[UntilThen]

Odyssey is 4 months old today. Seems like a lifetime now. In the 6 years of Head-Fi, this item is most precious to me. Many thanks to Tomas for creating this amp for me. When I approach him to do this amp, I have no idea how it will turn out. All I know is that I have collected a bunch of tubes that I know will sound good because I heard them in the Elekit TU-8200. It was a no expense spared built. I was even prepared to go with pure silver wires for the internals but Tomas told me that is not necessary the desired outcome. Every step of the way, I trusted his judgement because he knows. When I first heard it I was quite shocked and surprised. I was genuinely impressed. So after 4 months, I am still very much impressed every time I sit down for a listen. He6se V2 is more than a week with me now. I am totally in love with this amp and headphone combination. Alas I know the next step has to be the Susvara because I know now that Odyssey will drive Susvara very well.

So here it is - Odyssey at 4 months old. It arrived on the 13th August 2021.

 

[Magol79]

Odyssey is 4 months old today. Seems like a lifetime now. In the 6 years of Head-Fi, this item is most precious to me. Many thanks to Tomas for creating this amp for me. When I approach him to do this amp, I have no idea how it will turn out. All I know is that I have collected a bunch of tubes that I know will sound good because I heard them in the Elekit TU-8200. It was a no expense spared built. I was even prepared to go with pure silver wires for the internals but Tomas told me that is not necessary the desired outcome. Every step of the way, I trusted his judgement because he knows. When I first heard it I was quite shocked and surprised. I was genuinely impressed. So after 4 months, I am still very much impressed every time I sit down for a listen. He6se V2 is more than a week with me now. I am totally in love with this amp and headphone combination. Alas I know the next step has to be the Susvara because I know now that Odyssey will drive Susvara very well.

So here it is - Odyssey at 4 months old. It arrived on the 13th August 2021.

Since today is Lucia day in Sweden, some nice tube glow from Odyssey is really fitting.

 

[UntilThen]

How very interesting. I just found out about Lucia day. Festival of lights. I should power on all my tube amps.

 

[jonathan c]

How very interesting. I just found out about Lucia day. Festival of lights. I should power on all my tube amps.

Then you should put this on the turntable…

 

[baronbeehive]

On your statement above in bold, Odyssey is all that and more. I wouldn't call it fairly flat sound because Odyssey has the Berocca Bounce which gives the lift in every frequency spectrum. Slight warm - checked ; liquid - checked ; revealing high frequency - checked ; kick ass bass - checked ; to die for midrange - you have to ask?

Now for the best part. Which is the best tube on Odyssey. Every power tubes that you can use on it. Mainly KT88, EL34. EL12 spez is special. EL39 is ungodly. KT150 and EL156 - supreme being. 807 - cheap and good. 6550 - one of a kind.

That said Odyssey is the only amp where I stopped looking for more as I regard it as the ultimate amp. Quiet on low impedance headphone like the He1000se, cool, powers any headphones including the He6se and drives speakers. What more do you want? Short of making your morning breakfast, it does everything.

Lucky person .

 

[baronbeehive]

Short of making your morning breakfast, it does everything.

I'm sure sonic is working on that for his next iteration as we speak .

 

[audiargent]

My weekend with Odyssey + He6se V2. Love this combination.

Those are a set of KT88s I am interested in! How do they sound?

And can I get some night shots?

Also, seeing you also have an LCD-4. How do they sound on the Odyssey?

Would you say they are far better than the HE-6SE V2? How would they compare on Odyssey?

 

[baronbeehive]

That makes me a zealot: 5 & 12…

2 and 1.. and 1 (speakers)... with an unnatural urge for the HiFiMan 1000SE for their soundstage.

Suppose that makes me some kind of nut .

 

[baronbeehive]

Those are a set of KT88s I am interested in! How do they sound?

And can I get some night shots?

Also, seeing you also have an LCD-4. How do they sound on the Odyssey?

Would you say they are far better than the HE-6SE V2? How would they compare on Odyssey?

There is an easy way of finding out.. ask him how long he's had each piece of kit!

 

[UntilThen]

Those are a set of KT88s I am interested in! How do they sound?

And can I get some night shots?

Also, seeing you also have an LCD-4. How do they sound on the Odyssey?

Would you say they are far better than the HE-6SE V2? How would they compare on Odyssey?

I shall reply when I get home. Night shot is a few posts up above.

LCD4 and He6se are like Ying and Yang. I will expand on that tonight.

 

[OctavianH]

If someone wants an Oblivion in North America, now is the time to buy it:
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/ultrasonic-studios-oblivion-tube-hybrid-amplifier.16307/

 

[UntilThen]

That's a good buy. If not for Odyssey I would have spend more time with Oblivion.

 

[UntilThen]

Alright @audiargent let's answer your questions but first I got distracted when I power on Oblivion and start listening with LCD4 which I have not use for a few weeks. Both amp and headphone. Mate this is a very good pairing. Oblivion just opens up LCD4 more and gives it a lot more air and space.

Question 1 : How do KT88 sound? In everything there is a base reference when describing sound. Where EL34 is more relaxed and euphonic, KT88 is more aggressive, tighter and less warm than EL34. In Odyssey that is biased on KT88, you get the best of everything because you get to use these 2 very contrasting power tubes. In essence you could have just gone with these tubes and you will be very happy. These tubes have very nice and expensive NOS variety. I didn't get the GEC KT88 because it's a brand new pair and I know if I were to buy it, I'll end up keeping it. However I did have some nice NOS EL34. The metal base and the Philips Miniwatt EL34 xf2. That's enough. On top of that I have the Telefunken EL12 spez and that is a very special tube. Absolutely gorgeous sound. I even prefer it over the EL34 metal base but not by much.

Psvane KT88 Tii sounds just like a KT88 but it's also smooth. Without any ragged edges. I like it enough not to have to spend on the GEC KT88. Of course if I get to hear the GEC, I would probably reshuffle my preference.

Comparing LCD4 and He6se. Prior to He6se arrival, my 2 main headphones are He1000se and LCD4. These could not have been more contrasting. I chose them because they are like ying and yang. He1000se is very open and airy with a top end bite. Some will find it too much but when I listen to He1000se with Odyssey, the combination is just right. Tube amps does wonders. LCD4 is more dense and has a thicker texture but it has very good clarity. Bass is where I fell in love with this headphone. LCD-3f bass has more bloom whereas LCD4 bass is tighter. However when you compare LCD4 bass with He6se then you will find LCD4 bass has more bloom whereas bass on the He6se is tighter and obviously without any bloom. He6se is in some ways similar to He1000se but He6se is tighter and punchier than He1000se. More tight fisted slam. I do have a preference for headphones that are revealing, airier and with a very good soundstage. So at this point I prefer He6se and He1000se over LCD4 but on some bass tracks that's where LCD4 shines. Vocals are lovely on the LCD4.

When you get Odyssey (also Oblivion) you will find that headphones responds very well with those amps. You will end up having several headphones. Now I have HD800, He1000se, LCD4 and He6se v2. Probably stop here while I enjoy them. I am thinking of Susvara though to replace them all.

 

[UntilThen]

One more low light photography of Odyssey with my headphones. He1000se is with Minidisc for head strap and earpads replacement.

 

[baronbeehive]

Alright @audiargent let's answer your questions but first I got distracted when I power on Oblivion and start listening with LCD4 which I have not use for a few weeks. Both amp and headphone. Mate this is a very good pairing. Oblivion just opens up LCD4 more and gives it a lot more air and space.

Question 1 : How do KT88 sound? In everything there is a base reference when describing sound. Where EL34 is more relaxed and euphonic, KT88 is more aggressive, tighter and less warm than EL34. In Odyssey that is biased on KT88, you get the best of everything because you get to use these 2 very contrasting power tubes. In essence you could have just gone with these tubes and you will be very happy. These tubes have very nice and expensive NOS variety. I didn't get the GEC KT88 because it's a brand new pair and I know if I were to buy it, I'll end up keeping it. However I did have some nice NOS EL34. The metal base and the Philips Miniwatt EL34 xf2. That's enough. On top of that I have the Telefunken EL12 spez and that is a very special tube. Absolutely gorgeous sound. I even prefer it over the EL34 metal base but not by much.

Psvane KT88 Tii sounds just like a KT88 but it's also smooth. Without any ragged edges. I like it enough not to have to spend on the GEC KT88. Of course if I get to hear the GEC, I would probably reshuffle my preference.

Comparing LCD4 and He6se. Prior to He6se arrival, my 2 main headphones are He1000se and LCD4. These could not have been more contrasting. I chose them because they are like ying and yang. He1000se is very open and airy with a top end bite. Some will find it too much but when I listen to He1000se with Odyssey, the combination is just right. Tube amps does wonders. LCD4 is more dense and has a thicker texture but it has very good clarity. Bass is where I fell in love with this headphone. LCD-3f bass has more bloom whereas LCD4 bass is tighter. However when you compare LCD4 bass with He6se then you will find LCD4 bass has more bloom whereas bass on the He6se is tighter and obviously without any bloom. He6se is in some ways similar to He1000se but He6se is tighter and punchier than He1000se. More tight fisted slam. I do have a preference for headphones that are revealing, airier and with a very good soundstage. So at this point I prefer He6se and He1000se over LCD4 but on some bass tracks that's where LCD4 shines. Vocals are lovely on the LCD4.

When you get Odyssey (also Oblivion) you will find that headphones responds very well with those amps. You will end up having several headphones. Now I have HD800, He1000se, LCD4 and He6se v2. Probably stop here while I enjoy them. I am thinking of Susvara though to replace them all.

Great comments, interesting to see where you're at atm with these comparisons. Very informative!