Chord Odyssey and Chord Epic

[admin_exported]

Hi to all,

I am going to have a listen to some Odyssey 2 next week as it has been recommended to me. Unfortunately, although I would like to hear the Epic cable, my local dealer doesn't have any I can listen to and I would be interested in finding out about it for my system.

My questions are: If I like the sound of the Odyssey, could I be confident in ordering the Epic on the strength of the Odyssey's sound? Would I be right in thinking that the two cables have the same sound but the Epic has a lower noise floor due to the shielding and therefore more detail?

I'm currently using Kimber 4tc on trial but as I use Chord interconnects and power cables, I'm thinking it might make sense to go with Chord speaker cable for the whole synergy thing.

Thank you in advance of any help.

David

 

[d_a_n1979]

In all honesty I think the Chord Oddyssey 2 speaker cable would be more than enough for your system

I think the Chord Epic would be overkill

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you d_a_n I know exactly what you're saying except I recently tried the Chord Chameleon Silver Plus interconnects with my system and while they sounded really very good indeed, I thought I would try the Chorus 2's which I was sure would be overkill but worth the experiment anyway. To cut a long story short, I ended up with the Chorus 2 as the improvement in the sound over the Chameleon's really was worth the extra outlay.

 

[Anonymous]

if you can get the chord epic twin at a good price then i would recommend it,it is not cheap normally and therefore in the context of your system(no offence) it may be overkill,i use it and i know how good it is,however you really need an interconnect of equal quality to extract full benefit and this may be impratical in your system money wise.

 

[Anonymous]

d_a_n1979:In all honesty I think the Chord Oddyssey 2 speaker cable would be more than enough for your system I think the Chord Epic would be overkill

I completely agree with dan, the oddyssey 2 would be more than man enough for your system, epic is great but a bit over the top for what you have. If you have brass jumpers on your speakers remember to take them off and use oddyssey jumpers

 

[crusaderlord]

i will be interested to see what you think of the Odyssey v Kimber 4TC

i do have the Epic Supertwin but am considering trying a kimber interconnect and 4TC speaker cable as a trial just to see how different it is to my current set up

i think the Epic Supertwin is great cable but i have never tried much other than Chord Silverscreen and Rumour cables and a QED Silver Anniversary which i really didnt like

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you to all the replies. I know it's seems like overkill to use such a high end cable on my modest system but I do want to try the Epic or a least find out what difference/benefit there are over the Odyssey.

Crusaderlord, I have to say that the Kimber 4tc is very good cable. It certainly sounds very good on my system but then it's the most expensive I've tried. To my ears, it's a very natural sounding cable but I cant help thinking that I'm missing some high frequency and stage information. I Tried the Russ Andrews Crystal Cu interconnects which I believe are a 'beefed up' version of the Kimber Timbre and once again they were very good and gave a very fluid sound. They weren't bright by any means but they did seem to push everything forward on the sound stage so I couldn't perceive the depth of the stage. I think the 4tc might be doing something similar to a lesser extent but of course this is on my system and with my ears. I will let you know what I think of the Odyssey by comparison in a few days.

 

[Anonymous]

I to agree that the oddy and epic would be over kill for your system. How many metres of it do you need?

If I was you, go onto ebay and buy some used oddy from there, as it will be alot cheaper.

Or save your money and put it towards an upgrade in the electronics where you would see much more difference than buying speaker cable.

The cgord silverscreen is top cable so suits your system mate.

 

[Anonymous]

Potboyslim, thanks. I'll be needing 2x3m. I will take your advise and see what's on offer on ebay. Conventional wisdom is that 10-20% of the value of electronics should be spent on cables so in that context I know that Odyssey and Epic are overkill. I guess I'm doing a bit of an experiment to see just how good a cable I can use on my system and hear the improvement. I won't be spending money if I can't hear substantial improvements in the sound. I have listened to the Silverscreen and I can hear it's a good cable but for my ears at least it sounded too bass heavy and somehow muddled. Of course this is all very subjective, it was heard in my room, on my system and with my ears. I've also had a listen to the Rumour 2 which was a big jump in clarity but it sounded kind of thin if that makes sense.

On upgrading my electronics, it's something I might look into in time but to be honest, it's very likely to be Rega kit again. I like stand mount speakers so not sure where I'd go with that as the RS1's are the only ones Rega produce. I've owned loads of different kit of varying values over the years and for my ears at least, although modest the kit I have now is by far and away the best and musical I've owned so any upgrade would have to be something pretty special.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree the rega kit is very good indeed. I have the apollo, but might get the saturn soon instead.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd be very interested in your thoughts on the Saturn. I know the Apollo is supposed to be a big improvement over the Planet but to be honest the Planet is so good I really can't imagine how. I have heard the Apollo but it was in a demo room and I didn't have mine machine there for comparison.

 

[JoelSim]

I have 4tc and used to use Odyssey 2. IMHO the Kimber is the better cable. I also concur that money is better spent upgrading your components before speaker cable.

 

[crusaderlord]

Joelsim - are you able to elaborate at all on what qualities the 4TC are better at - i am thinking of just taking the 60 day trial on it myself as a bit of a tester - cant lose really given the offer

 

[JoelSim]

crusaderlord:Joelsim - are you able to elaborate at all on what qualities the 4TC are better at - i am thinking of just taking the 60 day trial on it myself as a bit of a tester - cant lose really given the offer

There's not much in it, a tad more detail and slightly less brightness in the treble. Overall a little smoother.

 

[crusaderlord]

thanks Joelsim - probably not really worth a change over the Chord Epic but i was interested to try it.

i think i will go for a new interconnect such as the Kimber Silver Streak first and see how that goes

 

[Anonymous]

A big thank you to everyone who's offered advise and opinion.

I've now had a listen to the Odyssey 2 and compared it with Kimber 4tc, Rumour 2, Silverscreen. My local dealer also suggested I try Naim NAC A5 so a busy eve for me last night.

Here's my conclusions in brief. I couldn't hear much difference between the Odyssey and Rumour except perhaps a slightly fuller sound to the Odyssey. For my ears and system, I am surprised at their lack of transparency. You can certainly hear the similarity between all 3 Chord cables, the Rumour and Odyssey having better control in the bass department and more bite in the treble than the Silverscreen. The Kimber 4tc is a bit of a smoothie I think. It's great cable but again, considering its price I'm surprised at it's slightly opaque sound. In steps the wild card NAC A5. I didn't have very high expectations for this cable. Don't ask me why, I guess I'd never heard of it before and because it's significantly cheaper than some of the other cables auditioned here. I have to say that in my humble opinion this cable is in a completely different league to all the others. It's massively transparent and musical. I mean, in combination with my kit the music is spine tingly good and it appears to float independent of the speakers.

So for me, in 5th place is the Silverscreen.

In 4th, the Rumour

3rd goes to the Odyssey

2nd Kimber 4tc

And the winner by a country mile is the NAC A5.

This is all very subjective and based on my system, in my room with my ears.

 

[gbhsi1]

its all for music:
A big thank you to everyone who's offered advise and opinion.

I've now had a listen to the Odyssey 2 and compared it with Kimber 4tc, Rumour 2, Silverscreen. My local dealer also suggested I try Naim NAC A5 so a busy eve for me last night.

Here's my conclusions in brief. I couldn't hear much difference between the Odyssey and Rumour except perhaps a slightly fuller sound to the Odyssey. For my ears and system, I am surprised at their lack of transparency. You can certainly hear the similarity between all 3 Chord cables, the Rumour and Odyssey having better control in the bass department and more bite in the treble than the Silverscreen. The Kimber 4tc is a bit of a smoothie I think. It's great cable but again, considering its price I'm surprised at it's slightly opaque sound. In steps the wild card NAC A5. I didn't have very high expectations for this cable. Don't ask me why, I guess I'd never heard of it before and because it's significantly cheaper than some of the other cables auditioned here. I have to say that in my humble opinion this cable is in a completely different league to all the others. It's massively transparent and musical. I mean, in combination with my kit the music is spine tingly good and it appears to float independent of the speakers.

So for me, in 5th place is the Silverscreen.

In 4th, the Rumour

3rd goes to the Odyssey

2nd Kimber 4tc

And the winner by a country mile is the NAC A5.

This is all very subjective and based on my system, in my room with my ears.

Hmmm, interesting thread. I am thinking of getting the chord oddysey 2 in a weeks time...but since reading your comments, the naim NAC A5 cable is fantastically priced and could made be what I need to try on my system. One question though, is not only for naim systems as it does not have the usual banana plugs but a 2 pin device?

 

[Anonymous]

gbhsi1:its all for music:
A big thank you to everyone who's offered advise and opinion.

I've now had a listen to the Odyssey 2 and compared it with Kimber 4tc, Rumour 2, Silverscreen. My local dealer also suggested I try Naim NAC A5 so a busy eve for me last night.

Here's my conclusions in brief. I couldn't hear much difference between the Odyssey and Rumour except perhaps a slightly fuller sound to the Odyssey. For my ears and system, I am surprised at their lack of transparency. You can certainly hear the similarity between all 3 Chord cables, the Rumour and Odyssey having better control in the bass department and more bite in the treble than the Silverscreen. The Kimber 4tc is a bit of a smoothie I think. It's great cable but again, considering its price I'm surprised at it's slightly opaque sound. In steps the wild card NAC A5. I didn't have very high expectations for this cable. Don't ask me why, I guess I'd never heard of it before and because it's significantly cheaper than some of the other cables auditioned here. I have to say that in my humble opinion this cable is in a completely different league to all the others. It's massively transparent and musical. I mean, in combination with my kit the music is spine tingly good and it appears to float independent of the speakers.

So for me, in 5th place is the Silverscreen.

In 4th, the Rumour

3rd goes to the Odyssey

2nd Kimber 4tc

And the winner by a country mile is the NAC A5.

This is all very subjective and based on my system, in my room with my ears.

Hmmm, interesting thread. I am thinking of getting the chord oddysey 2 in a weeks time...but since reading your comments, the naim NAC A5 cable is fantastically priced and could made be what I need to try on my system. One question though, is not only for naim systems as it does not have the usual banana plugs but a 2 pin device?

It's very subjective because I've heard it said before that the NAC A5 isn't stunning too.

 

[gbhsi1]

igglebert:gbhsi1:its all for music:
A big thank you to everyone who's offered advise and opinion.

I've now had a listen to the Odyssey 2 and compared it with Kimber 4tc, Rumour 2, Silverscreen. My local dealer also suggested I try Naim NAC A5 so a busy eve for me last night.

Here's my conclusions in brief. I couldn't hear much difference between the Odyssey and Rumour except perhaps a slightly fuller sound to the Odyssey. For my ears and system, I am surprised at their lack of transparency. You can certainly hear the similarity between all 3 Chord cables, the Rumour and Odyssey having better control in the bass department and more bite in the treble than the Silverscreen. The Kimber 4tc is a bit of a smoothie I think. It's great cable but again, considering its price I'm surprised at it's slightly opaque sound. In steps the wild card NAC A5. I didn't have very high expectations for this cable. Don't ask me why, I guess I'd never heard of it before and because it's significantly cheaper than some of the other cables auditioned here. I have to say that in my humble opinion this cable is in a completely different league to all the others. It's massively transparent and musical. I mean, in combination with my kit the music is spine tingly good and it appears to float independent of the speakers.

So for me, in 5th place is the Silverscreen.

In 4th, the Rumour

3rd goes to the Odyssey

2nd Kimber 4tc

And the winner by a country mile is the NAC A5.

This is all very subjective and based on my system, in my room with my ears.

Hmmm, interesting thread. I am thinking of getting the chord oddysey 2 in a weeks time...but since reading your comments, the naim NAC A5 cable is fantastically priced and could made be what I need to try on my system. One question though, is not only for naim systems as it does not have the usual banana plugs but a 2 pin device?

It's very subjective because I've heard it said before that the NAC A5 isn't stunning too.That is true! I am going to go with the Odyssey, I know chord cables already- so I am going with Chord- stops me from being indecisive

 

[d_a_n1979]

Im in agreement with Igglebert but I've also heard the Naim cable too and for me it wasnt as good as the Oddyssey or Epic BUT cables will be different for everyone with different systems, musical tastes and hearing!

 

[crusaderlord]

Just to follow up the comparisons on this thread i bought some Kimber 4TC speaker cable and jumper leads to compare against my chord epic super twin and my system really seems to like the Kimber cable. Not that there is anything wrong with the Chord either but personally i found enough benefit from the new cable to keep it.

I have used Chord cables of different levels ever since i moved away from QED Silver Anniversary. I found the Chord Silverscreen much much better than the QED and hence upgraded via the Chord line eventually to the Super Twin which was up until then the best cable i had found. However the Kimber has more space and a just a slightly sweeter sound to it which means its a winner for me.

My recent changes of cabling and mains leads across my system really have made an positive improvement which is great. Time now to sell all my old cables i have replaced.

 

[Anonymous]

For me anyway the Chord Odyssey is a great value cable. Its very musical, full sounding and good levels of detail - considering the price.

The Epic, builds upon these qualities and produces more of a cleaner sound. An obvious advancement for and again - great value.

 

[stephennic]

Hi,

I have both Kimber 8tc and 4tc, both great cables. They have been my favorites for about 10 years. I have compared a few over the years and its one of the most natural sounding cables at its price, great mids and soundstaging and quite detailed too. I like chord too but I found the kimber a bit more natural sounding especially in the mids.

Cheers

Steve.

 

[caddyhound]

I had to replace my Chord Odyssey 4 speaker cable due to new stands.I tried some flat sound lab cable as a temporary replacement and it sounded awful,flat and lifeless with weak bass. In desperation I bought 20m of Kimber Kwik 12 installation cable off flea bay and to my astonishment it was absolutely equal in sound quality to the Chord.I sold the Odyssey and the Kimber is still in place.Well worth a try even at it's full price (less than £6 per metre).

The Naim cable is a very good copper cable,if it suits then go for it.