Hi folks,
I’m looking for advice regarding whether I’d be better off spending a 1000-1500 budget on upgrades to my Odyssey Stratos Stereo Plus or replacing my preamp.
Current system
Source: NAS drive running Kodi Krypton
Digital transport: Raspberry Pi 3B with Hifiberry Digi+ Pro and iFi iPower
DAC: Hegel HD12
Preamp: Nuforce Icon HDP with Teradak linear power supply
Active crossover: Marchand XM66
Power amp: Odyssey Stratos Stereo Plus (Klaus told me that he made some upgrades to the board at the time of my original purchase, but I’m not sure what they are)
Speakers: Philharmonic BMR monitors
Sub: Outlaw LFM-1 EX
Cables: DH Labs interconnects and speaker cables (BL-1 series 2, Q-14, D-750), Shunyata Venom power cables
Power distribution: Panamax M4300-PM
What I’m trying to achieve: I know my speakers have the potential to be incredibly revealing. I demoed them at the home of the speaker designer, Dennis Murphy, and heard what they can do. My system in its current state is about 95%. Detail and soundstage are outstanding, but there is a certain edginess that I’d like to be rid of, while ideally getting a sound that’s a little more holographic at least on high quality live live recordings.
My thinking is that the weak link is the Nuforce preamp. It’s actually a DAC, class A solid state preamp, and headphone amp all in one. I am bypassing the inferior DAC stage with the Hegel. Things got a little better when I gave it a cheap Chinese linear PSU (to replace the OEM cheap Chinese switching PSU), but the difference wasn’t huge. I’ve read how well the Odyssey does with tube preamps, and hypothesized that a good tube pre that doesn’t give up any detail might be just what I need.
Yesterday I picked up a Rogue RP-1 demo unit from my local dealer (already broken in). After about 3 hrs of listening, I can safely say I prefer my Nuforce. The Rogue is a touch sweeter sounding (in a good way), and it does shave off the extra edginess, but I am missing some of the inner detail that I can hear through the Nuforce. Also, the sound of well recorded live music is no more holographic, if anything it is less! While I wouldn’t used the word “veiled” to describe it in absolute terms, there is something extra between me and the music that wasn’t there before. And the RP-1, according to several pro reviews I’ve read, is one of the more revealing tube pres in my price range (actually a bit more than my price range, at 1695).
Possibilities:
- The RP- 1 just isn’t the right tube pre for my system. There are certainly others at my price point (Quicksilver Line Stage, Doge 8, LTA MZ-2, AVA Transcendence) and slightly above (Candela, AVA FET Valve, Prima Luna Prologue, Modwright SWL 9.0, and lots of others I’m sure). I can keep looking for demo opportunities til I find the right one for me.
- Perhaps tube gear just isn’t for me, and what I really need is a SS pre that is more refined than my current Nuforce. Certainly there are plenty of those.
- It may be that I misdiagnosed the issue, and what I really need is to give my Stratos some love and have Klaus upgrade it to an Extreme or even a Kismet board.
- some other ingredient of my system is the weak link. I am doubtful that there are any cost effective true upgrades, except possibly the Panamax power distribution, but I’m open to ideas
Anyhow, thoughts? I know there are plenty of happy owners of Stratos Extreme and Kismet amps on this board. I’d ask that you only push me that direction if you’ve also heard the Plus and so have some first hand knowledge of the improvement those upgrades offer (or Extreme -> Kismet). I’d also love to hear from anyone with both SS and tube pre experience with their Odyssey amp.
Thanks!