Odyssey Audio Stratos Mono Blocks Amplifiers
Odyssey Audio Stratos Mono Blocks Amplifiers
USER REVIEWS
[Dec 04, 2016]
DRG
AudioPhile
I bought the Odyssey Audio Stratos Monoblocks with the Kismet board upgrade (180 watts/channel)about a year ago and have it connected to my Vandersteen 3A signature speakers. I had it custom designed with silver and black construction. I have listened to this combination extensively.
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[Dec 12, 2009]
AnalogDog
AudioPhile
This review is for the 'plain vanilla' Stratos monoblocs. The Extremes, and Glass Ceiling'ed Extremes, and now the Kismets have gotten the lion's share of bandwidth lately, as well they should. Klaus has taken the extremely strong foundation of the Stratos monoblocs, and built them up into something extraordinary, with these latest additions to the Odyssey line.
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[Nov 02, 2008]
antero
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
see above.
Weakness:
Very long break-in period ... people who have not heard these amps before 6 months of continuous run-in time will have NO IDEA how good they are! That is probably the reason why Odyssey does not have the acclaim it trully deserves. This review is for a pair of Stratos Mono Extreme SE built around June of 2007. They had the latest Symphonic line boards available at that time and were about 3 months old when I got them. I became their third owner at that point!
Customer Service Klaus is excellent to deal with. Resourceful and honest. Similar Products Used: YBA, Nagra, Atmasphere, Bryston, Musical Fidelity, Audio Refinement, Classe, Krell, Simaudio, Audio Note. Heard Tenor, Vaic, VAC in other setups. |
[Jun 01, 2008]
davet
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Fantastic sound and build quality, along with unmatched customer service.
Weakness:
Absolutely NONE! This is my first review, and as i am not one to have ever put sound into words. I will keep it simple and breif. The review is for a pair of "Glass ceiling" upgraded monoblock extremes.
Customer Service Never before have i ever experianced personal attention from the owner of a company. Klaus is a remarkable person, a true pleasure to do business with. Similar Products Used: Krell, Bryston, Classe, VTL, Cary, McCormack, |
[Mar 17, 2007]
Doug Sharp
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
8000 Characters isn't enough to list the strengths. Everything you have heard is true. Punch, sound quality, staging, depth, tonality... nothing missing in the sound. Build is custom and high quality. If you bought a bunch of them you would probably find minor differences in the finish but you'd be using a fine tooth comb to find them.
Weakness:
You need space and a good rack and other equipment that is up to the same level of quality. Now I'm shopping for a better disk player but most folks will understand that issue. Confession. I've been a customer since 2001 and haven’t been that great of a customer that’s when I bought my first amplifier from Odyssey Audio. Yep, I shopped around for an amp upgrade as I slowly build up a reference system for both stereo and 5.1 channel duty. I realize this review is long but I want the reader to understand why I made the choice to return to Odyssey. Value, service and sound quality!
Customer Service Rocks. Similar Products Used: Many but I have never owned a better amp. I've auditioned BAT, Carver, Anthem, CJ, Krell and some other customs. None had this level of price vs. performance going for them. |
[Feb 13, 2007]
85CJ7
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Can handle demanding speakers with ease
Weakness:
Heavy? If you are considering solid state amplifiers, consider the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extremes and if the Special Edition is available and you have the means buy a pair. I have owned several SS amps and the Mono SEs trounced them. I can not comment on any comparison to tube amplifiers since I don’t own any nor have I listened to any but going back to SS, the Odysseys are great. I’m driving a pair of Thiel CS3.6s and they sound phenomenal. Previously I drove them with Rotel RB 1090s but I sold those once I heard the Thiels being powered by the SEs. A further improvement was adding the Candela preamp to the system but without the Monos to control the Thiels first, the Candela probably wouldn’t have shone as highly. The Thiels require more than power otherwise the Rotels would have been a great match with 700 watts into 4 ohms. As such my system with the Candela, Stratos Mono Extreme SEs, and Thiel CS3.6s competes with almost any system. The key word here is competes. I’m not saying it is better, but it is good.
Customer Service As always, Klaus is easy to deal with and provides a 20 year warranty. Similar Products Used: Present:
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[Jul 15, 2006]
Rigby
Audio Enthusiast
Weakness:
None This review is in response to “Discriminator’s” comments.
Similar Products Used: Odyssey Stratos |
[Jan 12, 2006]
saidentary
AudioPhile
Strength:
Build quality, power in terms of wattage, "extreme" current delivery, recovery of detail, bottom end control. On the practical side, since these are a class A/B design, they don't run "hot", just warm, and can be stored, turned on at all times, inside of an entertainment center with no worries, although at least SOME ventilation is still necessary (I know that you probably already know that, so sorry about the "duh!").
Weakness:
Yeah, RIGHT! Critical Point: This review is about the EXTREME (most deluxe available model, and not currently even mentioned on the U.S. version of Odyssey's web site). This version is DIFFERENT than the simple monoblock amplifier pair, or even with a capacitance upgrade. The Odyssey Stratos EXTREME Monoblock Amplifier pair has 200-PLUS watts per channel and probably more like 300, according to Klaus Bunge, the manufacturer in the United States who makes these under license from the Symphonic Line in Germany (where similar products routinely retail for DOUBLE what Klaus has these priced at). They also have much more capacitance, 180,000 microfarads PER SIDE (!!!) or 360,000 microfarads total. Capacitance is important in terms of current delivery, and as I understand it, more is generally better. Also, I purchased these USED, so the price I paid was less than the retail of a new unit, which is $2700 per pair. So..... The Odyssey Extreme monoblocks have been in my system for just about one year. They replaced the venerable B&K ST-140, a legendary "value" amplifier, which has around 100 wpc. It was immediately obvious that these were superior to the B&K in probably every way (even though that's a fairly well regarded amplifier, and knowlegable audiophiles will know), with the two most striking and immediately obvious changes being INCREASED RESOLUTION OF DETAIL and MASSIVELY IMPROVED BOTTOM END CONTROL. I had the Rel Storm 3 hooked up when listening to the B&K for the "A" part of the audition. I then hooked up the Odysseys, and noted much improved detail with no discernible increase in high end glare. The bass was quite similar between the two amplifiers, with the Odysseys seeming perhaps more controlled but maybe not as deep (HOWEVER, SEE BELOW, BECAUSE THIS OBSERVATION WAS DEAD WRONG!). I didn't care and bought them anyway. Later, I realized that when hooking up the Odysseys for this audition, I had.......FORGOTTEN TO TURN THE REL STORM 3 BACK ON, and had therefore heard their bass rivaling that of the B&K, when IT had had the benefit of an amplified sub bass unit! At the time of the original audition, the main speakers were the Paradigm Studio 100 V3's, and the preamp was the Rotel RC995. The low end control of these is fabulous, and the current delivery is outstanding, since these have a massive 180,000 microfarads of capacitance EACH (360,000 microfarads total). They are great for detail without being harsh. One thing that's ESPECIALLY great about these is that they are backed to the HILT by Klaus Bunge, and he will discuss system specifics, has a remarkable breadth and depth of audio knowlege, AND he's very easy to talk to--always. The things he has posted on the Odyssey website regarding customer service sounded to me to be, well..."optimistic", but turned out to absolutely, positively true, without exception, in my experience. Others on the Audioreview website seem to agree, everybody or nearly everybody, as far as I've seen. So----->I absolutely love these and even if price were no object, I would replace them only with something "stratos"pherically priced like an Essence or Gryphon, or something like that, and certainly have no plans to replace them any time soon. Maybe when the warranty expires, which is.......20 (TWENTY) YEARS!!!! LOL!!! Similar Products Used: B&K ST-140 (a great amplifier in its own right) |
[Oct 24, 2005]
WILLIAM C WALDECKER 3RD
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
the power,speed,smoothness,and build quality of the mono extremes and customer service is world class. dealing with Klaus Bunge is a privlege and always a pleasure.
Weakness:
the waiting period has been two weeks from ordering to my doorstep, these products are built to order one at a time so i dont really see the wait as a liability. i purchased the mono extremes about four months ago after owning a pair of factory upgraded Khartago monoblocks. i am very impressed at how well these amplifiers perform in my system. i was using these amps with the Tempest preamp and a Symphonic Line vibrato cd player along with a beautiful dark red cherry pair of Odyssey Lorelei loudspeakers. the Khartago monos were wonderful in thier own right but the mono extremes are in a whole different class. the control that these amps have over the drivers in the speakers is amazing,the air around the musical notes. the incredible speed and smoothness of these amps along with the sheer power that they exhibit just give me a grin from ear to ear. these amps easily compare to amps costing many times more the asking price. the sonics that they are capable of are truely world class! i dont think i will be shopping for new amps anytime soon, unless of course Klaus decides to build a better a power amplifier.nothing comes even close to these amps for the money. Similar Products Used: Anthem,Rotel,Parasound,BK,Musical Fidelity |
[Oct 03, 2005]
peter59
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
much better bass authority, fluid midrange, grainless treble, 20year warranty, Klaus Bunge for customer service!!
Weakness:
none I can think of, oh yeah the long breakin but once you are there you will be toe tapping and grinning from ear to ear! I originally had the Odyssey Dual Stratos for a few months, spoke to Klaus Bunge( owner of Odyssey Audio Designs) and decided to step up to the mono amps (extreme version) Everything that has previously posted about these amps is correct. If you want to hear an incredible transformation of detail like never before, soundstage presence that will move blow you away than run don't walk and call Klaus today!. I thought that I was happy with the dual mono amp (please see my previous review )you will be in pure musical heaven! I would have to say that the monos are at least 50% better all across the board, when Klaus had told me their would be a dramatic improvement he was not kidding, more like a complete transformation. I am now finding myself listening more and more to my cds for hours on end.. If you want true high end HIFI sound at a very resonable cost this is it. You will not be dissapointed!! Similar Products Used: Krell, Mark Levinson, CJ, Cary, Musical Fidelity, McCormick,Bryston, Prima Luna, |