Rating:
Hot: This is for the Extreme SE version. Excellent speed, slam and resolution; punches well above its class and on par with some more exotic amps. Very transparent and still musical, with enough grunt to drive hungry loads – and it’s no bass shirker, displaying fast and tight bass. Very natural textures, with a level of insight you’d be hard pressed to find at twice or thrice the price. If it doesn’t sound right in your system, it’s your preamp, source or speakers being shown up! Bettered only by the monobloc version … and perhaps a Soulution, dare we say …? Beautiful synergy with Odyssey’s own Tempest SLB preamp.
Cold: Will force you to reassess your system. Plain vanilla cosmetics will put off some. Consistency in quality control has been reported, but you’d expect that of a three- or four-man show.
Encore: One of the best kept secrets in hi-fi realms for years, until unearthed by the mainstream hi-fi press a couple of years ago. Now, it seems they can’t make enough! Performance-price ratio is unmatched. You can locked down your system with this.
Specs: Class A/B / 110 watts per channel x 8 ohms, stable down to 2 ohms / Wide-band frequency range of 2Hz to 400kHz / Current: 40 amps / Capacitance: 120,000 microfarads / 1 pair of RCA inputs with 22kOhm impedance / Finish: Silver, black standard, other colours at extra charge.
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