Sacrilege Going from Tubes back to Solid State

I have no problem with grit and grain with solid state and I have horn loaded speakers! It probably helps to start with a ss amp known to have a grain-free treble like the Odyssey Stratos. I also like its warmish & transparent sound which makes it an excellent candidate to match to a tube or ss preamp. I'm sure because of its small price tag it will sometimes get overlooked by some audiophiles who think you have to spend money hand over fist but it shouldn't. Besides, its sound & build quality far exceeds its price tag. I love audio bargains which frees more money up for other things like music purchases, home improvements, & of course family.

Meadowman, it is not sacrilege to go from tubes to solid state, I have done it without any reservations or regrets. If you want the best of both worlds match a tube preamp to a ss power amp. I suggested the Odyssey only because I like it a great deal better than the newer ss Mcintosh amps I have tried.

Flyski, there are many reviews on the Stratos, most all being very positive. All though this particular excerpt from your above mentioned Stratos review would lead one to believe that the Stratos is certainly not tubelike inspite of the fact the reviewer's final conclusions are very positive. There are other reviewers whose conclusions are quite different and I will give you an example of this shortly. From my own personal experience and in my system the Stratos exhibits a warmer sound than other solid state amps I haved tried but yet still has some tube-like qualities without the solid state nasties. Like any amp the speakers & preamp used will have some effect on anyones final conclusions including those of pro-reviewers.

From IAR Master Guide to the best of 1998.
Odyssey Design Group Stratos:

This power amp is a sonic miracle at its $995 price and an easy IAR Best Buy. We (and then others) have praised the sonics of Symphonic Line power amps in the past. They sound very transparent, fast, and clean, with capable extension to the frequency extremes, all the typical strengths of solid state. Yet throughout the midranges and trebles where virtually all other solid state products run into trouble of one sort or another (too glazed and hard in some frequency region, or too defocused and smeared), the big symphonic Line amps stay eminently neutral giving a very natural portrayal of music by straddling the line between solid sound and tube sound (what we called the hybrid sound). Thus the sonics of the big Syphonic line amps give you the best of solid state sound combined with at least some of the best aspects of good tube sound.

Finally their opinion of Class 1 (class 1 being the best) amps are Odyssey Design & Plinius & rated musically natural. Some Class 2 amps are Levinson 33H & Krell FPB 300 and try valiantly to smooth and soften the hard edge typical of solid state, attempting to sound musical but instead they succeed only in being veiled and defocused.

I'm very certain that no solid state amp will have a 100% of the tube sound but some will come closer than others. So which reviewer is right, you decide.

TVAD, you being a tube guy I am not at all surprised by your response and many tubeaholics will agree. If and when Meadowman moves from tubes to solid state the best we can suggest is what solid state amp will be the least offensive. You know, I would like sometime to try a Pass Labs myself. I personally know one member who purchased a Pass Labs amp and swore he would never sell it, he did. Maybe he purchased the next higher model, I'm going to ask him.

TVAD, I came to that conclusion based on some of your past responses and now stand corrected. Well my friend it is good you have an open mind.

Undertow, I noticed your system posted on Audiogon that you have the Odyssey Extreme with the new red boards. I too have a Stratos with the new red board. I am curious if you know what technical differences these new boards entail? I talked to Klaus on the phone and he said the red boards have some new circuit improvements but did not give specifics. After playing my newer Stratos I was not able to hear any sonic differences but was strictly going by memory in reference to the slightly older Stratos I use to own. But more time spent with it and break-in could reveal something.