Upgrades To Stereo Stratos

John151 · « **on:** 23 Sep 2004, 01:11 am »

Given a Stereo Stratos amp with the cap upgrades, what is the next upgrade? Can these be upgraded much further, or is the next logical upgrade to move to mono blocks?

Marbles · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 01:20 am »

Quote from: John151

Given a Stereo Stratos amp with the cap upgrades, what is the next upgrade? Can these be upgraded much further, or is the next logical upgrade to move to mono blocks?

You can do a Stratos Extreme, then the next step would be Mono's.

I think I would go straight to mono's, or maybe a dual mono.

John151 · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 01:29 am »

Marbles -Thanks for the input. I am very confused by the varios Odyssey products. So the Stereo Stratos can be upgraded to "extreme"? I was thinking that was only for the Monos. Also, what is the difference between the mono and the dual mono?

djbnh · « **Reply #3 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 01:52 am »

I believe dual mono is two separate mono sections housed in a single chassis. You need two PCs, etc.

amartincool · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 06:27 am »

Dual Mono is same that Standard Monos but in one chasis, you have two power cords, two on off etc...into the same chasis

The problem is that you can not upgrade anymore the Dual Mono.

But Standar Monos can be upgraded to Extreme Monos.
Or the standar Extreme stratos can be upgraded to the extreme Monos.

lylefan · « **Reply #5 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 11:56 am »

Quote from: amartincool

The problem is that you can not upgrade anymore the Dual Mono.

I am not so sure this is entirely true. Unless you mean you can't upgrade within the single case. You can still upgrade to the extreme mono's, you of course would then have two separate cases.

John151 · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 01:35 pm »

Thanks everyone for clearing things up. Makes sense now.

I just picked up a used Stratos Strereo with Cap Upgrade off of AudiogoN. I have a 5 channel system, and for now, this amp will handle the L/R (for 2 channel). I hope to get an HT3 down the road to power the other 3 channels, and then possibly upgrade the Stereo to Extremes. My speakers are all Magnepan, and I have heard many Maggie owners rave about the Stratos, so I took the plunge w/o ever hearing one (MuskyDon lives in my area and offered to give me a listen, but I have not found the time). I look forward to seeing if this amp lives up to the hype (I fully expect it will).

In addiition to upgrading the amps, my upgrade path also includes replacing the NAD receiver with a PreAmp, better interconnects, upgrading the front speakers (from MMG to 3.6). Any thoughts on the order of upgrades would be appreciated.

alex_odyssey_sg · « **Reply #7 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 04:36 pm »

Quote from: John151

upgrading the front speakers (from MMG to 3.6).
Quote

Well...to get the best out of 3.6, you will need the Mono Extremes. But getting the Stratos stereo now makes a lot of sense...just let Klaus know when you need to convert it to the Mono Extreme. You will not regret it.

Alex

KarlDL · « **Reply #8 on:** 26 Sep 2004, 07:38 pm »

John,

It seems that you are embarking on the journey that I began a year ago, with a used stereo Stratos Plus. I had it upgraded to Stereo Extreme configuration shortly after acquiring it. It's now back in Indy getting matched with a new Mono Extreme to morph into two of the latter. Somewhat ironic in that the older Stratos was originally configured as a Monoblock by its first owner ... two before me.

The Extreme mod to the basic Stereo substantially improves LF authority, LF transient power, and slightly improved the mid/high clarity, mostly in the presence of serious LF content (driving bass guitar, orchestral bass drum, long organ pedals).

Was the upgrade worth it? For the $$$, yes.

Does it make more sense to go to Monos or Mono Extremes directly? Can't tell yet ... since I haven't got the "next step" back from Indy (and then, the break-in). Some will say "assuredly so". From what I can ascertain, I think that a lot has to do with speaker efficiency. The most ardent raves seem to come from those with less-efficient speakers. I have Silverline Sonata IIs, which are quite efficient. Nevertheless, there are solid theoretical reasons why the Monoblock (or Extreme Mono) should sound better, regardless of speaker.

Karl

Goodwine59 · « **Reply #9 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 05:12 pm »

What changes from a Stratos 120K power supply to a Stratos Stereo Extreme?

amartincool · « **Reply #10 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 05:35 pm »

It doubles the power suply from 400 to 800 va.
two 400 va transformer Plitron.

Goodwine59 · « **Reply #11 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 05:48 pm »

Thanks for you reply... but I'm confused. From your reply I get that the Stereo Extreme=Dual Mono configuration, is this correct?.

byteme · « **Reply #12 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 06:26 pm »

Quote from: Goodwine59

Thanks for you reply... but I'm confused. From your reply I get that the Stereo Extreme=Dual Mono configuration, is this correct?.

Close. The dual mono is literally two mono amps in one chassis. Two separate power supplies, two power cords, etc.

The Stereo Extreme has a single beefed up power supply that equals the two mono supplies in size. One 800 for both channels vs. two 400's one for each channel.

amartincool · « **Reply #13 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 09:50 pm »

Power supply is the same in dual mono and xtreme
Difference is that dual mono has 240.000 uf and stereo xtreme 180.000 uf of capacitance.
power in dual mono is 180w, in xtreme is 150w
current delivery in stereo xtreme is 45amperes but in dual mono is 120 amperes.

And dual mono are two mono circuits separated in one chasis as and stereo xtreme is just one stereo circuit.

Hope this help

.

rosconey · « **Reply #14 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 11:27 pm »

http://www.odysseyaudiomx.com/electronicos.htm

this should help you -granted its in spanish but the numbers are the same so you will get a better idea-
klaus should have such a good web page

Goodwine59 · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Oct 2004, 02:35 am »

Amigo Rosco y todos los demás amigos,

Gracias por la información; definitivamente fue de mucha ayuda la información sumistrada... al menos tengo una idea más clara de los "upgrades" ofrecidos por Odyssey Audio para el Stratos.

I'm sorry if my English is not up to PAR with some of you guys... that is why I'm in the chemical field, where the language barrier is reduced to a bare minimum due to standardized nomenclature system... In all the forums I 've participated no one has expressed inuendos or insinuated that my statements are not clear or ... if that is the case I'm sorry. I bet many of the participants of his forum don't speak a second language to a point of contributing to forums such as this (in a foreign language). If I have offended you, or anyone by my questions, I'm sorry, I'll never participate in this forum again. Take care.

John151 · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Oct 2004, 03:00 am »

Quote from: rosconey

http://www.odysseyaudiomx.com/electronicos.htm

this should help you -granted its in spanish but the numbers are the same so you will get a better idea-
klaus should have such a good web page

rosconey - I agree, the English site is not very informative. In fact, it has created more questions than answers for me. The spanish site is much better, even though I can't read spanish. Also, it has much better pictures. Why doesn't the English site use the term "Stratos Plus"? I assume the plus refers to the cap upgrades?

GoodWine - It is not clear to me what or who has offended you, but please don't leave. Probably just a mis-communication.

amartincool · « **Reply #17 on:** 2 Oct 2004, 08:24 am »

Ohh amigo Goodwine59, yo espero no haber ofendido tampoco, de hecho yo también tengo mis problemas con el idioma inglés, aunque me defienda un mínimo como para enterarme.

So if you need anything if you have any question just let us know, Eduardo from México and me from Spain ( I am the Spain,s Dealer) both we can help you

best regards

KarlDL · « **Reply #18 on:** 6 Oct 2004, 03:03 am »

Another 60,000uF power supply capacitance and a second power transformer, paralleled with the original (if the latter is a low-noise Plitron) are the readily visible changes.

I didn't look at my Stratos Plus closely enough to determine in detail whether there were any other changes on the way to Extreme. WIMA film capacitors externally parallel electrolytics in several instances, but I don't know whether those exist across the Stratos product line or not.

Just returned from a weekend in Napa/Sonoma ... fearing opening the wallet and entering the winery receipts into Quicken ...

Karl

Musky_Don · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 Oct 2004, 03:58 am »

John151 - Hey neighbor - Congrats on your purchase - the offer still stands. The Monos and Extreme Monos are available for listening whenever you have the time. I'd love to hear them with the Maggies as I have heard good things but have always been a Dynaudio fan. Let me know when you are ready - I'd rather have a good single malt but your posts have tempted me towards a good tequila - not. Wishing you many hours of enjoyment with your new amps. Don