Build & 3D sound quality

None!

The Odyssey Stratos is not only the heavy weight champion but it is "The" champion when it comes to sound quality. This is not just an entry level into high end sound but is what alot of audiophiles aspire to. I have to say this only because I have had alot of power amps and this one is my favorite. Without mentioning brand names & stepping on alot of toes here I have had some of those new digital & anolog switching amps and they fall short in harmonics and sound quality the Stratos posesses. Do not be afraid to try the highest quality preamps with this amp as the Stratos will excel & easily keep up! Odyssey/Klaus are among the finest people to deal with period & the Stratos is backed by a 20 year warranty. The true testiment to this amp is the excellent reviews below of happy owners including myself. My highest recommendation!

Similar Products Used:

Way too many to list!

Better than the old 2003 model. Musical. Heavy and sturdy as always. Pretty piece.

People in the used market should ask Odyssey before buying an older model. Too heavy for some.

Who said that you can never go home again ? I sold my first Stratos over a year ago and tried three different amplifiers with two sets of speakers. One tube, one digital, and one solid state. While it was interesting to observe the different characters of the amps, it never felt right to me. Too lean, too full and bloated, too slow, too analytical, you name it. On the speakers I settled on the 805s and while not the most revealing, they are musical. The amplifier Odyssey (punt intended Klaus) ended up costing me money and headaches. My mistake. After nearly a year I had enough, wanting my old Stratos back and called Odyssey to order a new one. I was surprised to find out the changes in the amp. New power supply, red boards, cables. After listening to it for two months now I am home again. This cozy feeling of an old comfy coach or slipper. The music is fluid and musical. The 805s never sounded this relaxed and musical and dynamic at the same time. I wish I had my old Stratos back to listen to both of them but the new changes to the amp are something special, that I can tell. Bravo.

Similar Products Used:

a few

95 % performance of every expensive amp out there

?

This is the single best audio buy ever for me. Except for a couple of reviewers who are way off base here I agree with every single owner. There is not much more I can say.... great smoothness, 3 d imaging, wuick, absolutely not bright with tons of neutrality and tonal balance. Dynamic, great bass,amazing control over my speakers. I would pay $ 3000 in a heartbeat for this gem, and it will be converted to monoblocs next month. Based on the Stratos I also bought a Khartago, which sounds amazingly similar. Klaus is also available for me and he is refreshingly honest. There is no bs whatsoever. If anybody would have his approach, this industry would be better off. Not many here talk about the finishing touches. Amazing workmanship and quality of built and parts, the amp had my name on an engraved tag on the back, and the owners manual is very good and detailed. Every amp comes with a setup and diagnosis CD. All this for an already superb bargain. My highest recommendation. Well done, Klaus

Similar Products Used:

digital amps from PS Audio and Spectron, Musical Fidelity, Naim, Cary

Exceptional sound and build quality for an unbelievable price. Looks good and runs dead quiet. Great support! MADE IN AMERICA!

LONG break-in. Buy a used one if you can find it. Cat thinks it’s a warm place to snooze.

LlISTENING TIME: Eight months. BREAK-IN: First I would like to say that it took about 6 to eight weeks to break- in fully. Don’t judge this amp right out of the box. It sounded good out of the box but after about 6 to 8 weeks it softens up and begins to reach its full potential. SOUND:: I listen to quite an assortment of music. This is one of the best sounding amps I have listened to. It’s slightly laid back very musical. Upper and middle detail is all there. Bass is tight and deep. Soundstage is excellent! My wife who has extensive music background and is somewhat critical couldn’t find anything bad to say about it. WOW AESTEHTIC: Very nice looking amplifier. BUILD QUALITY: This amp seems to be built very well. It is dead silent (no fans) it doesn’t seem to ever run hot. My kitten has adopted it as a warm place to sleep. EQUIPMENT: Seems to be very flexible. I have run this amp with a variety of equipment. Preamp(s) Classe CP45 & Creek 5350 used as a preamp. Speakers:.Biwired :Snell CIVs, Axiom T-60s,Triangle Celius Source: CD - Calafornia Audio Labs CL-15 , CD - Ah Njoe 4000 Wires: Preamps and CA CD connected via SLR. Creek and AH Njoe via RCA Conclusion: This amp has an exceptional sound and build quality for an unbelievable price.

Similar Products Used:

Bryston, Creek,

Great power, cool temperature

None

I was looking for amplification for a dedicated A/V theater and read almost every review on this web site and in A/V magazines. I really liked the Krell 250 watt amp but didn't like the price for the three I needed for the 6 Thiel Powerpoints. Low end is handled by 2 Hsu VTF-3s, head unit is a Rotel RSP-1098 and source is a Sony DVP-CX777ES. From my research I narrowed my search to the Earthquake and the Stratus. I called Klaus, who was in an airport, to discuss my A/V room. Like an awesome consultant, he first inquired about my needs and the other equipment I was going to use. He needed to know my music/movie ratio and the other amps I was considering. When I told him music was primary, he told me I must test the Stratus. I called about 2 3ch amps, but Klaus highly recommended 3 2ch amps with cap upgrade. He said in a German accent,"Its overkill, but it'll be killa!" Klaus, it is nothing less than killa! The amps are smooth with definite punch. They seem to have endless nondistorted power and yet they stay cool. That's important to me, since my equipment is in a closet. Music is fantastic and so are movies. You can't go wrong. I've heard Krell, McIntosh, Rotel, Classe, Levinson, Eagle, and others. I have nothing bad to say about any of them. There's someone out there who will swear on each. It's all about preference and justification of price. I was looking for an amp with authority, punch and great soundstaging capabilities. I was also looking for an amp that would make me want to listen for hours. I've heard amps that sounded really good to me for a song or two, but then the harsh edgy thing would happen and off went the music. The Stratus does what I expected of a great amp: its job of reproducing "you are there" sounds without bringing attention to itself. In closing, Klaus is a prime example of why small business is the backbone of this country. Get the Stratus! You should never hear another amp and feel inadequate.

Tranparency, detail, musicality, soundstaging, and construction build/quality

Weight of the amp if unable to lift 50+ pounds.

My wonderful experience with the Odyssey Stratos amp begins a few months ago. After taking a short sabbatical from high-end audio, I decided to make the definitive jump back into it, starting with the purchase of a pair of Eminent Technology LFT-8 speakers. The question became: What amp should I use to power them? The electronics I had on hand at the time were the Classe 70 amp (75 W/ch) and its companion Classe 30 preamp; in fact, I used the Classe amp in my initial audition of the ET’s. Over and over again, the Classe electronics made the ET’s sound wonderful, though I figured (and on the advisement of others) that I should opt for more power to drive the ET’s. Enter the Krell KAV-400xi integrated amp at 200 W/ch—I speculated this integrated should do the trick. Well, after a couple months’ use and adequate time for the amp to burn in, I noticed that I had gradually become indifferent to the music I was hearing (listening fatigue?). The ET’s, when driven by the Krell, were causing me to lose my interest. So I threw the Classe combo back into the system and—wow—the sound was back to being musical, natural, detailed, and involving. However, the ET’s are ruthlessly revealing and detailed, and they do let one know what precedes them in the sonic chain. My thought was to “go for broke” without going broke with the best feasible amplification I could acquire for them. The fact remained, at least in my estimation, that they’d still benefit from more power. About one month after placing a call to Odyssey and discussing this situation with Klaus, I had the Odyssey Stratos amp (with cap upgrade) inserted into my system. Right out of the box, this amp sounded decent, and I was aware of the burn-in time necessary for its true sonics to come to the fore. That burn-in period was awesome—every 3-4 days I’d return to my system, and the improvement in sound would be dramatic. It was awesome to hear this amp burn in incrementally over time. Right away, this amp started letting detail through that I didn’t even know was there—even on recordings I had listened to for years and many times over. Then more magic began to occur—the amp started spreading that detail out over a three-dimensional soundstage that was nothing shy of astounding. Over time, the sound became even more musical, natural, seductive, and balanced over the frequency spectrum. This experience was analogous to my visits to my optometrist. My optometrist tests my vision using this sophisticated approach whereby I look into a machine from where I can see this huge field, but all of a sudden different colored lights begin appearing unexpectedly from all over within that field. Whereas this is a visual experience, I am getting a somewhat similar thing with the Odyssey Stratos, but on an aural level. With the Odyssey Stratos, these little minutiae of detail, nuance, and sound unexpectedly start appearing on familiar recordings—but these sounds weren’t there prior to the use of this amp. The naturalness of instrumental timbres has evolved into something so incredibly realistic as well. Voices and instruments are so palpable that I literally feel I can reach out and touch them. Now there’s supposed to be that synergy thing between components of matching brand name, like my Classe/Classe combo. However, the Odyssey Stratos amp blew that notion to shreds, at least in my case. Even partnered with the Classe preamp, the sound of the Odyssey Stratos amp betters that of the Classe amp. On the other hand, there is absolutely no contest with the Krell; once the Odyssey was powering the ET’s—the Odyssey relegated the Krell to “mid-fi,” hands down. One may think that at its price, the Odyssey Stratos represents an entry-level high end piece. This is not the case because this amp is serious high end. The many reviews I’ve read of the Odyssey Stratos are true—the sonics of this amp rival the best out there at any price, and there is surely no competition at anywhere near its price point, period. Along with the Eminent Technology LFT-8 speakers, the Odyssey Stratos amp has been a best kept high end secret, but the word is getting out. Needless to say, the Odyssey/ET combination is a match made in heaven. (For front end, I use the SOTA Sapphire TT/Shure V-15 cartridge and Classe Audio CDP-10 CD Player.) In summary, this amp is a stunning performer along essentially all parameters of amplifier performance. If there is one characteristic of this amp that stands out, I think it would be transparency, yet it does everything well. This amp disappears and brings me closer to the music. Being an owner of many high end amps over the years, the Odyssey Stratos is the ultimate.

Similar Products Used:

Amber, Conrad-Johnson, VSP Labs, PS Audio, BEL, Aragon, Krell, N.E.W., and Classe.

Performance, customer support, both again and again!

QA/shipping: Careful external/internal inspection highly recommended before powering up. Bent binding post and failed power switch needed replacement upon delivery, despite no sign of damage to shipping carton. Support was immediate, fully adequate.

This review covers the Stereo Extreme variant of the Odyssey Stratos power amplifier. My amplifier was upgraded by Odyssey from the version with doubled power supply capacitance, which I obtained used. The Extreme version adds a second power transformer (paralleled with the original) and another increment of capacitance, to a total triple that of the base Stratos. Sonically, the previously impressive performance of the Stratos was improved more noticeably than I expected. My amplifier already had advantages over the "base" Stratos and showed considerable LF "authority", but the Extreme upgrade took it to the next level. Midrange and high-end detail were slightly better, especially their resolution during sustained pipe organ pedal, classical (large) bass drum, and driving/deep pop/jazz passages. My wife and I both noticed bottom-end subtleties previously not heard in several familiar classical music selections. The Stratos retained all of its previous neutrality and openness; it shows little of the sonic attributes ("grain", "glare", etc.) sometimes attributed to solid-state amps, perhaps even a little less after the upgrade. This change clearly demonstrates the excellence of Rolf Gemein's Symphonic Line core amplifier circuit design. And that superb low-end performance has little to do with steady-state or small-signal frequency response and much more to do with power supply "stiffness" in amplifiers of contemporary circuit topology. My observations are based on a direct circuit path to the household AC power distribution panel; insertion of a power-conditioning device will probably degrade performance of the Stratos. The Stratos Stereo Extreme sounds better than any solid-state amp I have heard in the under-$2K price range. It may be better than higher priced amps, but I have not listened critically to any of them and now see no compelling reason to. Thoughts of replacing my speakers anytime soon are gone now that this amplifier has shown their true performance capability. My sources now appear as the weak links in the system. This amplifier configuration is recommended highly to anyone considering buying Odyssey product and this upgrade to anyone currently owning a Stratos Stereo. Vielen Dank, Klaus!

Similar Products Used:

Hafler DH-220 with Musical Concepts and other mods, Anthem MCA-2, Bryston 3B

Allows everyone access to high end systems.Backed by Klaus of Odyssey!

It will take up to six weeks to build and deliver.

I have had the Stratos for almost a year. Right out of the box the first thing I noticed was MORE bass. Second was how the notes lingered in the air and were slightly more musical. Knowing that there would be a long break-in I already felt the Stratos was a fine acquisition. As time has past, the bass is tighter and not as bloomy. The music has a good deal more realism to the sound. I leave the unit on constantly and have never turned it off except for a quick move to a different location in the same room. It never skipped a beat and I noticed no difference in sound. To further clarify how pleased I am with this component I have ordered speakers and a preamp from Odyssey.

Quality of build and parts. Never before I heard that correct sound for that little money. Spatial information. Tonality. True instrument

not for the cost

I read on the internet a review about the Stratos for spatial information and tonality that is so completely wrong, so off the truth that I promised Klaus to write one myself. First to my background. I am a professional musician, playing the piano and the violina. Like Jose, I conduct too. I studied at the Moscow conservatory of music and in 22 years have played in Europe, Asia and America. I have 2 systems. One is a all tube system and one is a WSymphonic Line Kraft 400 system with Avalon speakers. The 30,000 $ Kraft are the amplifiers truest to the music. I bought the Odyssey as a toy from Klaus when I knew that the Stratos is a small version of the big Kraft. The Stratos is excellent in its control and speed. The spatial correct information of different areas like violins and brass on orchestral music is very good and like in real life. When I conduct I can feel the pressure and intense of teh different groups of instruments. The Stratos does that well. I have violin concertos with different violins that show the sound of the different instruments. You can hear the difference only in a good system that is clean and has the right tonality and air. The Stratos does this nearly as good as the big Kraft. It is a musicians amplifier. It is so true to what I know and love in life concerts that I do or go to. Very, very good too the cost of the amplifier. $ 1,200 with the capacitor option and super quality of build and a true Symphonic Line amp. How does Klaus do that ??? I don't know, but if you don't have the chance of hearing a Symphonic Line amp and want the best get a Stratos. It does everything good.

Similar Products Used:

Symphonic Line, Convergent, Thor, Graaf, Levinsen

Fast, clean, detailed, lots of low level information, huge dynamics, enormous power, perfect timbres, highly musical, enormous soundstage, able to transmit all apatial cues in recordings.

None significant besides being large and heavy (all excellent amps are large and heavy, you just can not invalidate the laws of physics).

I bought four Stratos Monoblocks to bi-amplify my speakers: first a pair of Magneplanar 3.3R, then 3.6R, and lately a pair of Silverline Sonata II. The equipment that is being used, including interconnects, speaker cables and AC power cables, is of top quality. (You may review my equipment as a memeber here). This is one of the best amplifiers I have listened to, and I have listened to amps costing up to ten times what the Stratos cost. The Stratos is extremely fast, perfectly clean, superbly detailed, lots of low level information, with huge dynamics and almost limtless power, perfect timbres, highly musical, with an enormous soundstage and capable of preserving even the finest and most diminutive spatial cues in the recordings. Mind that the Stratos does not romanticize musical information. It will honestly reveal what is in the recording and the equipment, both upstream and downstream , that you are using. Besides being a University Professor I studied music at a Conservatoire and played and condcuted a chamber orchestra, and I attend regularly to concerts. I know how instruments sound and I know about spatial cues. And the Stratos excel in these aspects. Since 2001, I have improved my equipment, but I have retained the Stratos. They are that good.

Similar Products Used:

Classé, Mark Levinson, Jeff Rowland, BAT, Parasound, Bedini, Aragon, Bryston.