air around the images especially the main vocalist. More later as I get more time with these amps. They are truly great sounding.

I doubt that the amps are up to speed as I write this. I like to say five days minimum, and really a solid week is best. From your post your caps are not fully charged yet. The dead give away is having to turn the volume up to hear everything.
gary

[TomS]

I completely agree with lazydays on this.  Even with the many warnings about power up and break in time, it still takes longer than you might think.  Mine are SE's, but what came much later in the process was a good sense of space and outline of instruments.  Never quite what my OTL's had, but surprisingly close.  Tom

[bpape]

I found that not only is it time physically on - but they like to be played also.  This is not only during the break in but also after they've been powered down for a while. 

Bryan

[loki1957]

I've had the amps on since I got em and I play music through them all day. I did notice a marked improvement last night. A few things I forgot to mention in my lame reviews were how good they do do attack. Especially on drum. The whack of the note is very satisfying. Also stirred snare and cymbals sound great. Last night the deep bass really started to come around. Much better rhythm and drive to the music. I'll keep listening.

[caesar148]

Since these amps were bought used, they should have been broken in already.  It seems strange that you should get any sonic improve with time unless these were never used.  You lucky dog.

[Lkdog]

Since these amps were bought used, they should have been broken in already.  It seems strange that you should get any sonic improve with time unless these were never used.  You lucky dog.

The caps have to fully charge in them after they have not been on, even if they are broken in already.
What he is experiencing is not new amp break in, but the caps charging fully.
I would say a week and he is good to go.
Normal break in on a newly built pair of Mono Extremes is 400-500 hours by most accounts.

[lazydays]

Since these amps were bought used, they should have been broken in already.  It seems strange that you should get any sonic improve with time unless these were never used.  You lucky dog.

It's in the size of the power supply (as Klaus likes to call it). The caps are huge, and it just takes awhile to fully charge them. That's why he wants us to leave them powered up all the time. Break in is a completely different factor, and I'm now of the opinion that it takes about 500 hours. I thought 350 would do it, but they just kept changing for another 150 hours or so.
gary

[djbnh]

Since these amps were bought used, they should have been broken in already.  It seems strange that you should get any sonic improve with time unless these were never used.  You lucky dog.

It's in the size of the power supply (as Klaus likes to call it). The caps are huge, and it just takes awhile to fully charge them. That's why he wants us to leave them powered up all the time. Break in is a completely different factor, and I'm now of the opinion that it takes about 500 hours. I thought 350 would do it, but they just kept changing for another 150 hours or so.
gary

Try using the IsoTek System Enhancer CD for some 24/7 cooking time. I used this the past week on a couple sets of ICs and it seemed to dramatically reduce the burn-in time - 1.5 days! Wish I would have had the IsoTek disc when I first got my Mono Extremes. YMMV.

[martinr]

The ISOTEK system enhancer does seem to work - Klaus and Alex recommend you try this out when you're doing your 24 hour burn in on new components.

 aa

Martin

[djbnh]

The ISOTEK system enhancer does seem to work - Klaus and Alex recommend you try this out when you're doing your 24 hour burn in on new components.

 aa

Martin

Nice idea, Martin. I also like having the IsoTek CD around for those times that my rural NH area loses power - no longer will I have to be spending a few days getting the Extreme Monos back up to full boogie.

[loki1957]

Ok, I had the amps for a little over a week now, playing them all day every day. They are used so they should be broken in and now fully charged up. I took the junk stock tubes out of my pre and replaced them with Telefunken's. All I can say is wow. What a difference. Now the amps portray a fuller richer sound. Bass is deeper but softer, more like what I hear in live bass. There is a definite darkening to the sound which is how I like it. I've never been much on high frequency extremes. I much prefer a big round, rich midrange and bottom end. That doesn't mean I don't need a system that has good resolving ability. Guitars on John Platania Blues, Waltzes, and Badland Borders are now big and fat. On Greg Brown's Yellow Dog his voice is nice and chesty and deep. I just heard him and Bo Ramsey last Sat. night at a small club and this is how his voice sounded. On Cowboy Junkies At The End of Paths Taken Michaels guitar again is fat and swirling. Margo's voice is absolutely beautiful and airy. Pete's cymbals still have the same shimmer to them that I noticed when I first listened to these amps.
Everything I liked at first is still good but the things that bothered me are now almost all corrected. I could use more air around instruments.
All in all I am very happy with these amps. They will be with me for a long time. I just wonder what taking them to the SE level would do?

Again I'm no reviewer so please excuse my poor writing style but I think you get the idea, I like these amps.

[Lkdog]

Ahhhhh.........Bo Ramsey. 
That brings back the memories. You must be an old fart from the Iowa/IL/Wisc area.

The only thing about the Mono Extremes that I maybe wanted a little bit more of was transparency or "thereness".
This may get translated as "air" in your way of thinking.
Klaus voices these toward slightly warm it seems-some say tube like.
Of course they have SS bass control as good as you will ever find.

Anyway-I went for the SE upgrade with the new double thick blue boards. Should have them in about a week.
He states this "removes all bottlenecks in the sound" and "everything" is better.
Hard to believe as the Mono Extremes are in the ballpark of about as good as I have heard at any price already.

[loki1957]

Ahhhhh.........Bo Ramsey. 
That brings back the memories. You must be an old fart from the Iowa/IL/Wisc area.

The only thing about the Mono Extremes that I maybe wanted a little bit more of was transparency or "thereness".
This may get translated as "air" in your way of thinking.
Klaus voices these toward slightly warm it seems-some say tube like.
Of course they have SS bass control as good as you will ever find.

Anyway-I went for the SE upgrade with the new double thick blue boards. Should have them in about a week.
He states this "removes all bottlenecks in the sound" and "everything" is better.
Hard to believe as the Mono Extremes are in the ballpark of about as good as I have heard at any price already.

I'm an old fart if 50 is old. 50 is the new 40. And yes, I live in WI.