[W.C.]

You might want to read this.                                                        
http://www.harmonicdiscord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8608

[klaus@odyssey]

Well,  here we go again:  there's the issue of plain ole' specs on one side,  and then there's the performance on the other.   Hmmm,  specs by themself are about as meaningful as ....?????

180 W.  not enough ????
Actually,  it's more about the current capabilities, damping factor etc.  anyway,  and yes,  the units are ridiculous as far as power,  stability,  and actual guts are concerned.  Are they as good on paper than other amps ???  I'd like to drive them side by side with some extreme speakers of some of our customers,  such as the Apogee Scintillas,  and then let's see about power,  baby.

(As for the doubling down on Wattage:  welcome to the 70's)

Late

[klaus@odyssey]

Oh Forgot:

Anthony, please do some more research on the monos.
They are in fact  IMPROVED !!!  Symphonic Line RG 11 monos.  Much improved,  and these amps have reference status' in several versions all over Europe and parts of Asia,  such as the stereo unit, monos,  or the amp stage of their big, expensive integrated.  All the same design,  which is also our Stratos.  Now,  the Stratos has a much improved case,  and a much, much better power supply.  With the Xtremes,  we simply went nuts, and the results were astonishingly good,   especially on the (real) power and stability issue.

Now,  as for the $$$,  I don't think that you realize that the standard RG 11 mono version used to be $ 7,200.  So,  in fact we're not talking about 2 K here,  but a pair of 7 K +, for which you just happen to pay only 2 K +.  US manufacturing instead of Germany,  reasonable margins on our side,  and factory direct (still with 20 years warranty,  and keep in mind that I'm doing SL here in the US for 15 years now !!!)

I'm sorry if you paid more for your amps.

Late,
Klaus

[Anthony C]

Klaus,

We're all on the same side here, I didn't mean to come across as a skeptic. I agree fuly that nothing means as much as how it sound to you. Without this, specs are worthless. Basicaly I no little about most specs anyway. Also, you don't have to apoloigize as I paid $1250 for my Cinepro 1K2 new right before they raised the price to $2000 (and it is a fantastic amp, better than the standard Stratos imo) Anyway, I'm planning to move the Cinepro to sub duty (1000X1) and want to buy the best  amplification possible for my mains (RM2's now, may trade up to 40's within a few months)
I've been looking into the Cary V12,  BAT VK200/500, Classe 301,401, CAM 200/350, Sonic Frontiers Power 2, Innersound, Coda, PS HCA, PS Classic, Bel Canto 4 ch (to bridge), Spectron Musican, Parasound JC-1, Theta Dreadnaught to name a few. I don't have the $$ for many but have no problem going used.
As most of these amps are "fully balanced" (not just having XLR connections) is this a drawback for the Odyssey? Are the full specs printed anywhere? Are there two power cords and are they "captured"?
Honestly, It would be great if I prefer this amp to the others as I'd much rather give my $$ to you ascI've seen how much help you give your customers and how proud you are of your equipment

Anyway, it looks like your new amp is going on my "short" list`

[Ferdi]

Hi AnthonyC, don't want to sound like an advertisement (maybe expected a bit in the Odyssey Circle) but I have the Stereo Stratos for 1 year now and like it better now than I did earlier. I have taken some more time getting things balanced between speaker-cables, interconnects, powercable and speaker-placement.

The amps you list look like a very impressive list. Most of these I would like to hear and I suspect I'd like most of them well enough to be very happy. What sets the Stratos apart for me is the level of support from Klaus personally but also the active user community adds a lot of value to me.

Good luck picking a new amp. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun making your selection.