[OSIB16]

Hello everyone my name's Dan Osib, I'm a newbie here. I have recently acquired a set of Odyssey Monoblock SE's. I'm a tweaker at heart so nearly everthing in my hifi system has had some sort of tweak to improve performance somewhat. It's a sort of hobby of mine. Below is a list of internals already inside my Odysseys:-

1). "SE" upgrades, which most importantly consist of Vishay
resistors, Vishay Dale Silver Micas, Nichicon Muse ES's, Fairchild
HexFred's for the bridge, etc.
2). Internal cable upgrade, input and output cables are Groneberg
Quattro Reference

As you can see the internal components are pretty good and these amps sound great as they are. However I'm looking to change a few of these components in order to hear an improvement. I have just bought a large batch (20) of State Of The Art Black Gate capacitors to install in my Odyssey Stratos Monos SE's. They will be replacing the existing Nichicon and Sanyo caps already in the amps. The largest Caps in the Odysseys are remaining untouched. I have the correct values for the caps. The Blackgates will fit in. I'm going to pay somebody I know at a hifi repairs shop to solder them in for me. I'm also going to replace the INPUT and OUTPUT wiring with something really exotic like NEOTECH copper cable. I'm trying to squeeze the absolute best sound I can out of these beauties. I would be interested in hearing some feedback from you guys THANKS

[Paul_Bui]

Hi Dan,

Welcome on board!  Like you I'm not a solder slinger but always have obsession of getting the most from my component, be it amp, preamp, speaker, or source.  Unlike you I don't own an Odyssey amp yet but otherwise very curious in knowing the outcome of your project.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Enjoy!     

[Rob S.]

I remember talking with Klaus a year or so ago, before my mono Se's were built, and the talk of caps came up.  I think he mentioned something about the black gates and the bass wasnt' right as it applied to the monos.   If you believe in caps breakin- I hear these take a long time too.  May want to call him before digging into this one.

I"m curious to find out what you hear differently from the blackgates.  Let us know what you find out.

Rob S.

[OSIB16]

ROB S,
          Klaus also told me this. However I was talking to the guy at SONICCRAFT who supplies Klaus with internal components. He told me that BlackGates need to be used for 400 hours before the bass extends and kicks in. Before that time they can sometimes sound a bit bass light.

[Rob S.]

Was the guy at Soniccraft,  Jeff, I think?  He was very helpful when I used sonicaps in a crossover mod to my maggie .6's.  The sonicaps worked wonders on the crossover.  much better.

Rob S.

[OSIB16]

Yes it was Jeff