Agree ron17. Mushy would be the antithesis of how I would described them as well.
WC - Is the Odin brand new? What made you decide to give it a try?
WC - Is the Odin brand new? What made you decide to give it a try?
My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
So I have been in a long journey looking to find the best amplifiers for my martin logan montis. As you know, the match between an amplifier and speakers has to be a good "marriage" and needs to be blend exquisitely. Right now, I think I might have found the best sounding amplifier for martin logan. I have gone through approximately 34-36 amplifiers in the past 12 months. Some of these are:
Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005
With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)
NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)
Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)
rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)
cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)
parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)
lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)
McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.
butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)
pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.
classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)
Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.
Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.
Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?
Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.
It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.
Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.
Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.
Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.
Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.
Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.
My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.
That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!
Bryston ST, SST, SST2 series
NAD M25
PARASOUND HALO
PARASOUND CLASSIC
KRELL TAS
KRELL KAV 500
KRELL CHORUS
ROTEL RMB 1095
CLASSE CT 5300
CLASSE CA 2200
CLASSE CA 5200
MCINTOSH MC 205
CARY AUDIO CINEMA 7
OUTLAW AUDIO 755
LEXICON RX7
PASS LABS XA 30.8
BUTLER AUDIO 5150
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005
With all that said, the amplifiers I mentioned above are the ones that in my opinion are worth mentioning. To make a long story short, there is NO 5 CHANNEL POWER AMP that sounds as good as a 3ch and 2ch amplifier combination. i have done both experiments and the truth is that YOU DO lose details and more channel separation,etc when you select a 5 channel power amplifier of any manufacturer.
My recollection of what each amp sounded like is as follows:
ATI SIGNATURE SERIES 6005 (great power and amazing soundstage. Very low noise floor, BUT this amplifiers NEEDS TO BE cranked up in order to fully enjoy it. If you like listening at low volume levels or somewhat moderate, you are wasting your time here. This amp won’t sound any different than many other brands out there at this volume. The bass is great, good highs although they are a bit bright for my taste)
NAD M25 (very smooth, powerful, but somewhat thin sounding as far as bass goes)
Bryston sst2(detailed, good soundstage, good power, but can be a little forward with certain speakers which could make them ear fatiguing at loud volumes)
Krell (fast sounding, nice bass attack, nice highs, but some detail does get lost with certain speakers)
rotel (good amp for the money, but too bright in my opinion)
cary audio (good sound overall, very musical, but it didn’t have enough oomph)
parasound halo (good detail, great bass, but it still holds back some background detail that i can hear in others)
lexicon (very laid back and smooth. huge power, but if you like more detail or crisper highs, this amp will disappoint you)
McIntosh mc205 (probably the worst multichannel amp given its price point. it was too thin sounding, had detail but lacked bass.
butler audio (good amplifier. very warm and smooth sweet sounding. i think for the money, this is a better amp than the parasound a51)
pass labs (very VERY musical with excellent bass control. You can listen to this for hours and hours without getting ear fatigue. however, it DOES NOT do well in home theater applications if all you have is a 2 channel set up for movies. The midrange gets somewhat "muddy" or very weak sounding that you find yourself trying to turn it up.
classe audio (best amplifier for multi channel applications. i simply COULDNT FIND a better multi channel amplifier PERIOD. IT has amazing smoothness, amazing power and good bass control although i would say krell has much better bass control)
Update: The reviews above were done in January 2015. Below is my newest update as of October 2016:
PS AUDIO BHK 300 MONOBLOCKS: Amazing amps. Tons of detail and really amazing midrange. the bass is amazing too, but the one thing i will say is that those of you with speakers efficiency of 87db and below you will not have all the "loudness" that you may want from time to time. These amps go into protection mode when using a speaker such as the Salon, but only at very loud levels. Maybe 97db and above. If you don’t listen to extreme crazy levels, these amps will please you in every way.
Plinius Odeon 7 channel amp: This is THE BEST multichannel amp i have ever owned. Far , but FAR SUPERIOR to any other multichannel amp i have owned. In my opinion it destroyed all of the multichannel amps i mentioned above and below. The Odeon is an amp that is in a different tier group and it is in a league of its own. Amazing bass, treble and it made my center channel sound more articulate than ever before. The voices where never scrambled with the action scenes. It just separated everything very nicely.
Theta Dreadnaught D: Good detailed amp. Looks very elegant, has a pleasant sound, but i found it a tad too bright for my taste. I thought it was also somewhat "thin" sounding lacking body to the music. could be that it is because it is class d?
Krell Duo 300: Good amp. Nice and detailed with enough power to handle most speakers out there. I found that it does have a very nice "3d" sound through my electrostatics. Nothing to fault here on this amp.
Mark Levinson 532H: Great 2 channel amp. Lots of detail, amazing midrange which is what Mark Levinson is known for. It sounds very holographic and will please those of you looking for more detail and a better midrange. As far as bass, it is there, but it is not going to give you the slam of a pass labs 350.5 or JC1s for example. It is great for those that appreciate classical music, instrumental, etc, but not those of you who love tons of deep bass.
It is articulate sounding too
Krell 7200: Plenty of detail and enough power for most people. i found that my rear speakers contained more information after installed this amp. One thing that i hated is that you must use xlr cables with this amp or else you lose most of its sound performance when using RCA’s.
Krell 402e: Great amp. Very powerful and will handle any speaker you wish. Power is incredible and with great detail. That said, i didn’t get all the bass that most reviewers mentioned. I thought it was "ok" in regards to bass. It was there, but it didn’t slam me to my listening chair.
Bryston 4B3: Good amp with a complete sound. I think this amp is more laid back than the SST2 version. I think those of you who found the SST2 version of this amp a little too forward with your speakers will definitely benefit from this amp’s warmth. Bryston has gone towards the "warm" side in my opinion with their new SST3 series. As always, they are built like tanks. I wouldn’t call this amp tube-like, but rather closer to what the classe audio delta 2 series sound like which is on the warm side of things.
Parasound JC1s: Good powerful amps. Amazing low end punch (far superior bass than the 402e). This amp is the amp that i consider complete from top to bottom in regards to sound. Nothing is lacking other than perhaps a nicer chassis. Parasound needs to rework their external appearance when they introduce new amps. This amp would sell much more if it had a revised external appearance because the sound is a great bang for the money. It made my 800 Nautilus scream and slam. Again, amazing low end punch.
Simaudio W7: Good detailed amp. This amp reminds me a lot of the Mark Levinson 532h. Great detail and very articulate. I think this amp will go well with bookshelves that are ported in order to compensate for what it lacks when it comes to the bass. That doesn’t mean it has no bass, but when it is no Parasound JC1 either.
Pass labs 350.5: Wow, where do i begin? maybe my first time around with the xa30.8 wasn’t as special as it was with this monster 350.5. It is just SPECTACULAR sounding with my electrostatics. The bass was THE BEST BASS i have ever heard from ANY amp period. The only amp that comes close would be the jC1s. It made me check my settings to make sure the bass was not boosted and kept making my jaw drop each time i heard it. It totally destroyed the krell 402e in every regard. The krell sounded too "flat" when compared to this amp. This amp had amazing mirange with great detail up top. In my opinion, this amp is the best bang for the money. i loved this amp so much that i ended up buying the amp that follows below.
Pass labs 250.8: What can i say here. This is THE BEST STEREO AMP i have ever heard. This amp destroys all the amps i have listed above today to include the pass labs 350.5. It is a refined 350.5 amp. It has more 3d sound which is something the 350.5 lacked. It has a level of detail that i really have never experienced before and the bass was amazing as well. I really thought it was the most complete power amplifier i have ever heard HANDS DOWN. To me, this is a benchmark of an amplifier. This is the amp that others should be judged by. NOTHING is lacking and right now it is the #1 amplifier that i have ever owned.
My current amps are Mcintosh MC601s: i decided to give these 601s a try and they don’t disappoint. They have great detail, HUGE soundstage, MASSIVE power and great midrange/highs. The bass is great, but it is no pass labs 250.8 or 350.5. As far as looks, these are the best looking amps i have ever owned. No contest there. i gotta be honest with you all, i never bought mcintosh monos before because i wasn’t really "wowed" by the mc452, but it could have been also because at that time i was using a processor as a preamp which i no longer do. Today, i own the Mcintosh C1100 2 chassis tube preamp which sounds unbelievable. All the amps i just described above have been amps that i auditioned with the C1100 as a preamp. The MC601s sound great without a doubt, but i will say that if you are looking for THE BEST sound for the money, these would not be it. However, Mcintosh remains UNMATCHED when it comes to looks and also resale value. Every other amp above depreciates much faster than Mcintosh.
That said, my future purchase (when i can find a steal of a deal) will be the Pass labs 350.8. I am tempted to make a preliminary statement which is that i feel this amp could be THE BEST stereo amp under 30k dollars. Again, i will be able to say more and confirm once i own it. I hope this update can help you all in your buying decisions!
20,890 responses
Hello WC, Have you taken home an Odin V1 or V2? Concerning mushiness, I have not listened to Frey 2 yet... but my home experience with Valhalla V2 and several long listening sessions with Odin V1 at RMAF has been that the latter two cables and mushy wires are critters from different planets entirely.
Saluti, G.
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WC, My system is all Nordost having replaced MIT. The MIT was mushy, blurry, muddy... Kind of like the sound of an instrument or system in an echo chamber, undamped, prison cell... or bathroom! Nordost is the antithesis: fast, clear, revealing, detailed but not at the expense of musicality and “soul”. Congratulations on your upgrade. I suggest that you investigate the same upgrade to your monoblock amplifiers and preamp. I love living through your journey vicariously! |
This is a demo cable from the same dealer who let me borrow the Shunyata Sigma HR. I hear so much detail in the back of the music that was never there. it is as if someone went to wipe the dirty windshield and now i can see right through it. Hell, even the c2600 sounds like a different animal with this powercord. I am just in pure shock to see ONE POWER CORD make such huge change here. Now i am being told that they have a pair of Odin 2 xlr and possibly another Odin powercord for me to try as well... I am not sure i can dare to try anymore Nordost because the price is indeed crazy steep, but YES THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE in the sound. I don’t know what others have experienced, BUT i can say with my Neoliths, Lampizator Pacific and Ref10, the Odin Powercord made an incredible change. Lastly, there is ONE THING that stands out to me: i feel like the music now became more "emotionally involving" and as if i can follow the music and each instrument a little better until it fades out. Everything sounds more organized and coherent with more focus. |
So we have reached the point in this thread (long after Fonzie was waterskiing) that it is to the powercords, interconnects, and tube rolling part of the discussion. Curious. While I understand how changing tubes would CHANGE the sound and it might be better to your ears - especially on the high end equipment that costs a boatload, why would a MFG skimp on the tubes? WC is looking at the cost no object level of equipment... are the companies REALLY being cheap about a powercord if they thought it could make the amp sound better? Would you say hey, sure, I'm going to drop 50k on these amps, but $51k, oh thats too rich for my tastes, that darn powercord that added the cost is why I won't spend 51k instead? Seriously, why would they do that? |
Initial impressions of the Odin Powercord: 1. Incredible detail retrieval 2. Mids are CLEAR, ARTICULATED. i can understand lyrics better than ever before 3. Tight bass 4. Don’t have to crank things up in order to enjoy the music 5. More cohesiveness 6. More of an emotional presentation. 7. i can hear the instruments move from left to right and right to left like i haven’t heard in the past. 8. I can’t get off my couch Yes, A POWERCORD is doing this here. Biggest shock of this year so far. PS. Before anyone begins to say that i am derailing my own thread, i have stated in the last 2 months that the pool of amplifiers has become very shallow for me. Not much interests me other than Gryphon amps.Pass Labs xs300s and possibly the Momentum M400s. That is about it folks in terms of amps, BUT this does not mean i may not revisit the luxman 900u monos down the road with my Neoliths or maybe a cheap amp like Parasound JC5s in mono mode. I will prepare curve balls for you all when you least expect it and bring an amp back from the dead. |
fantastic WC. excited for the curveballs. sounds like you had a great opportunity to demo the Odin PC. Will be interesting to hear what it does to the Ref10. Perhaps an Odin speaker cable audition to the Neoliths? Probably too early tell but wonder if Odin (or its echelon) will become your baseline similar to the Neolith, the Blocks, the Ref10? |
WC, Without overstating things... The best system I have ever heard was all Nordost with a Ref 10 in the middle. Do not let go of that pre-amp until you have heard it with at least Valhalla 2 or Odin Power cords to amp(s), preamp, DAC, server and and same level interconnects and speaker cables. I know it's big bucks, but you have a big bucks system. The only consolation is that once you have heard it, you don't really need to do everything at once! It can be done incrementally. But I will caution, the Nordost bug is completely addictive... Good luck! |
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@WC I've been getting the same feeling about Krell. I have the Theater 7, and it's an excellent amp - supposed to be much better sounding than the Chorus amps, even though it's not as much power. However, it is supposed to have just as much current as the Chorus amps. I've been trying 7 channel amps for years, and I'm finally satisfied with this one. No more looking for amps - worst case, I'll do the XD upgrade. I'm playing with cables, as are you, so I'm enjoying the ongoing journey. Dave |
In my PERSONAL OPINION, the Nordost Odin is NOT A CABLE, but rather an additional component.Why? because the change is as big as if i had changed out a component in my system. Anyhow, I have began to have consider Odin 1 speaker cables. No, i won’t be doing interconnects at this time. I plan on probably adding the speaker cables and staying with the same powercords for now, but i must confess, i LOVE how everything is sounding with just the powercord. I feel like i want to hear all my music all over again because i hear so much extra information that was never there before. Is it expensive? hell yes. It is a significant upgrade? HELL YESS. |
whitecamaross - welcome to my world, I have all Odin power cords and cables minus a V2 USB cable and realized the same fact or experience when I installed my first Odin power cord replacing Shunyata’s top of the line power cord. Odin power cords are the best bag for your buck in the Odin cable hierarchy, next the signal or digital cables and the least are the speaker cables. I was going to recommend weeks ago for you to change your Shunyata PC on your Ref. 10, glad you did. Enjoy |
I believe WC is experiencing his first top tier powercord ON HIS DAC. This is where they make the biggest difference, at the top of the system chain. Yes, he can achieve that same performance ( on the dac) for less money. I already suggested a Shunyata NR, but if I remember right the one Sigma he tried couple weeks ago was a 20 Amp. female IEC that could not fit his Esoteric dac at the time. |
Keith, although I respect your opinion, can you tell me if you’ve personally owned or demoed nordos Odín cables in your one home to arrive at that conclusion? In my few years in this hobby, this has made the biggest impact for me. I don’t pick up any unnatural flavor as what you described. I detect tons of detail, more emotion and less noise. The ONLY thing I could knock this cable on (could be that it needs more play time) is that I might get my ears overwhelmed with the massive amount of detail. |
You are on to something good. I have a system with primarily Nordost Valhalla 2 and I have tried Odin 2 in my system. It is really something great, but I wish less expensive. @whitecamaross "No powecord has ever made such a big difference as the nordost Odín. I’ve tried the sigma nr, wireworld platinum 7 etc but this is just on another level. " |
24 k ya say ? Funny how a car can be designed , researched , developed , manufactured , labor paid to employees , and the list could go on and on at the costs associated in the price of an automobile , Probably a thousand different costs involved . Here we have 4 parts to assemble a power cord . 24k ya say ? |
Economies of scales. I believe nordost must be doing something that involves processes and patents that nobody else does. Trust me, I don’t want to be spending so much money on cables either but when the difference is THAT SIGNIFICANT by using a single power cord, how could I go back to what I had? Your ears and brain won’t let you. Think of it in terms of what your current set up consists of today. If you brought home a better speaker or amplifier or preamp and it blew you away AND you can afford to buy it, would you go back to your speakers ? Probably not right? It’s a hard thing to do because once you taste better sound, your ears won’t forgive inferior sound. Hell, I have that problem just by watching Netflix through my OLED lg and using its internal speakers. The sound is muffled, I can hardly understand at times what is being said in the movie, etc. |
Sure , the Odin is very good. But you did not compare it directly to the Sigma NR on the dac because he NR you brought back from the shop are 20 amp IEC. You sre comparing ODin to WW on the dac, sure the WW will get spanked big time and your jaw will drop. Try one Sigma NR or Alpha NR ON YOUR DAC , it could save you a lot. We cannot know if Odin beats Sigma NR , if they were not plugged to the same piece of gear. Only then we will know. |
Whitecamaro, I’ve heard Nordost cables since they introduced Valhalla 20 years ago. Many of my friends have tried and ultimately moved on from them. They have a distinct audio signature, which even like your comments unknowingly describe, is unnatural to my ears. All that “detail” and speed, black background, etc comes at a cost. I would pick up a $20 Ching Cheng from David Karmeli as your baseline though this power cord adventure. It’s relatively neutral and takes a lot more than you expect to beat them. Good luck! |
Keith, Many components are no different than a wife or a gf. Yes, it is harsh as hell what i am about to say, but YOU DON’T KNOW a woman unless you both live under the same roof. THIS IS EXACTLY how i feel about audio. Dating a girl is FAAAAR different than living with her under the same roof. Right now, because i have been living with the Neoliths for about 2 months, i feel like i could go to a show, bring my entire rig and place it in a room that is treated and i would embarrass Martin Logan in the room next to me where they are showcasing the Neoliths with Mcintosh 1.25kw and c2600 with transparent cables. |
Holy Cables Batman... that's a huge statement of the Odin power cables... I do not doubt what is happening..... but power cables, doing the sound a magnitude better? Makes you wonder what Voodoo that have found out. Anyway, I think it's great that you are tweaking your system, and getting it to sound even better. I would love to see some Dan D'ag or the new Krell XD hooked up to the system. And the Gryphon Mephistos look crazy good too. I'm still so stoked that you have taken the time to work on those Neoliths. I have been wanting to see what they are really capable of. And you are sure going down that road. Happy Super Bowl!!! |
WC, It appears that Odin power cords are doing more than just transferring power effectively, which could be obtained cheaply by using a huge 4 gauge cable. As you say, it is a COMPONENT which reveals more information with clarity. I have always said that when you have more clarity, satisfaction can be obtained at lower volumes, which you have found. If you don't want to spend $100K for 4 Odins, you might obtain much the same clarity by eliminating euphonic components like the ref 10. Someone said that unity gain on the ref 10 is at a volume setting of 60. Listen to a piece where 60 on the volume control is satisfying, then remove the ref 10 and hear the same piece at the same volume, but with enhanced clarity, probably a similar outcome as using an Odin. Then if you need more volume, you can look for accurate preamps. |
Hyper detail can overwhelm anyone. Magico has hyper detail and some people can’t tolerate it because of that. It’s all very subjective but in my situation don’t forget I’m still with tubes in the mix so that allows things to never get out of control. I also need to get the rest of my cables to be nordost in order to have the full house sound. Mix and matching can also yield bad results. I’m impressed to say the least and although I still have the standard powecords on the blocks, I could easily not even care to replace them with aftermarket cables but you all know that I will. For now, I just wanted to share with you all that I have placed an order for Nordost Odin speaker cables. I will move to Nordost PCs and speaker cables. Yes, I know I’ll take a lot of heat for doing so, but I heard something I couldn’t deny. I tried to let my ears decide and each and every time I continue to be impressed by this powercord. It’s almost like a component change rather than a cable swap. Some say that all this detail is fake, unnatural, synthetic, etc but if my ears are in shock each time I hear a song, then what am I to do? How can I convince my ears that what’s i am hearing isn’t natural? How can I force myself off the couch? Stay tuned as I begin to play with Nordost Odin speaker cables at the end of the week. |
For now, I just wanted to share with you all that I have placed an order for Nordost Odin speaker cables. I will move to Nordost PCs and speaker cables. Yes, I know I’ll take a lot of heat for doing so, but I heard something I couldn’t deny. I tried to let my ears decide and each and every time I continue to be impressed by this powercord.So why not try some other cables to see how they compare to the Odin? You clearly like the Odin compared to what you had before, but does that mean that you *have* to get the Odin *immediately*? Maybe you just didn't like what you had before and there are plenty of other cables that will do what the Odin did for you for a fraction of the cost? You may be just as happy and save a ton of cash, which I'm sure you'd end up putting towards another amplifier... No harm in auditioning others before spending thousands so fast |
WC, You are on the right track with Nordost if your finances permit it. As long as you enjoy the music and appreciate the enhanced clarity, there is no downside. But let's assume that at worst, the Odin is acting like a treble booster without affecting the lower freq. If you are still satisfied with the music at even somewhat higher volumes, then all is well. Just don't blast the music because this is not natural. Live unamplified music is rarely unpleasant at loud levels. But amplified rock is unnatural due to the inferior electronics and speakers used. You found this out when you took your wife to a club recently. Use unamplified jazz recordings, and investigate the classical pieces that almarg, guido and I recommended. |
Sablon return policy: Return Policy try a cable from them. all you pay is shipping if you don't like it. And no, I don't work for them. Sablon power cables were just the first high end power cables I ever tried that gave me the "wow, this makes no sense but i hear a difference" feeling. They've only gotten better. Can't hurt to try a few others before deciding you really do want to pay the Odin price |
We will see guys. I’m not opposed to getting powercords from other offerings for my block audios and even better if they let you hear them without commitment. I still need powercords for my Monoblocks and ref10, rca interconnects and xlr interconnects. Still plenty of opportunity for me to try a different cable in my system. Shunyata failed for me with my Monos and preamp. Yes I didn’t try it with my dac but with my other components it was average at best. All I got from Shunyata was a little less noise which also swallowed some of the highs with it. This is why had gone back to wireworld platinum 7. |
