Stratos HT 5?

bubba966 · « **on:** 24 Mar 2003, 10:31 pm »

Klaus,

Is the HT 5 in production? Not much about it on your site.

At some point I wouldn't upgrading the power section of my setup. But that would require 7 channels of amplification. So a Stratos & a Stratos HT 5 would work well for such a setup.

But what does a HT 5 cost?

Does it sound like the HT 3 and the regular Stratos?

Marbles · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 Mar 2003, 10:43 pm »

Bubba,

Klaus is on his way to the Montreal show, so I will take a stab at answering.

As far as I know Klaus could never figure how to get more than 3 channels in one case.

As far as I know no HT 5 was ever produced.

The HT3 was a 3 channel but 2 power supply design. The center channel had it's own power supply and the right and left shared one like a stereo Stratos. The HT3 sounds identicle to a stereo Stratos IMO. Theoretically the center channel should sound better than the fronts, but they sounded very cohesive to me.

JoshK · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 Mar 2003, 11:02 pm »

Brian,

I would think you wouldn't really need to upgrade all 7 channels of amplification. I think really the front 3 are all that really matter that much. As long as your receiver isn't choking to push the rear 4, I don't see how upgrading these channels would make a noticeable difference. YMMV, but I would be interested to know if it really mattered.

bubba966 · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Mar 2003, 11:29 pm »

Josh, you're right in that the 3 front channels matter most, while the rear center channels are almost never used. So I could get away with the very least doing the front three. But I'd also want to do the rears as well. So why not just replace all 7 and get it over with as well as keep things as close to eachother as possible?

My receiver has no problem running my speaks as it is. It'll run clean to levels that I can't listen at.

But I did try out an pair of AKSA 100w Nirvana monos a couple of months back. It was an obvious improvement in clarity, as well as an additional 3 dB of output.

So I know better is possible. And at some point I wouldn't mind going for better without going off the deep end price-wise.

I figure on somewhere in the $2,000-$2,500 to do 7 channels AKSA 100w. Add some more if I went with 100w Nirvanas. But I'm not sure I feel like building 7 channels of AKSA 100w'ers.

Marbles,

Appreciate the informative answer. Sounds like a HT 3 and 2 Stereo Stratos would be the way to go then. While the center channel is more important than the mains for movie watching, I suppose I could use the L & R in the HT 3 for the rear center channels. Then use one Stereo Stratos for the mains, and another for the rears. That'd come in around $3,500 for that solution.

I might just go the Odyssey route over the AKSA route as it'd be easier, and I've yet to see any case style I'd like to drop AKSA's into.

JoshK · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Mar 2003, 12:35 am »

Brian,

When you do this upgrade, you are going to have to invite me over when I come home to visit the family. I still have most of my family and friends in your neck of the woods.

bubba966 · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Mar 2003, 01:20 am »

Josh,

You're more than welcome to stop by anytime you're in the area.

But if you're going to wait until I upgrade my amplification you might have a bit of a wait.

Before I upgrade the power amps, I plan on getting new rears. All four of them will be M&K SS-150THX's.

I'd also like to get my DV-38A modded by DanW.

Not to mention new component cables from Wayne. And probably some speaker cable at some point as well.

Better outlets on my AC line conditioner, a BPT BP JRII for my LD player, and so on...