Amps.. Is Odyssey worth it?

Im my case, yes.

As is common with Odyssey amps, mine is  custom made by Klaus. A moded Kismet. I dont know how much of an effect it has, but he asked me for multiple voltage readings from my house service so he could tweak the bias. It is cool how he will work directly with you for your set up. As is always mentioned, call him after 10pm cst. He's nocturnal.

This is definately a quality built amp. Makes the build of my other componets look cheap, but their not.

Sound wise, Im quite happy. No desire to upgrade although Id have Klaus convert it to a mono block and buy a 2nd if budget allowed. It drives my low efficient Magnepan 1.7i s fine.

If you go Odyssey and want to save a bit, look for a used one and send it in for an update. Shipping might bite you. I picked mine up directly from Klaus and got a very good deal.

I would stay away from Odyssey Audio. Better sounding and more reliable budget power/pre amps are available. The stale audio show set up reminds of P.T. Barnum meets Shirley Maclaine.

Looking at the posts, it's time for me to comment and clarify a few things here:

1. As is normal, people with negative experiences always keep posting. Over the past 27 years (and a total of 37 years when you count in German Acoustics) we have built in excess of 11,000 products, over 7800 of them amplifiers. This doesn't take into account the huge number of upgrades and / or pieces of secondary owners that I took care of. This means that I have in excess of 7000. customers !!!!

2. Even though with 11,000 + products out there you're lucky if you can find 5-8 pieces on the used market. This is a ridiculously small percentage. This also means that I have a massive amount of happy customers out there. If even a small number of them would post here, they would drown out nay sayers big time.

3. As a matter of fact, I have more repeat customers than customers who sold their Odyssey unit (s) in the first place....be it an update, upgrade, mono conversion, a separate unit, Groneberg cables, etc. Right now at this moment I have 50 + amps here in the shop just for upgrades, mostly Kismet upgrades. (and for my original customers, I'm doing the upgrades for cost + 20 % !!!!!!!!!!!!!) This is an unreal factoid in this industry.

4. However, I also have to admit that over the years I have had my challenges and problems as well....for example the power supply of the Tempest preamp. We only got it under control when we used all Symphonic Line components internally...another issue was that of some batches of amp transformers that over time in the field started acting up. I scratched the designs and / or changed supplier to rectify this situation. And yes, there were times when I screwed up as well, but I always tried to make it right.

5. It is also true that things got sideways at times with some people....and yes, again, I also have to be blamed for some of the situations being created. When you deal with so many people over so many years unfortunate things happen. I'm also not a person who takes crap from others. However, these really bad situations were rare, maybe a couple dozen in total.

6. As for posts here.....put yourself in my shoes: a customer has multiple Odyssey products and has some hum issues. I have them shipped back. Re-working them and / or actually replacing them completely. Sound and measure perfectly. Shipping them out. Still a problem at the customer. Do the same thing over again. Sending customer an expensive amp so that that customer is not out of music. Redoing everything again. Checks out ok. Shipping back, and still the same problem. Customer approaches me with the idea of buying back the equipment. I'm not in business to buy back my own products, but do it anyway and agree with his numbers. In the end I have also spent massive amount of time and money here as well. Checking out products when they came back, and sold them as used b-stocks. The new customers have zero issues and were happy. What else can I possibly do ???

7. Looking at this and similar situations, and nearly 40 years of experience, and having had literally 100 -150 components of other manufacturer over the decades, I know that certain products don't work in certain systems. And this is not about synergy, but it is indeed environmental. Are my products more sensitive than others ??? I don't think so. If there is a design problem, then I would have been out of business a long time ago.

8. Apropos design: yes, the amps are indeed $ 7-8 K German true high end Symphonic Line designs. I love the poster who didn't 100 % liked the sound of the Stratos but was impressed with the parts quality. This is fair and highlights the efforts that I made with all parts. All of them. Military spec resistors, special silver micas, Nichicon's, Sanken and Toshiba transistors, Wimas, etc. etc. etc.

9. Let's get real: I build high end amps by hand here in the USA with high quality parts spe'd mostly from the US and Germany (and 0 from China) . My amps have been awarded dozens and dozens of awards, including golden ear and product of the year awards from TAS ( 3 times !!!) best-at-shows, and are being used for development, tweaking and tuning and even demoing by over 20 speaker manufacturer. And we STILL start pricing at under $ 1,000. Get real. So no, I certainly don't have to prove anything to some of the rude and ridiculous posters here.

10. Over the decades we have also provided 2 universities, 3 industrial manufacturer / researchers, and the Navy. These were not for audio purposes, but are used purely because of the ultra high bandwidth with < 1 Ohm stability as tools.

11. Finally, let's get back to the original question: Khartago vs. Stratos is only a difference in the case design. Since I've been back ordered at least 3 weeks since January 2001 (yes, continuously) I learned how to customize every aspect for my customers. In fact, I can make you about 65 + different versions of the amps. Every model is interchangeable within the cases except for the 3-channel, where I need the larger case to accommodate the 2 boards.

12. The Kismet boards are my absolute best currently. Again, it's the board and not the case. And yes, I have improved all models constantly over the years. What I didn't do is naming them Mk2, Mk3, Mk4 etc. Thi is inherently unfair to the customer.

13. I base the built on 2 main facts: the speakers being used and the customer's budget. When you build that many thousands of amps by hand and have that massive amount of feedback, you learn a thing or two. I also optimize every single amp that goes out the door. It's all about custom biasing. This is the MOST important part of the final adjustments. Every amp has to be biased, and every amp has it's sweet spot in terms of maximum performance based on the bias setting. If you're off by a certain range, then the amplifier will simply sound off as well. In order to optimize our amps I also require voltage measurements of our customers outlets since the bias is directly dependent of the voltage itself. For example, if I set up an amp at (usually) 19.5 – 20 mv @ 120 V, but your voltage is actually 118 or lower or 122 V or higher, then this will be audible and pushed out of the optimum performance envelope. Again, all amps have to be set up, and most tube owners know everything about it …...

14. Yes, all of this for a handmade high end , product of the year and best of shows awarded amp for $ 1,000 !!!! However, there is also a down side to this maniacal attention to detail. The amps are setup for the original owners. If an amp hits the used market and the original owner had, let's say 119 V, and the new owner's voltage is in excess of 124 V then the amp simply sounds like crap. But I also offer free check-ups and re-biasing for 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th or whatever owners as well.

15. Alright...let's get to some of the posts here: you had problems with my products ? I'm very sorry about that, but I always try to make it right ….you don't like my products ??? OK, fine. There are soooo many options out there, I hope you'll find something that makes you happy. You bad mouth my products but have never experienced them or had any contact with me ….or you insult me as a PT Barnum and obviously have never been in one of my rooms at a show ???
    
    Seriously dude ????

     

I’ve had my Khartago mono blocks for 15 years and they still sound great.

A man who has true passion for his product. Not many business owners would take so much time out of their busy schedule to submit such a detailed comment.

The man accepts hes not perfect, WHO IS, but he'll do everything he can to help his customers.

Im just a customer not a friend of his, but kudos to Klaus.