For you Odyssey Audio Stratos amp owners


What preamp are you using?

thecarpathian

none presently - straight in from dac

have used cj et5 and now et7-2, or occasionally, an oldie but real goodie - carver lightstar ref passive...

I tried the Tempest and Candela with that amp. Unfortunately those three pieces of audio gear were the worst I had ever owned... period. I had hum issues from the transformers and that was a common problem with Odyssey audio equipment. Klaus has a fan base, but I never had a good experience with the stuff.

FWIW, I emailed Odyssey a few months ago to BUY the Candela.  I never got a reply back. Go figure.  Went somewhere else. 

klaus has only one other fellow who works with him, i believe, it is a very small shop

he is less responsive on email than over the phone - as a result i have called him a few times and he answers in person, and is very responsive and chatty when we connect in person

klaus’ amps have fairly high input sensitivity (relative to industry stalwarts like pass, ayre, hegel, krell), so any electrical hum or input noise seems magnified

just need to make sure your signal and power feeds are quiet/well filtered

leaving aside the little niggles, if one gets his amps working right, they are a tremendous (no exaggeration) value and excellent performers, irrespective of price

@jjss49 i can appreciate that. that being said, i don't know whether to say too bad for him or too bad for me.  😐

 

This brand has more of a following over on AudioCircle.  You might get more responses if you asked over there.

@shtinkydog  no worries, lots of fish in the ocean, for you and for klaus

@twoleftears yes klaus is online and active on his particular section of a-c - another way to get a hold of him

Mine is a Stratos case Kismet. I’m using a Hegel P20 preamplifier. It seems to pair well. I’m still tracing some minor hum. I’m pretty certain it’s not related to the amp or the preamp, but wire/cable related. 

I purchased a pair of used Stratos a few years ago on Audiogon. Klaus upgraded them to Kismet References. My preamp is a Cary Audio SLP -05. I also have a pair of Cary Founder’s edition amps. Odyssey Audio punches well above its asking price. One of my audiophile buddies prefers their sound to the Cary’s . I go back and forth between the amps as they each have their strengths.

Thank you for the responses, guys.

I took twoleftears advice and went over to audiocircle where there is indeed a big Odyssey following and the information I seek.

But by all means, if anyone has info to add here, it is still appreciated.

I use a Teac NT-505 dac direct and it's fantastic.  As someone else stated, matching other preamps is difficult due to high input sensitivity and hum becomes an issue due to magnifying everything. I've had quite a few amps and my fully loaded Kismet in a Stratos (I think) case is as good as any in my current system (Devore O/96 speakers).

FWIW, I emailed Odyssey a few months ago to BUY the Candela.  I never got a reply back. Go figure.  Went somewhere else. 

 

 

Apologies,  but it's because of my brain freeze...I checked and I did email you back,  but I did email it to myself by mistake....%#%^$&^$%$*%^$&$  Anyway,  hope that your new pre works out for you !!!!!

 

Klaus

 

 

I tried the Tempest and Candela with that amp. Unfortunately those three pieces of audio gear were the worst I had ever owned... period. I had hum issues from the transformers and that was a common problem with Odyssey audio equipment. Klaus has a fan base, but I never had a good experience with the stuff.

 

 

Yes, that is absolutely true.....years back we have had several issues with transformers.....getting that squared out with the Candela was easy...just a tweak to the units that we get from Torroid of MD....bigger problem was the Tempest.  We had to drop the regular model and only offer the Tempest with the Extreme power supply,  which is the same my-metal unit that Germany uses in their models made to Symphonic Line specs......of course imported from Germany.

 

So yes,  but all of these problems are in the past.  

 

Late,

 

Klaus

 

Out of the many dozens of amps I have owned past 20+yrs, I kept Klaus's amps the longest because he constantly refines and upgrades his amps for his customers. I started out with a Stratos stereo and ended up with the top of the line Kismet ref last year. 

I eventually had to sell to fund an SME turntable but I probably should have kept it... It's one of the best bang for the buck SS amps for the $. 

 

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