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Simaudio W-5 or Odyssey for Dynaudio Contour S3.4

Hello, I've recently upgraded from Dynaudio Focus 160 monitors to Contour S3.4s. My listening space moved to a much larger room in the house so I'm in the process of systematically upgrading my system. I'm trying to stick to a budget so I'm looking at used equipment to get the most 'bang for the buck'. My amp budget is $1500 - $2k max. I've been searching the forums looking at past posts for amps that pair well with Dynaudio and the Contour line. Some are out of my price range (Plinius, Krell) but I've come across few options within budget and I'm looking for a little guidance from those who may have experience with Simaudio Moon W-5 or Odyssey Stratos - either stereo or dual mono amp. 

I listen to Jazz, female vocals, Classic Rock and more contemporary rock, some EDM/Electronic. I like broad deep sound stage, lush mids and vocals. Controlled bass is appreciated but I don't need the ultimate in "slam". I'm currently running a Yamaha MX-1000 with Nakamich CA-5 Preamp. The Yamaha has power, grip, brute force but it lacks musicality. I have a backup Luxman r-117 receiver which I've tried as well. It has a broader sound stage and more musical presentation to my ears but lacks the power of the Yamaha. I'd like to get the best of both if possible.   

The remainder of the systems consists of Rega Apollo CD, Rega P3 (Ortofon blue), and Nakamichi CA-5 preamp. *the preamp is most likely the next component I look to upgrade.

Thanks in advance for any guidance you all can provide.   
roohark
8 responses Add your response
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,385 posts
 
I bought a new Odyssey Stratos Extreme+++ stereo amp from Klaus at Odyssey in March of 2010.  I used it until August 2017 and absolutely loved the amp.  It had fantastic bass slam, delicate treble, a warm and smooth midrange and it seemed to have unlimited power.  My particular amp had the Kismet black board, two 400V Plitron power transformers, upgraded wiring and binding posts and 180,000uf of caps for the power supply.  To be perfectly honest, I am very sorry I sold it.

I had bought GE T Ref speakers and thought I needed more power, so I went with a much more expensive Conrad Johnson MF2550 250wpc solid state amp.  The CJ amp was very slow, thick and syrupy and I didn't keep it long.  Long story short, I ended up with an all Mac system and I am very happy, but at times I miss the Stratos.  I should have kept it for a spare.
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islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
Stereo5's suggestion is a good one. When I had my Contour 5.4's, my favorite amp was an Aragon 3002, @ 300 Wpc. At this time, for most of my listening, I use Class D Audio I built from kits, three amps, one for center, surround, and for the main stereo channels, I built one with an upgraded power supply and two modules bridged into mono, for 500 Wpc.

The sound is so much better than I ever expected it to be, a bit like my SET 300B amp on steroids. My experience with the Contour 5.4's showed me they like plenty of power, Class D can be a good, rather inexpensive way, to achieve power and finesse. My two cents, for what it's worth. 
roohark OP
2 posts
 
Thank you for the replies so far - greatly appreciated. I've never looked into class D, I do some research. Building my own amps sounds really fun, but it may be a bit more than I can take on at the moment however.
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,208 posts
 
Years ago when I had Dyn C-4's, I tried Sim W6 monoblocks.   I was not impressed with Simaudio and quickly sold them.
batman1971
96 posts
 
Ive had Odyssey Stratos monos extremes for about 18 years now.  I would highly recommend them.   Mine have been biased by Klauss 2 times   And have whatever upgrades he recommended at the time.  Black board and newer caps and internal wiring.   I’ve ran Dunlavy sc4 mostly which are very easy to power despite the size of them.   On some more difficult speakers the key is Biasing any ss  amp to match the speakers.    We biased them for some  Martin Logan Clx art  and then again for Maggie 20.1s.       The electrostatics come and go but I keep the odyssey amps because they can run any speaker ever made.    1 ohm apogee  no problems etc.    they will make your Yamaha sound like the industrial grade amp it is, the odyssey are true Hifi amps , not industrial.        
hukkfinn
28 posts
 
Based on my listening tests and my ownership of Odyssey monoblocks for over 10 years, I strongly recommend that you avoid Simaudio and buy as much Odyssey as you can afford.  I think the real "sweet spot" in the Odyssey line is a Kismet amplifier, clothed in the less expensive Stratos chassis (or case or whatever you want to call it).  The Stratos case looks fine and stays out of the way, while the Kismet amplifier is just... beautiful.  However even if you get a Stratos Extreme amplifier, you will be extremely happy (that is what I listened to for the first 6 years of my ownership).

Good luck.
gochurchgo
920 posts
 
I’ll second the Odyssey suggestion. 

Worth the wait
roohark OP
2 posts
 
Wow, looks like Odyssey wins in a landslide! Thanks for all the informed replies. I pulled the trigger on a used Stratos Dual Mono as my starting point in Odyssey ownership. Once I've had some time with it, I'll reach out to Klaus regarding potential upgrades and biasing for my Contours. I was not aware that an amp could be biased for a particular speaker. Having said that, I did read a post elsewhere in which Klaus mentioned biasing the amp based on the electrical current coming out of the wall socket. That's pretty neat. 
   
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