Odyssey Stratos vs KAV Krell 300i

I haven't heard the Krell, but I have owned every version of the Odyssey Stratos amps. Started with the basic Stratos amp, liked it so much I sold it and bought the "cap upgraded", (now called the PLUS) version. Liked it so much, I sold it and bought the "Extreme" version. Liked it even better, so I sold it and bought the "Dual Mono" version, sold it and bought the full blown MONOs. I think the Dual Mono is the honey of the bunch, but I don't think it is being made any longer. Klaus is GREAT to work with, so he might build one for you.

None of these amps could be classified as analytical and/or bright. They are excellent sounding and the build quality is fantastic. I sure enjoyed my time with them.

I owned the KAV-300i. Used with warm speakers it can be a gem but matched with more neutral and revealing speakers sound can get pretty analytical, raw, unrefined and bright. I don't have experience with Odyssey amps.

The above posters have answered your issue... I've had both Krell and Odyssey, though not the 300... I've heard other Krells too... the KSA & FPB Krells are pretty nice... but again they need good speaker matchihng. The KAV series, especially. IMO

If you'll notice, the Krell pre's are way more laid back sounding, making the Krell pairing more amenable.

Krell will have more 'guts' so If you own difficult to run speakers, think about upstream components & cabling... with Krell perhaps, think tube preamp. If not, the Odyssey lineup is a quite good alternative.

I have the Stratos Plus with some upgrades. It is very good. Like with any amp speaker combo, matching there will be important... sonically, and electromechanically, more so sonically with the Krell as it has good power.

Were I to make a change now I'd have Klaus upgrade my stereo amp to Extreme status and be done so far as SS amplification is concerned.... for a good while.

I prefer tubes, and have two tube amps. Mono blocks and a multi ch... and reasonablly OK to drive speakers. odyssey provides both very good audio quaolity to price performance. Doing better will cost you appreciably more than double easily if bought new, and several times more if bought preowned.

Lastly, though it can be run balanced... the Odyssey's are NOT truly balanced.... if that's important to you.