I am biased as I owned a Odyssey Stratos for many years. I would pick the Khartago since it is class A A/B as opposed to Class D I believe of the PS Audio. |
I replaced a PS Audio Stellar 300 with a AVA SET 120 - improvement or equal in all ways apart from total power. Even bass control was the same. You might want to put it on your list.
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I had the Karthagos and then Kismets. I remember liking the Karthagos better. Every show Klaus ranks in the best room lists. The prices are fair, but the wait time is not as he is usually backlogged for a reason. Easy choice. |
Go with the Odysseys.
you can get kismet innards in the khartago. Klaus will do whatever you want.
We suggest going full boat on khartago amps(s)
get the largest caps, and all the goodies if they fit.
You will be rewarded.
Just see what odyssey can fit in the khartago amps.
i h ears he can put the kismet in the khartago.
worst is the break in time,......I only shut down and unplug during storms, vacations, when not listening, oh hell,....they are powered on 24/48 hrs before a listening jam night.
Only issue is bias. Should have an outside knob to bias easily. Instead of the volt meter etc |
Odyssey. I prefer the class a/b. The odyssey will be more reliable. The odyssey will be more musical in my opinion. Thats what class d has always lacked for me. The ps audio will have great bass, perhaps a bit dry and blah. The odyssey should have more texture in the bass area. The ps audio will have a very black background and good separation on the soundstage but the odyssey will have a bigger, fuller soundstage. This has been my experience with similar amps as the two you mention.
I’d go with Odyssey for many reasons... |
Heard the bias only needs to be done every 10 years?
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The Odyssey will be more engaging and have better texture in the mids/highs (like has already been mentioned). Be aware that Odyssey has a completely manual turn-on switch (no remote trigger turn-on input). This is really just a convenience item, unless it bothers you. Another thing to know is that Klaus likes to use really small 400VA transformers (even if they are stacked). This means that Odyssey will not have the deep bass muscle/fullness that other amps may have due to transformer size. Even though Klaus can load 120,000uf, the ultimate power of the amp itself is still really driven by the size of the transformer. This doesn't mean that Odyssey isn't an excellent amp (it's really very good). The PS Audio -may- have better low/deep bass due to Class D operation, but it only pushes 140 watts into 8 ohms, so it is not a power beast either.
I have heard the PS Audio S300 amps and they are quite good for a Class D amp. They aren't really "flat" sounding like other amps. Their Class A input stage is really nice. But I still think the Odyssey will be a better sounding result in the long run.
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Odyssey uses I think 850’s now.
850va transformers. Not the 400.
I think it’s an option for the 850,.....
don’t quote me, one needs to call klaus for this. |
Thank you all for your detailed explanations. Odyssey sounds like a must in my search! |
@auxinput,
My previous Stratos had two 400VA transformers and 180,000uf of Caps and the bass was amazing. Much, much better than my 2 previous Classe Ten and Fifteen amps and my Conrad Johnson MF2550 amp. My 300wpc McIntosh Amp betters them all but compared to the Stratos, just a bit better. |
So.......
what have you gone with?
The Odysseys are great.
We bought a 15 year old stratos pair probably 4-5 years ago (in early 2010’s) red board, small black caps, didn’t keep up w my modded cerwin Vega D-9 pair. They beat up crown, QSC, and others. As well as the original odyssey amps I bought
Low volume, they were simply amazing!
Contacted Klaus, he upgraded them to kismet monos, better parts, top VA transformer, the huge beer can caps by symphonic line.
They brought the Vegas to life, as well as my other speakers.
The worst is the break in, as hundreds of hours are needed!
When I shut them off,....it took a good 5-6 days of being powered on to achieve that sound........
keep us up to date.... |
Another Odyssey/Klaus fan. I went a different direction with my system (towards class A biasing, higher speaker efficiency), but I still regret selling my Stratos dual mono, and think Odyssey would be a great way to go, if you need some juice.
Also, and YMMV, but I've had customer service contact with both companies, and would much prefer dealing with Klaus than PSA, though he can be hard to contact (or at least used to be).
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I just purchased a pair of PS Audio Stellar M700 monoblocks to potentially replace my Stratos monoblocks. I just started listening but all of the comments above are ringing true. The Odysseys are much more musical to my ear. The Soundstage of the M700s is inferior (more disjointed and separated). I also hear a "graininess" that I don’t like w/ the M700s. There is more bass punch but I don’t consider that good as it seems bloated and not as tight. Overall, I will say that using the M700s, I hear several distinct speaker drivers whereas the Odyssey sounds like cohesive music. Unless something drastically changes, I will be returning the M700s. |
not even close... Odyssey's. |
