Klaus Bunge of Odyssey Audio is a one man circus of personality, high-end sound, and high-end value. Together with VPI Industries, and Symphonic Line we get a healthy dose of what might be Klaus’ highest-end speaker achievement yet. Don’t worry, the value aspect remains the same.

The Story

Entering the darkest room of the show, I “marco-polo” my way over to Klaus. We talk a bit and he offers to give me center seat, and fire up a few records that we’ve heard before last year in this same room. It’s odd that sense memory for stuff like this remains intact, but it does. We place a Alan Parson’s record on the VPI Avenger and what happens next is pure magic, but more on that later. First, let’s talk about what is new for this year.

Odyssey Audio has been a darling of the industry for many years now for offering so much of the audiophile pie at value prices and from under one roof. Electronics are built from shared circuit designs, but dolled up with Klaus’ own choice of components and chassis. Speaker designs are all Klaus however. Showing for the first time ever at Capital Audiofest, Klaus’ new Liquid floor-standing speaker. Designed from his two-way tower speaker, which remains in the Odyssey product line. By adding a second woofer and more cabinet space, Klaus’ new speaker delivers an extra octave in the lower regions.

The Sound

Everything I’ve loved about Klaus’ speaker designs prior to this new floor-stander is now more in your face and coming from farther away than before. Yes, there is more bass reinforcement from the added cabinet space and drivers, but now with the lower drivers taking over its fair share of the bass region, the upper drivers are now free to dance with more ease and precision. Sound-stage space and depth of the landscape are now clearer and fade away into the distance with surprising amounts of high frequency decay. Cymbals and other bell-ish sounds I heard don’t spill-off over a distant edge, they ride off into what seems like an infinite horizon. Bass is still signature Odyssey, but under more control at volume, and deeper.