[klaus@odyssey]

Same old crap,  different show !!!!  Really ?
Nope.  This year was actually quite awesome in so many ways.  First off,  I was very surprised myself as to how good the Kismet monitors actually turned out.  Figuring that I didn't finish them in their final form a day before we left we are guilty of serious procrastination.  But we also got extremely lucky here.  Extremely.  Talk about an over-achiever.  Yes,  the sound of the system  was simply stunning.  Probably the best that I have ever had with the exception of some big $ Symphonic Line setups.  And so far I have exhibited in over 65 different shows and seminars.

The whole thing came together well,  Phono / Integrated / Monitors.  And they really opened up with every single hour.  Have no idea as how they will sound when completely broken in,  but I have them here,  and the next weeks and months will tell the whole story.  However,  if they just stay status quo as they are now,  I'm more than happy.  Time to get them into some serious reviews,  hehehehe.  Interestingly enough,  and actually,  Rim aka Woodsiy has put me on to this.  They really do sound 90-95 % identical to the TAD  monitors.  Quite nice,  if you consider that these are what,  $ 38,000 / pair  ???

As to the room,  this mini suite was the best room I have had so far in Denver,  out of 7 different ones over the years.  But,  and same on us,  Jason and Tyson are quite right in their comments about room acoustics / treatments.  With more knowledge about the monitors and the room itself,  we'll be 100 % ready comes next October, that's for sure.

Oh yes,  Jason and Tyson.  What can I say other than thanks so much, my friends.  Not for the positive comments on us,  but for what you did for all of us here at AC.  I don't think that anybody really has an idea as to the carefully sorted 4 pieces of music,  the choreographic changes of seats, the incredible "dumbness"  that has to settle in when hearing the same pieces again and again,  the inevitable "must concentrate" loss when, again,  hearing the same pieces again and again.  The idea,  execution,  and staying on point is extraordinary.  Doing this all for fun,  and doing it so incredibly well,  is nothing short of spectacular in my experience.  And I have experienced a lot in show reporting.

Jason,  Tyson,  my hat is off to you big time.  And yup,  Jason,  I'm oh so sorry about threatening to shove your camera up your ass !!!!

Next is the now infamous china sign.  This time it started a fire storm,  and I definitely came across as politically incorrect.  Really ???  Guess people don't know me at all, hehehehe.   Said  enough already about it.  Just one more thing though:
Those who didn't get the point and called me racist :  fuck you.!!!

As for show goers:  this year the attendance seemed to be a bit down,  or maybe more evenly stretched out as compared to the years before.  Business has been very good to us,  so it really didn't matter as much as far as how many people attended vs. how many people were buying.   Still,  this year there was  quite a bit more time for many to sit in THE chair.  As with music that people brought with them, it was also down this year.  One of the hardest thing in these shows is to listen to the same songs again and again and again and again and again and again and again .....Kind of ruined Stevie Ray and other great tunes for me a bit.  It's also a pain in the butt to constantly sit in front of your own music and try to choose tunes.  Not that easy,  believe me.  So, we are always happy to oblige other people's discs because we don't want to tightly control anything.  No fun.  Quite the opposite.  If somebody has a disc,  then they have to take over the room.  Remote is theirs,  and I have a chance to sit back,  hehehehe.  As for the music brought in,  this year was off for me as well.  That was really weird,  but there were some good, new pieces for me after all.

After the show,  of course, I followed the show coverage,  and again,  I was very,  very pleased. 
Absolute Sound,  Stereophile, Stereomojo, Soundstage, etc.  all were extremely positive.  If you look closely,  over 80 % of comments on any rooms are positive to very positive in these show reports.  Not really a good measuring stick if you are a reader and want to make up your mind.  However,  you have to keep the pricing in mind.  Always.  And this year it was absolutely freakish.  Give me a break.  Even though we showed our mots expensive gear,  it made the system look even more reasonable than in years past.  Million $ + systems ????  Huh ???  What is important in these show reports is consistency in different reports about certain rooms.  Especially when you are able to garner this consistent positive aura year after year after year.  Then people should have an "aha" experience.  That's exactly where we are now.  It's moot to slap our shoulders for a job well done and for " what a great sound" etc.  Meaningless.  But when you get noticed in this way again and again,  maybe you're entitled to a little pride.

Finally,  it was great to see all of you guys again.  Had a lot of fun,  albeit it's always more fun to joke around away from the show room.  Truly enjoy your companies.  And Alex and Irina,  what can I say??  Love you guys.

Thanks so much to all of you,

Klaus


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Re: Show coverage day 2
« Reply #35 on: 16 Oct 2011, 07:49 AM »

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Odyssey finally!!!













So the new speakers look amazing.  Klaus told us the drivers alone cost something like $1900!!!! The sound quality is tremendous already on the sibilieus.

Difranco sounds very nice as well. The speakers are a bit clos to the wall and the soundstage is not as deep as I can tell it wants to be.  The separation in background vocals is pretty good. Balance is excellent overall. Klaus really did a great job with this setup overall.

Mahler: good dynamics. A bit bright on the cymbal, but we are in very close to the speaker. In a properly setup room I doubt it would be an issue.

Tool: wow!!! They jump at you in the opening of the grudge. Great bass slam. Damn thts impressive for a small speaker like this. Again I think the room is a bit of an issue sometimes verging on shouty, wish we had a room about 4-6' bigger in both directions. Overall Id put this room in the same category as many of the best we've heard. Awesome job klaus and Alex. 



Tyson - Last year I said the Odyssey room sounded great, as always.  The same is true this year, only more so.  Much, much more so.  They always have a good, rockin' sound here, but this year the refinement jumped up a bunch of notches.  On the Sibelius track, the oboe solo that accompanies the violin is the best I heard at the show.  The speakers scaled very nicely on the Mahler 5th, and they had deeeeep bass on the Tool track, surprising given their size.  I think Klaus needs to treat the room more heavily to do these speakers justice, as things got hard and a bit glassy when the volume got really loud, but for $3500, these speakers are a steal.  I think he should charge at least double that, but lucky (for you people) he disagrees

[lazydays]

be interesting to listen to these new speakers, as I've yet to ever have a speaker I really liked 85% to this very day (they don't call me a grump for nothing!) The ones I have right now are a bit too boomie for me, and I often crave for an extended high end that is almost transparent! I'd wish the new speakers were also made with front porting as well as rear porting.

Everyday I turn my CD player on makes me dislike digital music a little bit more! But also realize that it's almost a necessary evil! I will probably sell my body to science to help raise money for a music server. I'll never depart from my turn table(s), and my record collection is close to 5,000 (hell I don't even know exactly!) I see that I'm most certianly still in the market for a solid two input phostage!! (hear that TWO INPUT). My preamp is long long overdue for an upgrade or at least an overhaul. We do need a four input preamp with a tape loop. Reel to reels are the next not so new great idea, so we need to be ontop of the game.

Now back to the new speakers again. Guess they are stunning in sound quality, and probably will play all the bass that a red book disc can put out. What is the minimum power range for them? Also what kind of impedence are they built around? (I'm thinking tubes here).
gary

[Pez]

Klaus,
Why do you have to stir up shit everywhere you go? Reminds me of someone I know.  Yes I will say that the Odyssey room was the best I have ever heard it sound period. Not only that, it was among the best I heard at the show regardless of price.

And yes, Klaus actually witnessed Tyson and my 'musical chairs' listening test/photo shoot/lightening review process. It is exhausting! but we were happy to do it. 

[Tyson]

Klaus, as always it was awesome to see you and hang out for a bit. 

And I wanted to say Thank You for your kind words.  Jason and I DO put a hell of a lot of work into doing show coverage.  I don't think you even saw the room/vendor Excel spreadsheet, sorted by location, floor, and day that we used to maximize our time  

Re:  Music - my advice is don't use music that you love, because hearing it 60 times in a row will ruin it for you.

This is a hobby, or "fun" for us, we are freelance.  I doubt either of us would consider doing this type of stuff for a magazine or other publication.  Because we'd lose our ability to call it like we see it.  There's some good stuff out there and a lot of crap.  And it's a show, so bring your A-Game or don't bother to show up.

This year we both agree - the Odyssey room brought their A Game and was one of the best rooms at RMAF.  Not sure if the opinion of a couple of non-professionals like us count for anything, but we were both impressed. 

[Tyson]

Oh, and one more thing - that new monitor speaker of yours for $3500?  You should add a zero to the end of it "to make it sexy".  Hopefully Brian doesn't mind me stealing his quote.