Looking to upgrade From my Odyssey Mono extremes


Hey guys,

I currently have odyssey mono extreme's and while I do enjoy them, They seem to me to be a bit on the bright side with my current setup.

So with that, I am looking to upgrade.

I had my sights set on Mcintosh MC352, but I was wondering how it would compare.

Also, Looking at other brands, and Tubes as well. A used pair of neo 250's look to be roughly in the same price range as well.

any first hand experience would be appreciated!

Thanks!
johnzm
Have you ever tried tube amps in your system before? Odyssey are pretty good SS amps. I doubt you would get that much more bang for your buck going to another SS. You may want to veer a whole different direction and try a tube amp. Completely different sound that you might like. It only took one tube amp in my system before I got rid of all my SS gear. Tubes won't give you the bottom slam that SS will but that liquid midrange can be addictive. For a decent powered push pull tube amp I like models using the EL-34's. Of course, if you have extremely efficient speakers, low powered SET are in a completely different league, IMO. Good luck.
Along the same lines that Sibelius has suggested, I'll throw my two cents in. I used AES (Cary) Sixpac amps for a couple years. They are EL34 output tube based and pretty darn good amps. I wanted to try a different amp, more specifically, a SS amp just to see what else was out there. I bought a pair of Odyssey Mono Extremes on Audiogon. I spent several weeks A/B comparing the Odysseys to my Sixpacs and decided to keep the Odysseys. After several months with the Odysseys, they just sounded dry in comparison to my Sixpacs and I longed for what tubes did for me. I ended up selling the Odysseys and buying another pair of Sixpacs. Your mileage may vary, but if you're looking for a different sound, you may be well served trying out some tubes. I didn't study all the advice that you've received above, so I hope I'm on topic for you. Good luck with your search.
There is a rare offer of the Symphonic Line RG4 at Agon now. I believe that would be a nice upgrade to the Mono Extreme.
His AV123 LS-6 speakers are ~90dB/8ohm, with vertical arrays of seven 6.5" woofers, so they are easy to drive. I can understand wanting extra power for dynamic headroom, but 200wpc is a little overkill. Actually, a lot of overkill.

So, there are plenty of PP tube amps under $5k that will drive the living snot out of those speakers.
I will reiterate what you don't want to hear. Your amps are probably better than you speakers. Your source and speakers play a more significant roll than your amplification, especially at this price point. A $5K amp will not change your speakers into $5k models.
You can pick up Magnepan 1.6s for around $1K and take a quantum leap upwards. New caps like Mundorf silver and oils could add more fluidity to your amp, vishay resistors, hexfreds. Upgraded tubes in preamp.
Plenty of money left over for upgraded cables and a vacation to Hawaii.