Odyssey Audio Tempest Preamplifiers

Odyssey Audio Tempest Preamplifiers 

DESCRIPTION

MM/MC phono input

USER REVIEWS

Showing 21-26 of 26  
[Jan 31, 2003]
warden291
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Soundstage..tubelike sound..clarity without the clutter. It's built like a tank and is very heavy. For the price you can't go wrong.

Weakness:

none

I purchased the Tempest along with a Stratos amp from Klaus at Odyssey Audio several months ago and I simply love my system. The Tempest soundstage is lifelike and very detailed. It does not do anything fancy other than make the music sound real...like when it was originally recorded. I was thoroughly impressed with the Tempest teamed with the Stratos amp. Klaus advised that the Tempest was designed to go with the Odyssey amps and I believe him. Odyssey's products are well documented on this review site and I can tell you first hand the reviews are not hype. If you don't like the product Klaus will do what ever it takes to make you happy. Customer service is job one with Klaus. Odyssey has designed an entire line of products that are built to work together and they do that very well. Try Odyssey..I ordered an entire system from Odyssey and am very happy with my choice. Give Klaus a call it's worth the time just to hear that German accent of his...the man knows his stuff.

Similar Products Used:

My system: Odyssey Stratos / Tempest / Groneberg Quattro ref. speaker cables / Odyssey Lorelei speakers / Cary Cd 303-200 / Sansui TU 717 tuner

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 31, 2002]
W C
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great sound, great build quality, great customer support.

Weakness:

The wait seems like a weakness, but, The Wait Is Worth It!!!

I love this preamp. Everything everybody else says about this preamp is true. The sound is very smooth and musical and very detailed too, almost tube like. When you turn up the volume there is no congestion whatsoever. It makes music sound natural, the way it should. Built like a tank. It weighs as much as some amps do. Customer support is second to none. Klaus is a great guy and really goes out of his way for his customers.

Similar Products Used:

Fosgate 3A, Citation 7.0

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 18, 2002]
Eric
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

built like a brick house (20+ lbs); long warranty; great synergy with Stratos amp

Weakness:

no remote (but remote option to be available soon, I understand); no balance control; can be a couple months' wait to receive one

Bought this to replace the preamp section of an old NAD 3120 integrated (had already replaced the amp with a cap-upgraded Odyssey Stratos). Tremendous increase in breadth of soundstage--about half again as wide as it was. Also huge increase in fullness of bass. Open and airy sound. MC input of phono section is quiet--detectable hiss only at near max volume (louder by many-fold than I would ever listen to it). I am now happy with the sound from my system--this was a huge qualitative improvement.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 14, 2001]
Jim
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellent sound and solid build quality. Fine phono stage.

Weakness:

Not wild about the large knobs(cosmetic complaint only).

Great sounding product and a true bargain. The phono stage sounds at least as good, if not better, than the Creek outboard that I had been using. Our 23 year old Rogers LS35As have never sounded better and the new Symphonic Line Legatos speakers we just purchased from Odyssey sound fantastic. Built like a tank. I don't see how you can go wrong for the price.

Similar Products Used:

Modified Dynaco tubes, Audionics, Classe, Arcam, Acurus and others auditioned in various stores.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 13, 2001]
Chien Vu
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

musicality, clarity, soundstage, imaging, integrity of sound/instruments throughout from 20-20K hz. Price.

The Odyssey Tempest preamp presents music and stage in its truest form that I have ever experienced. Driven by the Odyssey Stratos amp, the power of the music comes through with excellent presentation. Very well matched amp/pre.

I bought an Odyssey Stratos amp and an Odyssey Tempest pre. The Pre had a delay in parts and came a month later. So I used the Carver receiver as a temporary pre. Although I noticed the power of the amp immediately, I was not at all satistied with the brittleness of the treb, and disappointed with the lack of depth of the base as filtered by the Carver. Well, all that changed once the Tempest arrived. Gone immediately were all those misgivings of the Carver. There is now pure music with excellent presentation.

Treb, voice, mids and base are exactly where they should be. I listen to almost all acoustic recordings. From Berlios' Requiem, to Al di Meola's guitar, to Michael Murray's pipe organs, to David Benoit's piano/band, all recordings come through very true in its own character, to its fullness without coloration. I can tell the different acoustical quality of the churches that house these pipe organs. I had to turn jump up and turn down the volume when the 32ft base pipe comes on, not for fear of the volume but I am just so not used to this sound. The Stratos does provide a punch below the gut, lightning quick, but this is not about the amp...

On a downloaded recording from internet/MP3 format, the clipping on the cymbal became so evident that it bugged me to death. I never knew it existed before. One more thing, I have a left wall to the room, 4ft from speaker, and the right side opens up into the kitchen without a wall. Very noticably, the left side of the stage is beautiful, open, wide, deep (a true music hall), but the right side of the stage is a bit thinner for lack of a wall. Bizarre, but it makes sense. Well, that is another type of upgrade altogether, when I move!

Otherwise, the soundstage is beautiful - width, placement, depth, accuracy, all just right. Beethoven's fifth piano concerto (Ivny Kisin?) staging is exact; if I close my eyes, I can feel like I am sitting about 20th row back and about 15 ft up in the middle balcony. Violin section, first and second chair, timpani, piano (front), cello, horns, double base where they normally are. Again, feels like I am listening down from the balcony, "seeing" 3D. Incredible.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 21, 2001]
Richard L
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very smooth, good phono section. Dead quiet. Difficult to determine if the preamp adds any sound of it's own

Weakness:

Lacks a remote. No AV bypass, all inputs routed through volume control

Excellent definition, bass is articulate, treble is clean with no ringing, no simblant, no hiss. Very wide soundstage. Good deliniation of instruments. Absolutely refuses to sound congested at any volume level.

Lack of a bypass inputs does make integration into system a bit more complex. However, I have never been able to take the system out of my system. Other preamps I've auditioned sound glassy by comparison. The lack of grain and glare is almost unheard of in equipment in this price range.

Now if Klauss would just give us an AV preamp...

Similar Products Used:

Adcom 550, BK,

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 21-26 of 26  

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