Switched from well known Amp to Odyssey

The first four amps you mention are amoung the creme de la creme of solid state amplifiers. While for the money it is tough to beat the Odyssey, I do not know of anybody who would give up their Plinius, Krell, Rowland or Levinson for one. I could be wrong, all I am saying is that I personally do not know of anybody.

I have an Odyssey Stratos, and am totally pleased with the price and performance of this amp. This is also the first two channel amp I've owned. I have an Uncle whom is fortunate enough to have a Levinson 333, a Sonic Frontiers Power 2, and an Aragon 2002. I took the Odyssey to his house for a comparison while I had the money back return policy. The first was the Sonic Frontiers Tube AMP. Although tubes have the natural gift of smoothness, the Odyssey compaired in performance quite well. The sound quality, I feel was right there, and although not quite the same sound as the Tubes, this is a very smooth solid state amp. I can't say enough how pleased I am with how this amp performed against a much more expensive and reputable amp.

The next test was the Levinson. The first problem we had was the spades on the speaker cables, they were not big enough for the large binding posts on the Odyssey. We tried to get a good contact, but we were not getting a clean sound from the left speaker. So we decided not to risk damaging the speakers.

The build quality of this amp is top notch. Very sturdy, and practical appearance. I have the optional upgraded capacitor on my unit. There are lots of options available, including mono-blocks.

After our tests, we evaluated the Odyssey as a definite steal at the price, and a solid pleasing performer. I highly recommend an in-home trial. For the money, I think it is hard to beat.

I forgot to ask, do you already own a top of the line amp? or are you planning on a purchase/upgrade?

If you are planning on a purchase, and are having a hard time parting with the $4000 + for a top name, the Odyssey is a great value compromise. You would definitly have to spend a lot more money to get this quality or better in an amp.

I've had several different Audio Research amps, and last year switched to the Odyssey mono's. They simply 'blew-away' the AR amps (both tube and ss). The build quality is amazing, as well. I have begun to feel that other high-end companies are not delivering a reasonable 'audio/audible' return on investment...unless you are looking for snob appeal value. Me...I'd rather spend less money, and have as good (if not better) sound/musical quality...then there's money left for more toys or more music. Thanks Odyssey!, for bringing such sane pricing to high-end audio.

I have not switched to odyssey, but rather added a pair of stratos monos to the krell ksa50s and arc vt130se stereo amps which I own. I rotate these amps among various loudspeakers. With the deep bass limited and slightly overdamped Merlin VSM SE, the krell and the arc both outperform the stratos, at least to my taste.

With the verity parsifal encore, I clearly prefer the odyssey to the arc and marginally prefer it to the krell. While it is the most obviously solid state sounding of the amps I own (most powerful deep bass response, leanest in the mid-bass, with very slight dryness through the treble) the stratos mates terrifically with the very slightly underdamped verity speakers. As usual, careful component matching is the key. More unusual, is the odyssey value proposition, which is awfully tough to beat, even if you're relatively price insensitive.

P.S. - I would direct you to the recent odyssey review in TAS, which I found unusual in that it very closely mirrors my own experience with the product (other than explicitly identifying the rather startling deep bass capability of the stratos, which - to be fair - may be unique to the monos and not applicable to the stereo unit under consideration in that review)

Does anybody know if a pair of Odyssey Stratos amps, when configured for mono, are running fully balanced? Not having just XLR inputs, but fully balanced designs I mean. Thanks in advance.

Chris

Sheadlee, which Audio Research amps have you compared them to? I have heard the Stratos because I recommended them to a neighbor who did not have alot to spend. For the money they have no rival but I respectfiully disagree that they blow away any of the ARC tube amps. Have you compared them to any of the VT series amps? If so which ones? I personally have listened to the VT100MkII and MKiii and the VT200 and while the stratos are great for the price they are simply IMHO, not in the same league.

Thorty40, go to the odysseyaudio.com site and get the phone #. Klause is very easy to talk to and will answer all of your questions.

Chris,

Inputs are all SE (including the XLRs) and so are the outputs. Klaus told me adding the balanced stuff adds considerable more circuitry and complexity to the amplifier.

Thanks Lenard. I wonder if Odyssey sould consider making a fully balanced unit for an extra fee. Maybe I'll call them and see what Klaus has to say.

Chris

Thorty40 (Chris), I doubt it after talking to Klaus. Remember the circuitry in the Odyssey has been fine tuned for over 20 years according to Klaus....also remember just because it is balanced doesn't make it better.

Balanced ciruits are necessary in high noise environments such as in radio stations or in recording studios where there is RF/EMI.....and wires are bundled closely together.

The Odyssey was designed for home environments unlike the Brystons which also serve as "pro" gear. If you live close to AM or FM transmitting towers then look a fully balanced audio system....otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.