EB wrote:

I currently have a Marantz 4320 receiver connected to CSW Tower II's.
I am happy with this set up for the most part (my listening room is not
ideal, but not bad), especially the speakers. But I am curious to see
if getting a better amp will improve the sound noticeably, but I want
to keep the experimenting to around $1,000. The Odyssey brand looks
interesting, will have to contact them as the website doesn't list all
their product.

EB

Note that everyone's going to give you a different answer on this,
depending upon their personal prejudices, and the value of their
particular advice is also dependent upon those prejudices and their
experience. The objectivists will steer you towards the worst sounding
equipment, and the worst offender is nyob...peoplepc.com, who will
absolutely guarantee that you have the worst possible sounding system
for $1,000.

Point being, if you were to follow the advice of each person, you'd end
up with extremely different sounding stereo each time. So it seems to
me a bit of a crap shoot to spend $1,000 this way. Particularly if
you're not going to listen to the product you wish to purchase, to see
what it sounds like. You should do research and read reviews before you
buy. If you're looking for good stuff used, try www.audiogon.com, and
you're sure to find a good amp for well within your budget. You can
even get a tube amp there well within your budget. They're not the last
word in detail and you do have to replace tubes every few years, but
they generally can communicate the musical message better than their SS
counterparts. As for SS, a good integrated will be superior to
separates at the same cost. If you can find an Audio Refinement
integrated within your budget, new or used, I think you'd be very happy
with that.

I checked that Odyssey site and wasn't particularly impressed with
their design philosophies. They talked too much about how much metal
was in their amps, the LEDs, the fancy lighting crap on the front
panel, the brand names of the parts... I'm quite sure there are better
designs than them... But note there is a certain hiearchy to follow
when upgrading a hifi kit; the order of importance is source, then amp,
then speakers. So if you already have a good source, then the amp is
the best choice to upgrade.