Modifying the Odyssey crossover - my adventure

[spectral]

And the finished product, with Cardas jumpers and CLX power cords (bass attenuation box currently shorted out)...

 

[R1200CL]

Great thread. My 8" needs replacement. (On of them).
Changinge the woofer is not an option ? (Just use the original one).

Power modification has not been mentioned. Is this something to consider for modification as well ?

 

[jaffrie]

Hi Guys,
Having been inspired by your mods, I too did some tweaking on the Xover overall yes much improved over stock.
less sibilance more clearer into the window of sound. I've also bypass the caps with 0.01 TRT caps which brought
further improvement. Overall it sounds even more cohesive. Have an OT question though, regardless of which amp
I've used, I've always noticed that the sound stage of my Odyssey is not wide everything appears in between the
speakers but never outside speakers edge. Are you guys experiencing the same as well ? Already tried many speaker
placement but none helped. Someone over at DiY suggested that I should use the Ascent crossover instead. Siting much
better sound with wider sound stage

Thks

 

[MPS]

Are you aiming the panels as per ML instructions in the manual (flashlight method)?

Also some diffusion behind the speakers might improve the width of the sound field.

 

[jaffrie]

Are you aiming the panels as per ML instructions in the manual (flashlight method)?

Also some diffusion behind the speakers might improve the width of the sound field.

Hi MPS

Yes I've diffusor installed, speakers are 5 ft from back wall & 6 ft away
from the side walls.

Thks

 

[C.A.P]

hello 5 year old thread.. The owner has since long sold these and woofers are rare as hens teeth.. Not sure ML has them anymore..

 

[R1200CL]

I was inspired by this tread, and I have just upgraded my Odyssey“s.

The result is fantastic. Thanks to Danny at GR-Research | Passion for High Quality Audio
Only changed the capacitors.
Highly recommended.

 

[Robert D]

I was inspired by this tread, and I have just upgraded my Odyssey“s.

The result is fantastic. Thanks to Danny at GR-Research | Passion for High Quality Audio
Only changed the capacitors.
Highly recommended.

By upgraded you mean the new ones are of higher quality than the originals, or they are new equivalents? It's great you found a place to do the work. Is it local to you, or did you have to do business through the mail?

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Just wait until you try eliminating the crossovers entirely

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

By upgraded you mean the new ones are of higher quality than the originals, or they are new equivalents? It's great you found a place to do the work. Is it local to you, or did you have to do business through the mail?

GR Research will upgrade your passive crossovers if you send them in. In some cases if you send them the whole speaker they will take measurements and tell you what can be improved.

Typically they just upgrade the quality of crossover components, that usually has a pretty small effect on overall sound. I did a similar upgrade with minor improvements but I am not everybody and your milage may vary.

 

[R1200CL]

By upgraded you mean the new ones are of higher quality than the originals,

Yes, sent him the schematics and pictures of the XO’s.

He keep stock of all capacitor, so he quite quickly shipped the new ones. Same values.

I suppose you could alternatively ship the whole plate with the XO‘s to him, but that will of cause raise the cost. The benefit with shipping is he could do measurements, and maybe achieve even better results. I’m not sure if he needs the whole speaker in order to do properly measurements.

So the first one doing this will benefit all of us.

An other thing to consider is some advice regarding rebuilding the bass XO. The front element is to my knowledge impossible to get. They are 6 ohm. Both mine has needed to be replaced. Luckily I was able to find two new elements some years ago.

There is a possibility to repair dead bass elements. I haven’t dug into that.

 

[R1200CL]

that usually has a pretty small effect on overall sound

When I did my upgrade last week, we did one speaker Friday, and the second on Saturday.
On Friday I played music. It was a very nice experience to be able to compare new and old speaker in clarity. So the $1300 I spent was well worth the money. I was given the option to save money on not upgrading bass XO, so that would be just below 1K.

i was thinking of upgrading to the new ESL13a. I went and listen to a used pair, and I didn’t find the sound differ much. So this upgrade is well below 1/10 of purchasing a new (used) speaker, and may even with better result.

I use a quite good amp. The Theta Prometheus mono blocks with Hypex NC1200. They really make the Odyssey’s shine. I have two subs. I’ve turned them off.

I expect other good Hypex based amps will do well with most ML speakers.

I‘m attaching the front bass element if anyone need to know the model number.

 

[R1200CL]

Just wait until you try eliminating the crossovers entirely

Actually not a bad idea. But expensive.

Active XO. Haven’t looked into it so much, but I suppose since I have the Casablanca SSP, I may use that as a crossover. Still would require an extra amplifier.

If I was starting from scratch, an ML with active sub would be my choice. Probably also save me money on amp to choose as well.

An other thing I have done, is adding super tweeters in my system.

 

[Brandon Hartwick]

Actually not a bad idea. But expensive.

Active XO. Haven’t looked into it so much, but I suppose since I have the Casablanca SSP, I may use that as a crossover. Still would require an extra amplifier.

Dayton makes a DSP unit for about $300 with 8 outputs, also crown DSP Hypex amps can be had for about $500.

Some people just throw an Amp with active crossovers on the woofer because the bass crossover is by far the most lacking part of ML speakers

 

[Heyfey]

Actually not a bad idea. But expensive.

Active XO. Haven’t looked into it so much, but I suppose since I have the Casablanca SSP, I may use that as a crossover. Still would require an extra amplifier.

If I was starting from scratch, an ML with active sub would be my choice. Probably also save me money on amp to choose as well.

An other thing I have done, is adding super tweeters in my system.

Actually not a bad idea. But expensive.

Active XO. Haven’t looked into it so much, but I suppose since I have the Casablanca SSP, I may use that as a crossover. Still would require an extra amplifier.

If I was starting from scratch, an ML with active sub would be my choice. Probably also save me money on amp to choose as well.

An other thing I have done, is adding super tweeters in my system.

I too performed Spectral's crossover mods about 10 years ago to my Odysseys, with very good results. Since then I've upgraded everything else in the system but haven't gotten the itch to replace the speakers. Brandon, you wrote you are using supertweeters. If they're on the Odysseys what are they and where did you place them?

 

[Heyfey]

I too performed Spectral's crossover mods about 10 years ago to my Odysseys, with very good results. Since then I've upgraded everything else in the system but haven't gotten the itch to replace the speakers. Brandon, you wrote you are using supertweeters. If they're on the Odysseys what are they and where did you place them?

Sorry, it wasn't Brandon with the supertweeters, rather R1200CL.

 

[Robert D]

Sorry, it wasn't Brandon with the supertweeters, rather R1200CL.

These speakers come with a tweeter mounted on the side that can be adjusted from off up to loud, and so this is something that elctrostat guys have been doing for a bit. The Martin Logan center channel speakers have it too. I bet if its done right that it sounds great. Id like to try it, but probably dont have the knowledge to do it right.

https://janszenaudio.com/products/valentina-p8-passive

 

[R1200CL]

If they're on the Odysseys what are they and where did you place them?

ADYTON AIR SUPERTWEETER

I just found some very simple floor stand to put them on outer side of the Odyssey’s.

Not home, so can’t give picture

 

[R1200CL]

What’s the price for new panels in USD ?
Do you order directly from ML ?