Comparison to Luxman LX505uxii/MU700/Lx509?
To a McIntosh MC252?
What amps in the $12K range?
24 responses Add your response
I originally owned a pair of Kitargo monos and upgraded to the Kismet mono blocks a year ago. Opted for the new power supply (which is both HUGE and heavy), caps, interconnects, and power cord. In my humble opinion I find the Kismets (paired with my Primaluna Dialogue) to be sound natural, capable of easily powering my tri-wired Ruarks CL-30s. The amps are transparent with no hint of graininess. Quality workmanship with great customer service. Klaus really avails himself to his customers (even after the sale). He treats you like a friend and not just a sale. Attend an Odyssey Audio show and you will see the room filled with owners of his products saying hello and raving about their satisfaction with their respective Odyssey product. I read about Odyssey and saw the YouTube reviews by AVshowrooms but it was Klaus’s connection with people that sold me. They are not perfect amps (what amp is) but unquestionably close and a true bang for your buck. I would put the kismets up against amp in the $10-$12k range. |
Owned the stratos monos from 20+ year old stock, small caps,small trans. Low volume, amazing. Upgraded to newest,an absolute night n day diff. As said, bass is deep as F app, kids , treble is not harsh at all. I’m a proud owner. They are great! Stable to 2 ohm , no issues. My upgraded cerwin Vega D-9’s Are amp killers, and about 3 ohm at lowest, odyssey’s, power through, and keep the music rocking. before the upgrade, sure, great sound, but would lose powers, Upgrades is amazing, in issues at all kicks my D-9’s butts all over. i to 2-3 ohms it’s about 4OOWPC RMS! GREAT AMPS, CURRENT IS KILLER. Can’t go wrong w odyssey, they are as good as every review says. I don’t see the bridge cable between the two inputs |
I am the third owner of a 20 yr old Stratos DM (Dual-monos stuffed into one chassis, including 2 toroidals and 2 power cords). This amp is a high performance monster with loads of current, soundstage, depth, and terrific low noise. I had one problem with my amp: the gold RCA connector on one channel came loose and I tightened it. Go for it! |
I don't like what happens to the rest of a good sounding stereo amplifier's measured parameters, when you bridge that same stereo amp to become a monoblock, just for the sake of having more wattage. Cheers George |
These odyssey amps sound absolutely wicked! Burned in and the bass is deep, even at low volume, they are stunning, midrange is precise and crunchy with the correct music, treble is smooth, zero fatigue ! I’m very sensitive to high pitch treble, and my molars hear the tinny, searing treble. These kismet upgraded/updated amps with the new capacitors, are amazingly fast attacking, the damping factor is Greta, bass is hard hitting and deep. Great amps. I’m glad I bought them! Love them! |
gochurchgo Overall I can’t tell you what best at its price point, but I can tell you I never felt a “WOW” factor when I owned them. As for other amps similarly priced ( or little higher) like the pass 150.8 I felt the presence or pure Sonics and a sense of naturalness that wasn’t there with the Kismets. With the Kismets yes they do a lot of things good, but they lack soul and a naturalness that makes long term listening special for myself. I’ve heard they need to be biased according to what speakers you own to sound their best. I learned how to bias mine myself, but even with that the “WOW” factor wasn’t there. As I stated in the original post. You get your money’s worth with these amps, but don’t expect them destroy the competition. Do they compete with their peers; yes. |
On my 2nd full day of listening to the Kismet monos’, These are so nice, musical, no harshness, very smooth to my ears, no fatigue at all. Even when they were basic 2007 STRATOS amps, the sound was smooth, and subtle, never harsh, with plenty of juice for my smaller towers. These new upgraded kismet monos, far surpass the old STRATOS. these Kismet monos are a country mile ahead of the old ones I used. They a very fast attacking amp, with amazing detail. I’m glad I popped for the upgrade, I’m hoping to get 20+ years from these. I’m happy as a pig in sh** with these, they are amazing sounding. if these sound this good, I can imagine what I will be treated to in another 400 hours , I’m looking forward to it greatly! Klaus is so easy to talk to, humble, knowledgeable, just a descent man, doing his best to bring us some above average audio gear! |
For the money in the solid state realm they are hard to beat. I have a pair of the Kismet Reference and after talking with Klaus I replaced all 4 of the internal fuses with Synergistic Research blue fuses which kicked their good performance up another notch. I am a tube guy but these are very listenable amps and they are very reliable. |
Owned them for for 3 years. Overall for the money a good amp. Pros: run very cool and only draw about 35 watts at idle, very smooth sounding amp, good detail and transparent window, able to drive low impedance speakers. Cons: lack weight, cooler clinical sound, lack soundstage depth, hard to keep biased ( mine drifted a lot ), felt Product support after purchase was average at best, very long brake in period and must be left on constantly. Are they worth the money; yes they’re. Remember your paying a direct price from the manufacturer and he sometimes will cut that price a little further. The bigger question how do they compete against their peers and higher cost amps? Do they put their peers to shame; some, but not all. Do they out perform amps costing more; maybe some, but once again not all. If he was to rely on dealer support to sell his amps you would be tacking on another 45-50% to the price. At $6000.direct good amp for the money. At $10000. retail will hold its own against some, and mere average against the rest. My final conclusion sums it up like this. They’re a good value for the money and you are getting your money’s worth. Are you paying less for this amp direct and getting them at a bargain of what they should sell for: no your not! They’re not going to blow away the competition at $10000-15000. Do they compete in that range; at an average level maybe? |
Finally picked up my odyssey kismet monos today waited 15+ years for these, finally I own a pair. Klaus said 400+ hours to break in! Wow, 400 hours? That’s nuts. I trust him, they are hooked up, powered up up, will not shut off for at least a month and a half. Playing CDs all da Y, except for night, just in on position. these amps are so nice, construction, parts are top tier. No garbage here! Looking forward to these for the next 20 years!! Great audio! |
I have Odyssey mono amps. The are what Klaus calls "Klaus's Amps". They have clarity with no brightness. They are driving Harbeth 40.2 speakers. Klaus demo's his products at many shows. Check out Audio Circle. His amps have received good reviews in Absolute Sound. The amps replaced a very good Modwright amp which I now have in another system. |
I’ll first say I have not heard them. But when considering new amps a few years ago I spoke on the phone with this guy. I thought it was a bit strange. A bit aggressive. What turned me off more was the "fanboy" type of customer base, as if these were the be-all end-all of amps, no other amp could touch these and you’ll never need another amp. Check out his forum page on that small-builder audio site. Ended up looking and buying elsewhere. |