[arthur]

I haven't heard anyone arguing that FOR THE PRICE the Odyssey Stratos is a very good deal. I do own a Stratos and am currently looking to replace my passive Creek OBH12, which is a very good pre for the $250 price, but i'm not very satisfied with the soundstage and the a bit un-involving sound.  

I've been contemplating purchasing the Odyssey Tempest to go with the Stratos amp, Scott Nixon TubeDac+ and Legacy Classic speakers.  I'm also open to considering any pre that has at least 2 inputs and a remote volume control.  I do like tubes, however I'm not all that excited about the slow accumulation of cost in tube burnout (I'm one of those who is unwilling to sell much of my life for objects, so my "disposable" income is always quite thin).

From those of you who have heard the Tempest, what do you think is its closest competition? In other words, given my system configuration, how much more (or less) $  is the next best thing to the Odyssey Tempest.

thank you

[F-100]

Arthur,
  I used to have the same setup as yours (Creek OBH12 and Odyssey Stratos). I wasn't quite happy with the overall sound so I sold the OBH12 and bought a used Tempest.  The Tempest & Stratos are made for each other like Romeo & Juliet . I'm so glad that I'd made that transition and never thought about upgrading the preamp since, and I've this setup for over two years now.

[Curt]

You may like to look at the "Purist" model LLC-P.

There is a review in the critics section and some comments in IRDs section here on this board. The sound, pricing and quality are all very good.

[drphoto]

I picked up a Tempest from Klaus @ the MAF to drive my Stratos Monos. I'm very pleased. I was using an expensive Audio Research before, and I like the Tempest better. I think there is more detail, but the Tempest, despite being a 'sand' amp is just as smooth. (I do miss the nifty remote control of the ARC)

I had an entry level Conrad-Johnson pre before that. It had a poor soundstage....a 'hole in the middle' effect, and was somewhat shrill.

I think the Tempest is a fine unit for the price. Wish it had dual outputs, but I'm sure I (or Klaus) could modify. I like that it has a phono stage...now tempted to try vinyl again.

JoshK was very enthusiastic about the Mapletree unit (found below)...you may want to consider that too. I had it on my short list before bumping into Klaus.

[F-100]

I believe Klaus is offering the remote controller and dual outputs on the Tempest by special request only. That will be my next preamp upgrade

[W.C.]

I have the Tempest and I absolutely love it. It is very smooth. The only other preamp I have to compare it to is the Citation 7.0 which is an A/V preamp that compares to preamps in the 4K range. Although the Citation 7.0 is very good, I prefer the Tempest.

[tkp]

Arthur,

You might want to check out the LLC-P before making a decision on preamp.  The list price for the LLC-P is $ 660.00 delivered.
 
I just got the LLC-P in as a new toy to play with and preliminary evaluation shows that it is almost as good as the Bent TX-102 (which I considered to be one of the best preamp when configured properly).  The LLC-P has the advantage of very strong output where it can drive a load as low as 600 ohms (most amplifier is in the 10kohms + range) so it would work in virtually all system.  In addition it has 2 sets of output on separate circuitry so one can drive the subwoofer with the second output without imposing any kinda addition load on the first.

I used to own the nOrh ACA and some people here has compared the ACA with the Tempest (I think Marble had owned both at one time and he preferred the ACA over the Tempest).  The LLC-P is much better than the ACA.  

As for design and part used, I have serious doubt that the current crop preamp out there can be built better for the money.  The fact that the LLC-P has a ladder stepped attenuator should tell you what a good value it is.

[F-100]

Components matching is the key here.
If you already own the Stratos, then the Tempest will match perfectly. Plus, Klaus offer customers a no questions asked 30 day return policy so you have nothing to loose here.

That is my 0.02

Good Luck,

[W.C.]

I believe the Tempest is exactly the same preamp as the Synphonic Line preamp that sells for $3.2K

[arthur]

I haven't heard anyone arguing that FOR THE PRICE the Odyssey Stratos is a very good deal.  ...

   oops, i just noticed that i left out "not" from this sentence. what i meant was "i haven't heard anyone arguing that FOR THE PRICE Odyssey Stratos is NOT a good deal" - i'm very satisfied with the Stratos and the bang for the buck that it povides. currently, as noted in the above post, my quest is for a pre that will give me a similar value.  
sorry about the confusion  

[grub]

I've gotta go with tkp on this one.  Curts new preamp is a real piece of work, and it's the best pre I've had in my system to date.  I really love my FT-audio unit--I consider it the most bang for the buck component in my system, but the differences between the two are apparent.  For under $700 you owe it to yourself to at least give the Purist a trial.

Mine doesn't even have 100 hours on it yet, but already Curts pre offers more detail, depth and smoothness than any other preamp I've home tested.
-->grub

[arthur]

grub
thank you for the recommendation.
i'm just curious as to which pre's have you compared it to?
have you heard the tempest? how do they compare?
is there a remote volume control option on the purist?

i'd appreciate any info since i want to make the best possible choice before making the decision to dodge my landlord for a couple of months.

[Captain Humble]

drphoto wrote:

I was using an expensive Audio Research before, and I like the Tempest better. I think there is more detail, but the Tempest, despite being a 'sand' amp is just as smooth.

Please explain the term "sand amp".

Thanks,
Jeff

[Jay S]

I just got the LLC-P in as a new toy to play with and preliminary evaluation shows that it is almost as good as the Bent TX-102 (which I considered to be one of the best preamp when configured properly).  The LLC-P has the advantage of very strong output where it can drive a load as low as 600 ohms (most amplifier is in the 10kohms + range) so it would work in virtua ...

Hi, tkp, nice to see you on AC.

Could you elaborate on how the Purist compares with the Bent TX-102?  I do recall that Kishore said the Bent sounded better than the Joule LA-100.  My concern about the Bent is that my eAR amp has a very low input impedance (8k ohms!).  

Thanks, and regards,

- Jay

[JohnR]

"Sand amp" means solid-state.

[tkp]

Hello Jay,

I will write up a review of the purist soon.  I am waiting for it to break in completely so I can do a good comparison on it.  So far it exceeds some of my expectation for the money.  One thing you are going to experience with the LLC-P is the wonderful clean and balance sound of a good ladder stepped attennuator versus unbalance and fuzzy sound of cheap pots in most low cost preamp today.

[grub]

Hey Art,
Sadly, I can't compare directly to the Tempest, because I've never heard it, and synergy among a single brand may play a role here.  

Over the past couple years, I've had an FT-audio LW, and a Creek OBH-12 in my system.  I've also trialed for several weeks a B&K pre (I can't remember the number off-hand that retailed for $800), and a $3200 Classe pre (again, I forgot the model #).  

Until the heard the Purist, the only pre out of that bunch that totally blew me away was the FT audio unit.  It just had more of everything than the other pres offered.  Acutally, for the money, I was suprized how underwhelming the Classe pre was.  Nothing special to speak of at all!

As far as remote controlled volume, only the B&K and the Classe offered it.  It seems to me that manual-controlled pres sound better...does that seem strange?  The Purist does not offer remote controlled volume, so if that is a major feature you're looking for, it may be out of the running.
sorry I couldn't offer a direct comparison between the Tempest and the Purist.
-->grub