ML Odyssey a significant upgrade to SL3 ?

[malcesine]

hi everyone,

I am tempted to move to a used pair of Odysseys - but only if they were a significant upgrade to my very nice SL3's
I run with a decent SVS sub so any <80Hz bass improvements aren't a significant factor for me.

The Odysseys are a large chunk of cash more than the resale value of my SL3's, so any subtle improvements wouldn't be enough for me to make the move.

I will not have chance to demo in advance due to distance

Any thoughts on moving in this direction ?

 

[neville]

Hi, well here;s my 2 quids worth, in response to your question.

And for once i can actually comment on a topic i know something about, as ive recently done it.

Upgrade the cross over board, you will be staggered at the result and never doubt your SL3s (even if one is miss behaving at the moment in my case) ever again. Now i could go on and on, but really there's no need the difference this has made to the sound produced by my speakers well lets just say it was worth every penny and some.

 

[malcesine]

Hi, well here;s my 2 quids worth, in response to your question.

And for once i can actually comment on a topic i know something about, as ive recently done it.

Upgrade the cross over board, you will be staggered at the result and never doubt your SL3s (even if one is miss behaving at the moment in my case) ever again. Now i could go on and on, but really there's no need the difference this has made to the sound produced by my speakers well lets just say it was worth every penny and some.

hi neville,

I am intrigued. Any more details on your upgrade you can share ?

 

[roberto]

Hola Chicos. Here are my 2cents. The Odyssey are better than the SL-3. Why? Because, their feature, Force-forward design, set up at the woofers are very precise with the bass notes and room interaction. The clue here is not just the bass energy in the room. The quantity of bass vs quality is another thing.

The Odysseys are designed to have a robust, deep bass, but not all musical notes, just the ones that are played with the thicker strings. This feature, lets you know where the bass player is playing the strings, and understand better the fingering, usually not too well defined on other speakers.

The Odyssey is a very delicate and precise instrument. Jut set them up with two to three feet away of their back wall, and you will not get the bad bass resonances usually found in the other models or any speaker. Read about this feature. It is called Force- Forward.

..."Odyssey leverages MartinLogan's breakthrough hybrid speaker engineering into a unique design maintaining controlled dispersion and outstanding dynamic range while minimizing room interaction. Its unique bass control system—adapted from Prodigy's exclusive ForceForward™—consists of two proprietary dynamic drivers engineered to perfection. A 10-inch rear-firing driver provides powerful depth while conditioning and extending bass room response. A second 8-inch front-firing driver extends and resolves bass detail, resulting in clean powerful bass throughout the listening room..."

Happy listening!

 

[Tosh]

My experiences with going to an active xo for the bass only on both SL3 and Ascenti tell me that it is the passive xo in the bass that ruins ANY loudspeaker....

 

[neville]

My experiences with going to an active xo for the bass only on both SL3 and Ascenti tell me that it is the passive xo in the bass that ruins ANY loudspeaker....

Guys, firstly i like to clear something up, i know my limitations which when it comes to DIY and getting your hands dirty can be summed up very simply, "If your going to mess about with something you know little or nothing about, Dont and get someone who does"

As far as the upgrade to the cross over board is concerned, this accolade my case goes to one man.

Now as a junior member of MLO im not sure whether i can mention names etc, so if i have caused any offence or said something i shouldn't have my apologies in advance. My cross over upgrades were carried out by Aired Audio located here in the UK, useless for everyone else, but for UK users worth knowing id say.

I have no tie with this company in any way. Well other than im a customer and a very very happy one at that

This company has supplied me with both valve amplification and my dac, both of which have been heavily modified by them for me.

The speaker upgrade was my suggestion after a discussion about cross over boards/ugrades and the work completed by them on my behave i cannot fault in anyway.

Mods included
Electrolytic capacitors on the stat board replaced and upgraded to Elna Silmic and
Nichicon Fine Gold (old were Panasonic).

Crossover capacitors upgraded and replaced.

Original old Erse caps replaced with Mundorf E-Caps (Electrolytic).

Crossover capacitors upgraded and replaced.

Original old Erse cap replaced with Mundorf E-Cap and an old Alcap replaced with a
ClarityCap ESA film capacitor.

Crossover capacitor upgraded and replaced.

Old Erse cap (electrolytic) replaced with a ClarityCap ESA film capacitor.

Original IEC input upgraded to a gold plated version.

Stat connector box ungraded to a gold plated version.

Speaker cabinet damped

I should say here i was on a budget to get this work done, and additional work was suggested so i have more to do in the future if and when the notion takes me, but the result, goodness me the result

After about 200 hrs settling in time (they've got months on them now), they sound is just staggering, i loved the sound the the speakers produced, but now they are just simply better right across the board i love em (setting aside my slight issue with a stator panel at the moment, but lets not cross threads).

Now you could say that i would say that wouldn't i, but i have a comparison as a friend also owns a pair of Aerius speakers and ive satisfied my own curiosity on that front. I also appreciate that the sound coming out is the sum of a lot of parts.

I could get into the "this is better that's more forward type of conversation", but frankly what's the point, to my ears the lift in sound quality was worth the outlay and some.

happy to provide more details, or and i know this is no use to anyone other than those Scotland and probably someone local at that, if you'd like to hear them, once my slight issue ive eluded to is resolved, by all means pm me and come have a listen.

Hope i haven't bored everyone to tears, and Roberto i will drop you a response on the other topic later

All the Best to all for 2015
Neville

 

[neville]

My experiences with going to an active xo for the bass only on both SL3 and Ascenti tell me that it is the passive xo in the bass that ruins ANY loudspeaker....

Guys, firstly i like to clear something up, i know my limitations which when it comes to DIY and getting your hands dirty can be summed up very simply, "If your going to mess about with something you know little or nothing about, Dont and get someone who does"

As far as the upgrade to the cross over board is concerned, this accolade my case goes to one man.

Now as a junior member of MLO im not sure whether i can mention names etc, so if i have caused any offence or said something i shouldn't have my apologies in advance. My cross over upgrades were carried out by Aired Audio located here in the UK, useless for everyone else, but for UK users worth knowing id say.

I have no tie with this company in any way. Well other than im a customer and a very very happy one at that

This company has supplied me with both valve amplification and my dac, both of which have been heavily modified by them for me.

The speaker upgrade was my suggestion after a discussion about cross over boards/ugrades and the work completed by them on my behave i cannot fault in anyway.

Mods included
Electrolytic capacitors on the stat board replaced and upgraded to Elna Silmic and
Nichicon Fine Gold (old were Panasonic).

Crossover capacitors upgraded and replaced.

Original old Erse caps replaced with Mundorf E-Caps (Electrolytic).

Crossover capacitors upgraded and replaced.

Original old Erse cap replaced with Mundorf E-Cap and an old Alcap replaced with a
ClarityCap ESA film capacitor.

Crossover capacitor upgraded and replaced.

Old Erse cap (electrolytic) replaced with a ClarityCap ESA film capacitor.

Original IEC input upgraded to a gold plated version.

Stat connector box ungraded to a gold plated version.

Speaker cabinet damped

I should say here i was on a budget to get this work done, and additional work was suggested so i have more to do in the future if and when the notion takes me, but the result, goodness me the result

After about 200 hrs settling in time (they've got months on them now), they sound is just staggering, i loved the sound the the speakers produced, but now they are just simply better right across the board i love em (setting aside my slight issue with a stator panel at the moment, but lets not cross threads).

Now you could say that i would say that wouldn't i, but i have a comparison as a friend also owns a pair of Aerius speakers and ive satisfied my own curiosity on that front. I also appreciate that the sound coming out is the sum of a lot of parts.

I could get into the "this is better that's more forward type of conversation", but frankly what's the point, to my ears the lift in sound quality was worth the outlay and some.

happy to provide more details, or and i know this is no use to anyone other than those Scotland and probably someone local at that, if you'd like to hear them, once my slight issue ive eluded to is resolved, by all means pm me and come have a listen.

Hope i haven't bored everyone to tears, and Roberto i will drop you a response on the other topic later

All the Best to all for 2015
Neville

 

[malcesine]

some great info on upgrading what I have - thanks

Any thoughts on my original question ?
Would used Odysseys be worth paying a more than 50% over the current value of my SL3's ?

 

[Tosh]

If the Odyssey has the Gen2 panel (with the clear spars), then I would value it at about $1500-2000 (where the SL3 is about $800-1000).

But I would prefer to listen to an SL3 with active xo on the bass than to listen to a stock passive Odyssey....

 

[malcesine]

Thanks Tosh, your valuations are close to whats on offer (if you change $ directly into £ - everything is more expensive in UK).
Will look a bit more into active crossovers

Any other views on a standard Odyssey v a standard SL3 ???