Odyssey Design Lorelei speakers, Tempest preamp, and Stratos power amp.

Manufacturer: Odyssey Design, 5883 North Victoria Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46228; 317-299-5578; www.odysseyaudio.com

Price: Lorelei speakers, $2,700/pr; Tempest preamp, $1,075; Stratos power amp, $1,275; Groneberg cables, $500; Complete system price; $4,500

Source: Manufacturer Loan

Lorelei is an apt name for these speakers. The myth of the Rhine maidens reflects the German design of these speakers by Rolf Gemein of Symphonic Line. The Ella Fitzgerald recording of Gershwin's 'Lorelei' reflects their US manufacture by Klaus Bunge's Odyssey Designs (remember the line "I want to be like her").

Klaus Bunge has been importing the Symphonic Line brand for a while, and he found that everybody loved the sound and construction quality but the cost of shipping and the weak dollar drove the prices to un$ensible levels. What if the German Symphonic Line had an American cousin? And since we're not limited by biology here, what if the American cousin was actually an identical twin? That was Klaus' idea for Odyssey Designs.

But in the myth, even a long and frustrating struggle didn't let the hero get the gold (as Bugs Bunny said, "What did you expect in an opera, a happy ending?"). As you'll see, my experience with the Lorelei did involve something of a struggle (which was largely my fault--but isn't all tragedy grounded in hubris?), but if you read on you'll also see that this story comes out golden in the end because of that other great German icon: Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Klaus.

While we're waiting for the amps to warm up, let's go over the system.

The Lorelei speakers are two-way ported towers that have finally disabused me of the prejudice that 6 and a half inch two-ways aren't worth over a thou. It seems intuitive that small woofers can't produce full-range sound no matter what you do--but it's wrong. A properly designed two-way with a big enough cabinet and high quality parts can amaze you with its sound. And the Lorelei are all of the above.

Start with the Scanspeak drivers, a 6.8" carbon fiber/graphite mid-woofer and a 1" soft dome tweeter. Yeah, the same ones they use in $10,000 speakers. Then design a crossover that looks more like the insides of some power amps, including a monstrous 4" diameter coil, with a 4th-order low-pass and a 3rd-order high-pass [insert appropriate joke about Germans as control freaks, but wait for the listening test before you laugh]. Mount everything in a very solid cabinet with 11/8"-thick walls completely lined with acoustic foam, a sloping front panel for driver time-alignment, and heavy-duty binding posts. You can use the spikes if you want, but with 70 lbs. pressing down on each 8.5 x 13" flat bottom you really don't need them. This isn't your father's 6 1/2" two-way, and it doesn't sound like it.

The cabinet can be finished in light cherry, red cherry/mahogany, oak or black ash veneer. Lacquer finishes are available as options. The shape is basically rectangular with a sloped-back front panel, but the corners are rounded and detailed in an unusual way with the raw MDF polished and finished. On the natural cherry model tested the two-tone effect is subtle and pleasing; the lacquer models are one-tone but the profiling still gives the same effect.

The Stratos power amp is equally impressive. Also designed by Rolf Gemein of Symphonic Line but manufactured in the US to ISO9001 standards, this is a beautifully finished piece. The two sides are large heat sinks, but unlike most other megaamps I've seen (such as my Parasound HCA-2200 II) these are horizontal, wide, and smooth so they don't slice your hands every time you try to move the 54 lb. monster. Output is 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms and nearly doubles to 260 wpc into 4 ohms. The toroidal transformer feeds a power supply with 60,000 [micro]F of capacitance. Current delivery is 45 amps, yet this baby runs very cool to the touch (again unlike my Parasound).

The Tempest preamp is also beautifully made. Two small but solid-feeling knobs select source and monitor loop, and two large (actually the largest I've ever seen) knobs handle volume and (bizarrely) on-off. Inputs include phono (that's a blast from the past, but it saves some of you a separate phono prepre), and all the RCA connectors are from WBT. There's also a balanced out (matched to the balanced input on the Stratos), with high quality Neutrik XLR connectors.

All the parts in the Tempest, as with the Stratos and Lorelei, are top-quality, including Wima caps, metal film resistors, and ALPS pots. It also includes thick aluminum face and back plates, and Audio Selection damper feet. One feature I missed is volume readout: as you work the remote control the huge volume knob turns, but a black knob on a black faceplate doesn't really show much about its position. On the other hand, nudging the knob let me get really fine gradations as I set SPLs on the meter, so it's a trade-off. Minor omissions are a balance control and a mono setting, but I rarely use these. The supplied remote control is a little cheesy looking, but for $20 more you can have the fancy German import version.

Switching manufacturing to the US allows a choice of colors beyond basic black, at a nominal up charge. But keeping the German engineering allows a generous 20-year warranty on parts (2 years on labor).

The biggest benefit of domestic manufacture is on price. As Symphonic Line imports, the speakers cost $8,000 and the pre amp and power amp are $4,000 each. The Odyssey prices represent approximately a 70% discount. That's Sensible!

But wait! It gets even better. If you buy the speakers and amps together as a system, Klaus throws in $500 worth of Groneberg interconnects and speaker cables, and reduces the system price to $4,500. The synergy among these made-for-each-other components is an added bonus.

Critical Listening: Klaus had warned me that this system really needs break-in when new, so I set everything up and used it for casual listening. Initial impressions were similar to my consistent raves from the Home Entertainment Shows.

But when I got down to the critical listening test, things didn't seem quite right. Deep bass was a little recessed, highs a little edgy, mid-bass smeared, and overall volume seemed low at any given pink noise SPL.

I decided to puzzle this out over lunch, and in mid-bite I noticed (even from the next room) that the sound had changed: it was noticeably lusher and more involving. I mentioned this to Klaus and he said this is normal: even after break-in this system needs to warm up when it hasn't been played for a while. Keeping the amps on all the time helps, but evidently the speaker drivers and/or crossover also need a wake-up call.

The warm-up solved most of the problems, but I was still unhappy with the muddy mid-bass because I had heard these speakers sound as clean as Rheingold beer. Another call to Klaus gave me the secret formula. I had positioned the Lorelei speakers in the carpet marks from the reference speakers, on the long wall of my living room. That put them 13-15" from the back wall, toed in toward the couch on the other wall. Klaus reminded me that when I had seen the Lorelei at the show, he had them on the end wall, several feet out, straight on. He recommended placement 2-3 feet from the rear wall.

A little furniture rearranging produced the same layout in my living room: 36" from the back, 30" and 32" from the sides, 72" center to center. The listening chair made an equilateral triangle with the speakers, so the listening position had lots of air on the sides and back. Now the Lorelei sounded like I remembered! I guess I should have asked directions sooner, but the opera never resolves the plot until the last act...

Here are the critical listening notes from the final, warmed up and properly positioned session. The reference speaker was the Legacy Signature III, with Legacy Streamline preamp and Step One processor, Parasound HCA-2200 II power amp, and Rotel RCD-971 CD player. The Signature IIIs have three 10-inch bass drivers, 2 7-inch mid-ranges, and three tweeters, and cost almost as much as the entire Odyssey system. So when you see notes below about the reference having deeper bass, you know where it's coming from. But the differences were much less than you would expect given the huge discrepancy in driver area, and in many other areas the Lorelei outperformed the reference.

Dvorak: Serenade (Delos 3011)--After the warm-up transformation, volume seems right for 76 dB, bass is full and timbre is mellow (but not overwarm). Musical and very involving. The reference speaker made the cellos more prominent; the sound was lusher but slightly smeared so it started to excite the room modes.

Rosemary Clooney: My Buddy (Concord 4226)--The overall timbre is a very convincing cool-natural sound. Rosie's voice is a little cool, but sounds like her and is properly placed at the front of the band. The reference speaker projected the voice through the orchestra with a slight megaphone feel.

Rechecking with a better-recorded cut (from Concord 4795) had Rosie's mature mellow sound perfectly reproduced and the Basie band with perfectly-balanced timbre (on the warm side) and great impact. The reference speaker sounded very similar.

Liszt: Mephisto Waltz (Reference Recordings 25)--In the early listening (before the warm-up), the piano had a convincing lean sound; high notes had a bright attack but there was enough bass to balance out a cool-hall sound. In the final test, some of the treble sparkle is gone; the sound is more mellow--very listenable but probably less realistic given the recording notes. The reference speaker sounded similar, but with more heft and presence in the bass--probably even less realistic than the Lorelei.

Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne (Virgin 90714)--Sounded true to the recording, which is cool and bright, but it didn't exaggerate the weaknesses. Some speakers add a romantic gauze to this recording which makes it more pleasant but less honest. The Lorelei have just a little lushness, which makes this more pleasant and makes me want to keep listening. The reference speaker sounded similar to the Lorelei, with deeper bass.

Holst: Planets (EMI 47160)--I normally listen to this and the following selections at 82 dB pink noise. At that loudness the sound was very good, especially in the quieter passages, but loud passages didn't seem quite loud enough and the sound was slightly flattened. Bumping the pink noise reading to 85 dB solved the problem. Now there is no sense of compression and loud passages remain very natural with no harshness. Excellent sound all around. The reference speaker was not as clean, probably because room modes had started to muddy the mid-bass.

Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet (Delos 3050)--Again, at 82 dB the sound was excellent on the quiet intro, with natural-sounding horns, lovely violins, and perfect cellos, but the swaggering entry of the trombones was a little lacking in impact. Bumping to 85 dB preserves all the good qualities and adds impact and life. The trombones could still use a little more heft, though. The reference speaker got the trombones just right.

Bach: Toccata & Fugue (Delos 3503)--Sticking with the 85 dB setting, I get great pipe organ sound. The high notes have just the right attack; the lower keyboard has a pure organ timbre; the pedals lack the ultimate floor-shaking ability but sound right. Inner notes can be distinguished better than with most speakers. On the reference speakers, the attack sound was almost gone, the pedals had more weight (the floor really shakes), and the inner notes were somewhat muddied; overall this sounded like a much larger instrument in a larger hall. Which is right? John Eargle's recording notes describe this organ as a large four-manual instrument, in a large church with a fairly short reverberation time; his intent was "to maintain clarity, while reaching for as much room sound as practicable." That sounds to me like the Lorelei are producing the sound Eargle intended, except for the lowest bass.

Bach: Toccata & Fugue (Dorian 90134)-This is a much heavier, more reverberant recording that is a real challenge for loudspeakers to maintain clarity and overall balance On the Lorelei, high notes occasionally have a reedy sound (which may be what was recorded). Bass is very full (as recorded), but never gets muddy. The midrange sounds a little recessed compared to the bass and treble. The reference speaker reduced the reedy edge, but the bass fullness became really muddy; the midrange was better balanced with the treble, but the bass got much too loud at times. The Lorelei make this recording sound as good as I have heard.

Nowell: Riu, Riu, Chiu (Sampler 8606)--Hammered dulcimer is spot on, cymbals are very prominent, hand claps are natural but a little thin. Overall a convincing and correct forward sound. The reference speaker was very similar.

LEDR and Depth Tests (Chesky JD37)--Up: very good vertical rise, with a slight curve in at the top (normal). Over: very good are with extremely high top (right at the ceiling), but the bottom doesn't go near the floor (perhaps because the woofer is located 30" off the floor). Lateral: very good straight line at the top of the cabinets, from speaker to speaker. Depth: clear changes all the way back to 12' with clear changes in the hall sound (unusually good).

The reference speaker was similar on Up; the are on Over was flatter, only going half way from the top of the speaker to the ceiling; the first and third lines on Lateral started and ended outboard of the speakers (helped by the rear drivers?); and Depth changes were clear only to 9 feet.

Conclusion: The Lorelei speakers are pure gold. Their sound is as alluring as a Rhine maiden's, and although they require positioning away from the rear wall they aren't finicky about placement. Give them a little room to breathe and they'll sound great in any room. At $2,700 they represent a very Sensible value for this level of performance. The system including the Tempest preamp, Stratos power amp, and Groneberg interconnects is a masterful ring cycle. At $4,500 it is a phenomenal value.

Bugs was wrong: this opera does have a happy ending!