Product: Odyssey Audio - Epiphony Mini Monitors
Manufacturer: Odyssey Audio - USA
Approx.cost: $ 595 USD
Reviewer: Scott Faller - TNT USA
Published: October, 2003

The Odyssey Epiphony's

Trivial Bits

Let's see, where do I start with this one. Well, let's take another trip in the way-back machine. Back in April of 2003, I was covering the second Midwest AudioFest in Lima, Ohio. The show was made up mostly of horns and tube manufacturers. There were a few notable exceptions. A couple of solid state manufacturers slipped in without anybody noticing.

Odyssey Audio was one of the brave souls that snuck in past the valve police. Odyssey is run by a guy named Klaus Bunge. Klaus and I met formally Saturday afternoon. We struck it off really well. Klaus has this passion for life and all things audio. An extremely cool individual. A person that you would thoroughly enjoy being around.

As luck would have it, Klaus and I share the same tastes in music and more importantly, listening levels. We both like our music served loud. Not just loud but pushed to the edge of clipping and distortion. I think it's more a statement of what music does to our souls than anything else. It moves each of us passionately. Personally, I find music soooo much more involving when it's played above 100 dB. It's that or I'm going deaf, I haven't quite decided yet.

Kinda funny actually, when I was in the Bolder/Teres room at MAF, Wayne made the mistake of letting me set the volume levels on his system. Ouuuuuu, Lord and Master I was. Needless to say I cranked it......hard. I could hear people behind me saying “damn that's loud”, then quickly finding their way to the door. Oh well. Needless to say, nobody offered me that option again.
Damn, branded again.

Still at MAF, Saturday morning I found myself waking up early and roaming around the hotel and empty convention center. Odyssey Audio had set up in one of the exhibition rooms in the adjoining convention center. For some reason the door was open, so I let myself in. Nobody was there but all of the gear was on and playing. I sat down and started listening. It's not very often at one of these events where you have the room all to yourself and can do some serious listening. I guess I listened (all by my lonesome) for about 30 minutes or so. I was seriously impressed by the sounds coming out of the room.

After my Saturday morning experience, I found myself spending a fair amount of time in the Odyssey room taking in all that Odyssey has to offer. Klaus offers a nice selection of gear. Odyssey is the North American importer of the highly touted Symphonic line. Odyssey also offers a full line of amps which carry their own badge. More well know for his Stratus amplifier line, which is getting raves from all the print rags and customers (deservedly so BTW), Odyssey also offers a line of some damned fine sounding speakers.

Klaus and Alain Courteau (out of Canada) have teamed up to produce an affordable line of speakers. Klaus tells the story that he was searching for a manufacturer build his speakers and ran across Alain in Canada. Klaus picked up a pair of Alain's speakers and took them back to his shop for a listen. Within three hours of plugging them in, he had Alain under contract to build the Odyssey line of speakers.

This brings us to Odysseys entry level speakers, the Epiphony's. The Epiphony's are his mini-monitors and sell for $595 per pair. Odyssey also offers three other floor standing models, the Lorelei ($2500/pair), the Nightingale ($1295/pair) and the Circe at ($995/pair). As you can see, in the insanity of high end audio, these are (generally) pretty affordable speakers.

Manufacturers Published Data

Lets Listen for a While

The Epiphony's behind the Korato/AKSA Combo
Fortunately, the pair Epiphony's I'm listening to are already broken in. These are Klaus's personal pair that he uses at his shop. On my way out of MAF, Klaus grabbed me and said, “Here, why don't you give these a listen.”, so I brought them back to include in the shootout. Lucky me, literally. Klaus does mention that his line of speakers "fresh out of the box" sound pretty.....well....let's just say new. He recommends at least 200 hours of breakin time before they start to sound decent.

As I'll make clear(er) later, these speakers utterly disappear in my room. They image way better than any speakers that I've had through the old homestead during the shootout. These may image better than any speakers I can remember at this (or even) much higher price points. They absolutely disappear leaving the music to effortlessly appear on a virtual stage in front of you (with the right sources and material of course). That point alone makes these dangerous speakers. Dangerous for you, no, but for me and the review process, it's almost deadly. Let me explain.

When I got back from MAF, I plugged the Epiphony's in and discovered just how good these speakers sounded in the speaker shootout system. For the next two weeks, I spent every spare moment I had I spent listening to the Epiphony's. I was simply amazed at how good they sounded. Deep controlled bass, effortless midrange and silky smooth highs, soundstage and imaging to die for, the Epiphony's had it all.

Then I tried to put some other speakers back into the system. Boy was that a mistake. I bet I spent three or four nights trying to forget about how the Epiphony's sounded. I couldn't get their sound out of my head. So what I ended up doing was shutting down the system completely and setting up my SET rig again. I listened to it for the best part of three weeks. I figured by that time the Epiphony's sound would be out of my head letting me start anew. Needless to say, I didn't reinstall the Epiphony's until it I had the other reviews completed.

In the waning days of summer and early days of fall, my musical tastes seem to change. During the summer months I have a tendency to listen to more aggressive music, rock, alternative and even some white-bread hip hop. As the warm temperatures fade, so does my musical mood. During the days of fall and winter, I find myself listening to more relaxing music. The easier side of rock, jazz and classical find their way back into my musical diet. The Epiphony's did a great job on literally everything I played.

The Epiphony's behind the RAM 301 in Stand Alone Mode
Summer break coupled with the fact of writing other articles, I'd forgotten how good this little amp sounds. Clean, open, dynamic and very well defined. The RAM 301 was a very good match with the Epiphony's. For those needing a system has lower wattage and doesn't take up much space, this could prove to be serious contender.

The RAM handled the lower efficient Epiphony's without any noticeable trouble. I was easily able to drive the Epiphony's to very comfortable listening levels (95+ dB) without the RAM running out of gas. Generally speaking, a very nice match.

The Epiphony's behind the HH Scott
There is something inherently inviting about the sound of a vintage, pure tubed system. Something that just makes music far more listenable. You tend to forget about all of the expensive gear and tweaks you've made to your system to squeeze out that last ounce of detail. The old HH Scott still knows how to make music. The Epiphony's sounded just fine behind this vintage integrated. A few more watts would have been nice. Even with the puny 18 (or so) watts, the HH Scott drove the Epiphony's well into the mid 90's.

Again, it was a completely different presentation of the music but very enjoyable none the less. The Epiphony's didn't seem to present any problems to this old tube amp. As a side note, I did mate the Epiphony's to a much higher powered pair of tube amps (78 watt Radii mono-blocks in for review) and they faired extremely well.

The Epiphony's behind the RAM 301 Side by Side with the Dynaudio 42's
Just as with the ACI Emerald's, the Epiphony's present themselves completely different. In fact, they are on the opposite end of the audio spectrum as the Dyn's. The Dyn's are a front row speaker, the Epiphony's are a “back hall” speaker. Completely relaxed and effortless in their presentation. These speakers are so different in the way they present music, it's almost night and day.

Repeating again my (further) refinement of audio terminology I've stated in previous articles, relaxed does not mean veiled. It simply means that the speaker still provides (most) all of the detail of a front row speaker, you have just moved your seating position from the first row of the venue to almost the last row of the hall. Nothing more, nothing less.

As you experience in this style (or presentation) of speaker, the soundscape becomes more open and distant. The venue you are in becomes huge, taking on a physical size and shape. This is something that a front row speaker has difficulty doing. Even the best front row speakers (such as the Dyn's) can only hint at these spatial characteristics. Again, this isn't either good or bad, it just is.

The Epiphony's have a quality that few other speakers exhibit. As I mentioned earlier, the sound is effortless. Unlike so many other speakers that sound (almost) as if they are forced into reproducing music, the sounds that come out of the Epiphony's are free from any strain. As a result, the music floats freely in a virtual soundstage within my room. Freed from the constraints of the usual monkey coffin limitations, the images conjured up in my mind are only confined by the guy who mixed down my choice in music.

Objective Stuff

Fit, Finish and Basic Design
The Epiphony's are a two way, rear ported design that utilize 3/4" Seas tweeter and a 5 1/2" Tang Band woofer. The tweeter is a soft dome and the mid bass driver is doped paper. The crossovers are 3rd order on the tweeter and 2nd order on the woofer. I snuck a peek inside at the crossovers (shhhh, don't tell Klaus). The caps appear to be nice film caps (Solens and Bennic) and decent air core coils. There was a standard non inductive, wire wound and sand cast cement resistor used to in the circuit also.

As you can see from the pics, the front baffle has a sloped front for time alignment of the drivers (amongst other reasons I'll try to explain later in the imaging section). The cabinet is constructed of MDF and come in your choice of veneered finishes. The pair I have has a black vinyl finish. On the back is the port and single pair of standard gold plated binding posts. The pair I have here (with the black vinyl finsh rather than the standard veneered cabinet) are not overwhelming in the good looks department, they don't look bad either. In my case, I'm far more interested in how they sound.

Dynamics
Although the Dyn's immediacy and dynamics are very appealing, I think the Epiphony's are just a bit closer to the truth, especially in the bass and mid-bass regions. The Epiphony's reproduce music with an absolute, effortless nature. The bass and mid-bass isn't overblown or accentuated in the least. It's completely natural in it's presentation without coming across as soft or flabby at all.

As a test of dynamics, I used EST's Return Of Mohammed on Somewhere Else Before (again). This simple, yet very dynamic, prelude to the song is a great test (for me) of dynamics. The immediacy of the Dyn's on the opening double bass notes seems a bit over-exaggerated. On the Epiphony's the bass seemed a fair amount smoother and more “real” (real as far as recorded music goes). This wasn't an isolated instance. I noticed it each time I changed my music selection. I think some of this is attributable to the difference in each of the speakers presentations. The Dyn's being front row and the Epiphony's being a back hall sound.

You'll notice below that I only gave the Epiphony's a +0 rating in the dynamics department, rather than a higher or lower score. Reason, the midrange dynamics. The midrange is a tad veiled on these speakers. By tad, I mean just that, a tad, not boatloads (see midrange clarity below). In turn the overall dynamics seem a bit constrained compared to the Dyn's. When you listen to certain pieces of music, you should be able to feel (say) the notes struck on a vibraphone. With this slight midrange veiling, certain amounts of the dynamics aren't there.

Just guessing here, but if you are on a budget and decide go for these speakers, a simple crossover upgrade would take care of this veiling. A nifty Goertz silver air core coil, some AuraCaps on the tweeter and a nice Ohmite power film resistor should open these little babies wide up.
Hmmm, sounds like and article all unto itself.

Treble Extension
Using my trusty old geek-o-meter (Sencore SP-295c RTA) I found that the extreme highs are slightly more extended than the Dyn's. Not by much but it's a couple of dB at 20K. The other thing I noticed was how flat the in room response was from abut 2.5K and up. Hmmm, more unexplained mysteries.

Now, I'm not a meter jockey or anything, I just use the Sencore to confirm (sometimes rationalize) what I'm hearing. I plot an in room graph of all the speakers that come though here. I'm not going to publish them. I trust my ears far more than I do a piece of equipment. There are times, just like this one, where the meter comes in handy. If somebody tells you they can distinguish a +/-2dB difference at 20K.... well.... trust me on this one, mortgage the house and bet him, cause he's either FOS or Bat Boy in disguise (which automatically disqualifies him).

Treble Clarity
Much like the Dyn's, the treble clarity of the Epiphony's is extremely good. Even though we are dealing with a “back hall” sound, the clarity doesn't suffer a bit. The gentle taps on a cymbal are still clean and crisp. They have just moved much further back into the soundstage. There's been no loss of detail at all. If anything, the harsher recordings (that we all own) have become more listenable. That sizzle so infamous on older rock recordings just got shoved further back into the soundstage. This can be a very good thing, depending on your tastes in music.

Midrange Clarity
This is one of the items where the Epiphony's fall just a bit short. There is a slight veiling in the midrange region. By slight, I mean just that, slight. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most veiled, I'd call this about a 3 or so. In turn, I really feel this is one of the major reasons these speakers disappear in my room. Just a tad of that midrange forwardness is gone allowing them to disappear so well. Sure, a minor amount of details are smoothed over but this misgiving is more than made up for by what the Epiphony's do right. Everything in audio is a compromise.

With this slight misgiving, the timbre and clarity of instruments can be off a bit. Again, it's nothing too bad at all, but it is off. Some of this is attributable to the sloped front panel of the speaker. The sloped front puts the speakers off axis in two planes. When you look at a frequency response chart of a speaker, (certain) frequencies drop off the further off axis you become. As I sit up taller in my listening seat, I hear more detail. Still not quite the detail of the Dyn's but there is more detail the closer to “on axis” you get.

Again, as I stated earlier, if one were to upgrade the crossovers on these little gems, I'd be willing to bet these would just about be as close to perfect as you could hope (if there is such a thing as a perfect speaker).

Bass Clarity
This is a department where the Epiphony's did very well. The bass is deep, smooth and well defined. The overall feel of the bass to midrange region is a bit warm. Warm in the sense that it is musical, not undefined or muddy.

Listening to Gary Burtons Like Minds, Country Roads starts off with bassist Dave Holland doing an ultra smooth lead in which evolves into Pat Metheny and Gary Burton matching cords on guitar and vibes. Switching back and forth between the Dyn's and the Epiphony's, the Epiphony's do a much better job of reproducing Dave Holland's double bass. The reproduction is more natural and less (seemingly) forced. In turn the immediacy of the Dyn's tend to subdue some of the subtle details in the lower bass regions. Not bad by any stretch but just enough to be noticeable on a true A/B of the two speakers.

Bass Extension
The Epiphony's bass extension is extremely deep for a mini-monitor. Just as it was with the Dyn's, you can expect solid bass down to the low 40's in room. As usual, get them too close to the back wall and you'll (probably) have more bass than you can handle. That's OK though, a homemade port plug made of foam can usually tame those issues to a large extent. All in all, the bass extension was very close to the Dyn's.

Soundstage Depth
This is where the Epiphony's absolutely run away from the other speakers (under test) that have made it through this room. Using worthy recordings, the soundstage depth can easily reach 15' to 20' deep. Again, this is the nature of a “back hall” speaker. They can (and do) create a phenomenally large soundstage. I think one of the other main reasons this speaker projects such a huge soundstage is because of the high crossover point (4kHz). Most all of the other speakers that have been through here have crossed at about 2.5 kHz. This makes a BIG difference in the way a speaker presents itself.

As a musical test, I decided to use IZ (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole) Facing Future to test the soundstage depth. Iz is a local Hawai'ian star. This gentle giant was blessed with a voice that is almost heavenly. Covering the better part of three octaves, his voice effortlessly transitions to falsetto with clarity and finesse. Unfortunately, Iz has passed into the great beyond joining Laka, the great Hawai'ian Goddess of song and dance . The last track Hawai'i '78 is a haunting song about the overdevelopment of the lush tropical paradise of the Hawai'ian Islands. Played on the Dyn's, Iz's vocals were firmly planted between the speakers showing 2-3 feet of depth. As I switch back and forth, the Epiphony's placed Iz easily 10-12 feet back behind the speakers. In turn the soundstage opened up significantly. There was nothing subtle in the differences between these two very different approaches to the music.

Soundstage Width
This is another area where the Epiphony's really shine. As I've mentioned throughout this article, the Epiphony's create a cavernous soundstage (at least in my room). Not only do they completely disappear (on the right source material) the soundstage is only limited by the room boundaries and the guy that was in charge during mix down.

Going back to the old standby, the first track of Pink Floyd Momentary Lapse of Reason, the water lapping on the shoreline is a great test for soundstage. On the Dyn's, the lapping water appears to extend about 2-3 feet beyond the outside of the speakers. Switching to the Epiphony's, this same image has moved back about 10 feet and also extended out beyond the boundary of the speaker to about 5-6 feet.

Soundstage Height
Using some “fun” music for this test, I chose Jimmy Buffet's Banana Wind album. You gotta love this guy and his music. Fifty plus, lives in the Florida Keys, owns a bar (a bunch actually), a plane, a boat, and tours when he wants. He is living the life. Anyway, Banana Wind is actually a really fine recording. It ranks right up there with some of the audiovile releases except this on has music on it.

Switching back and forth while Jamaica Mistaica (just another shitty day in paradise) was playing, the Dyn's had the instruments and Jimmy's vocals placed level with the speakers. The ambience reaching about three feet above the speakers. The Epiphony's have the vocals and instruments placed about a foot above the speakers. The ambience extended a solid five feet above the speakers.

One note about soundstage heights. At times, speakers that exhibit a tall soundstage have a tendency to disconnect the treble from the midrange and the bass. When this happens, it paints this really weird visual of the performance. That is not the case with either of these speakers. They are both very coherent. The Epiphony's just happen to present a slightly taller soundstage. Again, I think it's whole “back hall” presentation.

Imaging and Focus
I hate to keep blathering on about the Epiphony's but I have to. When it comes to imaging and focus, these little jewels are light years ahead of the other speakers I've had in house so far. They image as well as almost any speaker I've heard. The Epiphony's provide a tight and extremely well defined image of the music. Nothing is out of proportion.

Another thing that contributes to the Epiphony's ability to image is the fact that (in my room) they disappear. Seldom to they call attention to themselves. Even when you have a hard left or right mix of an instrument or vocal, the Epiphony's “back hall” presentation helps the speaker hide itself.

Now this might seem a little hare-brained
I haven't quite wrapped my mind around this one completely (yet), but I suspect that part of the reason the Epiphony's disappear is due to the sloped front of the speakers. Forget about time alignment and all that kind of stuff. Think about what a sloped front does, physically speaking. First, as I mentioned earlier, you now become off axis to the direct radiated sound of the speakers in two planes. But second and maybe more importantly, the sloped front baffle of the Epiphony's load the (my) room differently.

The physics of acoustics are a strange animal when it comes to listening rooms, hell any room for that matter. Unless you have a room completely devoid of furnishings, the accuracy at which you can predict how the sound will propagate (load the room) becomes slightly less than predictable. Sure you can predict it, but the furnishing variables, all of their contours and absorption (or reflective) properties add weeks of calculations to get finite results.

So just what the Audio Gods names am I getting at? Let me try to sum it up. Since the Epiphony's front baffle slopes back, pointing the speakers up rather than firing straight forward (like the other speakers in the shootout) they load the room slightly differently thereby changing the room nodes. By slight I mean just enough to help make them disappear (coupled with being off axis). Does that make sense? It does to me.... in some twisted form of logic (and showing no real proof, only supposition).

...back to our regularly scheduled Imaging program, already in progress....
Flipping on some R&B, more specifically Michael McDonalds Blue Obsession, I switched to his rendition of Neil Young's, Down by the River. This track was recorded with a single, stereo mic hung over the drum kit to give the track a really raw feel. In turn, on a pair of speakers that image as well as Epiphony's do, you can follow the drummer Brian Zsupnik (he must be Irish) as he works his way around the drum kit. With the obvious exceptions of the large ride and crash cymbals being on opposite sides of the drum kit, the snare and toms are only separated in the soundstage by a few feet. This can be extremely difficult to discern on a pair of speakers that don't image as well as the Epiphony's.

Listening to the Dyn's, as Brian rolls from the snare to the floor toms, the image stays firmly centered between the speakers without any noticable movement. Now when I switch to the Epiphony's and play that same track, the drummer now begins to occupy a much larger area in the soundstage. You can actually follow him as he turns to his right to hit the floor toms. The image created by the Epiphony's is extremely well focused, right down to those small lateral movements that a drummer makes.

Just to make sure I wasn't imagining things that don't really exist, I played this same track over and over on the Slee Solo headphone amp using a pair of Grado SR-80's. For those unfamiliar with listening to cans on a good headphone amp, cans are extremely revealing when it comes to things like stereo balance (amongst many other things). The exact position of an instrument on a recording (in the soundstage) is portrayed similar to a clock that reads from 9:00 to 3:00. Everything recorded comes into a really sharp focus. You are able to place the instrument in the soundstage according to the "time". In the case of the drums recorded on Down by the River, the small lateral movements of drummer Brian Zsupnik are confirmed moving from the 12:00 to the 11:00 positions.

This is just one of dozens of instances I heard while I was listening to the Epiphony's. This just happened to be a good one to site because the movement was so small, yet so completely audible on the Epiphony's.

Subjective Stuff

Overall Coloration
Here we have a toss up. On one hand the Epiphony's have a cleaner bass region in comparison to the Dyn's, but on the other hand the Dyn's have slightly a cleaner midrange. Again, it comes down to a tradeoff. Which would you prefer?

Row
As I've stated repeatedly, the Epiphony's are a “back hall” speaker. Some people don't care for this sound and prefer to have a closer sound or even somewhere in between.

Weirdness
In all my time with the Epiphony's I didn't run across anything that they didn't do well (given their stated limitations). They mated well with both solid state and tubes. They didn't seem to be effected by cables or amplification. This is a good thing.

Miss You
Well, I'm not so sure I'm going to miss them. I'm seriously consider buying them, I enjoy them that much. As I mentioned early on and in other articles, the Epiphony's have turned me into an absolute imaging junkie.

To completely understand these ratings, please read about the methodology
Objective Ratings
Category	Mark	Comments
Fit and Finish	0	Since I don't have a veneered pair I have to stay neutral, otherwise it is pure speculation
Dynamics	0	Both have their advantages and drawbacks
Treble - Extension	+2	The Odyssey's are a bit flatter and more extended (in my room)
Treble - Clarity	0	Both pairs have very clean treble
Midrange - Clarity	-1	Ever so slight edge to the Dyns
Bass - Clarity	+2	The Epiphony's have smooth and well defined bass
Bass - Extension	0	Both pairs have great extension
Soundstage - Depth	+4	Massive, cavernous, deep, pick your superlative
Soundstage - Width	+3	VERY wide
Soundstage - Height	+1	Very nice
Imaging - Focus	+5	Pinpoint accuracy with the right sources
Subjective Ratings
Overall Coloration	0	It's a toss up, pick your poison
Row	20	20th Row (at least)
Weirdness	0	Nothing notable at all
"Miss You" Factor	+5	The Epiphony's do so much right

So..........

Over the past year or so of listening different speakers in the shootout, I think my tastes are changing. I'm really starting to get into a more “relaxed” sounding speaker. As fun as the front row is, I'm finding the “larger” sound of a back hall speaker much more enjoyable.

The Epiphony's performed extremely well will all kinds of recorded music. Feed them a lot of tube watts like I did with the Radii mono blocks and the Epiphony's absolutely come alive. That particular combination was some of the best sound I've heard in a long time.

So what kind of speakers are you actually looking for? Do you enjoy the front row sound? If so, the Epiphony's probably won't serve you well. Looking for an overly "detailed" sound? You may have to look elsewhere also.
On the other hand, if you are looking for an absolutely effortless presentation of the music and enjoy pinpoint imaging, you will thoroughly enjoy the Epiphony's.

I have to say, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Odyssey Audio Epiphony's. Although they aren't perfect, they do so much right (in my mind), that everything else is completely forgivable. Especially considering the price. Crap!!! I haven't even brought that aspect up yet. The Epiphony's are a damned sight less expensive than many of the other speakers that have been through here so far. When you consider them on a price to performance ratio, they would rate up towards the top of the scale (assuming you enjoy their presentation).
Afterthoughts...wonderful aren't they?

Thanks/Reference Gear

I'd like to personally thank all of the manufacturers who have made this series of speaker reviews possible. Remember, without these guys, you wouldn't be reading this :-) Surf on into their sites. They all sell affordable gear well worthy of your consideration.

Reference Gear
Gear	Manufacturer and Model	Distributor
CD Player	Njoe Tjoeb, Upsampled	Upscale Audio - Kevin Deal
Pre Amp	Korato KVP-20	Korato Group
Audio Switching	NEC AVX-910	NLA – My personal gear
Amplifier	ASKA - Aspen 55 watt Amplifier	Aspen Amplifiers Pty. Ltd.
Amplifier(s)	RAM 301 - 30 watt Modified Jolida	Response Audio - Bill Baker
Amplifier	HH Scott 299A Integrated - EL84 PP	NLA - My Personal Gear
Interconnects	Silver Plated Copper, Teflon Insul	Home Brew
Speaker Cables	Silver Plated Copper, Teflon Insul	Home Brew
Speakers (ref)	Dynaudio Audience 42	Dynaudio USA Michael Manousselis
Speakers (review)	Odyssey Audio - Epiphony	Odyssey Audio Klaus Bunge
Geek Toys	Sencore SP-295c	Sencore

Manufacturers Comments

First off, I'd like to thank Scott and TNT for the very, very thorough review, of course. It's hard to add additional comments here, but there are a few issues that I'd like to address:

1. As Scott has mentioned, the Epiphonys are neither our nor Symphonic Line's design. The designer, Alain Corteau from Quebec, Canada, has indeed designed a few models for us. Nearly every month, I'm getting approached by some designers or even manufacturer, asking us to take a look at their designs, and it is hard at times to say no. The Epiphony fell into our lap by accident and sheer luck. When I started looking for a cabinet manufacturer for our Odyssey Lorelei model, a good friend of mine in Montreal covered Canadian manufacturer for us. He came across some speakers from Alain, and called me up to tell me about them. This time I was intrigued, and I've received a pair of the Epiphonys and the Nightingales soon. When I hooked them up in my reference system, I was floored, and as Scott mentioned, I've had an agreement with Alain right away. Alain indeed has great talent, making and tweaking speakers for over 10 years.

2. Room acoustics. I pretty much agree with Scott here as well. In the last 15 years, I've found that the most important part of the setup of speakers is to eliminate the first and second wave of reflections as much as possible. In our web site, we have a special "Tweak Tips" section that gives you the exact formula to achieve this. Albeit this formula doesn't take into account any building materials or furnishings, we're going one step further. Any customer can fax a drawing with measurements and explanations of the environment(i.e windows, mirrors, etc), and I will help setting up the system free of charge.

3. It is noteworthy to mention that we now offer a complete system deal that includes the Epiphonys, but minus the source. Our new Khartago amp (smaller Stratos), Etesian pre amp, Epiphonys, and Groneberg interconnects and speaker cables are offered at a system price of $ 1,500. This system is synergistically matched for the speakers.

4. Scott mentioned parts upgrades in the review. We are seriously looking into this, and if the results are as expected, we will offer a special upgrade in the near future as well.

5. Lastly, I also have to mention that the Epiphonys come with a standard 5 year warranty, and a 30 day money back guarantee. Finishes at this point are oak, light cherry, red cherry, and black ash. Additional finishes such as lacquer are planned for the future.

Klaus Bunge
Odyssey Audio