[Eduardo AAVM]

Let's read...

That guy maybe got a damaged Stratos, it's room acoustics are weird his earing system is ill or he is simply lying.

In my overall (short) experience, the con's he list are very unfamiliar with Odyssey sound. Extremely deep ? Timbral innacuracies ? What is he talking about ?

[rosconey]

look what he put under weaknesses-



Sound authenticity, finish quality, sparse documentation, 100$/yr cost of leaving on 24/7(takes days of re-break-in if turned off), takes hours of play to warm-up to peak even when left on, can’t use with cans.

finish quality is bad-dont think so
sparse documentation-i got alot of documents
cost for leaving amp on 24/7-what a fuckin looser
cant use with cans -dont see one thing under tempest info about headphone out, so whats the bitch here


First, the soundstage was unrealistically deep, distant and disproportionate regarding instrument location and the spatial relationships between them. On that stage, there were gross inaccuracies in the harmonic details of various instruments. The Stratos arbitrarily rearranges the soundstage, giving midrange elements, especially vocals, false prominence.

this guy is a wizz bang writer


but the part about klaus is the worst


hey not everone likes everthing but this guy sound like a nut case at best

[Pirate]

I agree ! The comments on the equipment are questionable   and adding the comments on Klaus tells me this guy is !!!!!

 I can't imagine not being able to reach Klaus at any time! I'd swear that phone is attached surgically to him  

[klaus@odyssey]

yaeh,  I know.  Who says that these reviews are all for real???  Over the past 2 years we have had over 20 !!!!!!  bogus rviews removed,  and on one of the occasions,  we've had to go legal.  It's up to me now to pull the trigger,  which I might.

Anyway,  what also gets me is that once there is a good review,  many peopl immediately give the review a bad mark with that stupid AR  rating system.  Likewise,  you see a bad Odyssey rview,  and the same guys are immediately celebrating the bad review.  What a piece of bullshit.

I am awar that there are tons of other manufacturer and dealers as well as mostly some owners of other components who like to see me fail.

Go figure,  what a fucked up world when at the same time,  I have never said anything bad about other manufacturer or components.  Decency,  where did you go ????


Late,

Klaus

[Rocket]

Hi,

Firstly i don't own any odyssey products, although they do hold my interest.

After reading this persons review i believe that you can't please everyone   .  I find it a bit hard to swallow that the person thought a cheap marantz amp sounded better.

In oz we suffer from the "Tall Poppy" syndrome and may'be some ppl in the audiophile industry want to cause problems for odyssey.

just my opinion.

regards

rocket

[rcj1231]

Can't imagine Klaus being unavailable to anyone.  He is always there when I call. Throughout my neurotic period breaking in my Mono Extremes, he has been most helpful for me keeping things in perspective.   I guess there will always be disagreeable people no matter where you go or what you do, too bad to lay it on the doorstep of one of the most caring guys I've dealt with in the audio business.

Rick

[ABEX]

I am wary of alot of things at AR. It was the first site I went to when getting back into audio a few years back. I try to consider that other manfs. are trying to make $$ and put out quality prdts. when posting reviews and at the same time try to give criticism for rooms for improvement even to those I know personally.

Only if things are totally outrageous will I openly criticize someone and I take criticisms as they come also providing what I suggest as guidelines are adhered to when testing of what I make are done.  

One thing I look at when I look at reviews are the previous equipment owned. If I see a lot of entry level stuff like BOSE I take the reviewer with a grain of salt.One thing that is useful at AR is to see what synergy is working in ones system.

Feel bad for any manufacture that suffers from reviews that are stupid or have no right to slam products as I am rather sensitive to such ridicule unless it is made in a positive manner in order to improve ones product in the market place

I do not own any of Klaus’s stuff BTW,but I hear and read good things!

AR I no longer use for advice BTW as many posters I find ignorant.Like why don't you get that 500w\ch. amp to drive those ultra efficient speakers!

Just thinking!

[klaus@odyssey]

Thanks for the kind words,  guys,  but like I said,  the review is BS.

Just like 2 more guys who gave me 4 stars last year,  when they reviewed an ODL  amp .  Not even mine !!!!  Anyway,  fighting with the guys at AR over this fo forever,  but yes,  it's tru that people tried to hurt my business.  Well,  if they would want that then obviously 2 things happen:  for one they have a motive and agenda,  and for 2 they leave themselves open legally.

Late,

klaus

[Bob A (SD)]

ABEX,

   Your impressions of audioreview.com are the same as mine.  I find the vast majority to be written by the uniformed and inexperienced.  So, given the link Klaus has to that site, I relunctantly recently posted a Tempest review and have been getting ready to post one on my Monos.
 
    Frankly I find searching sites such as audiocircle, audioreview, and TNT-audio to be much more productive in garnering an overall impression of a component's performance, value, sonics, and reliability.  That said I still take them all with a grain of salt preferring to simply trust my ears.  That's why folks like Klaus and Chris Own who allow in home auditions stand out in this industry.  They are confident in their products, recognize that they are not readily available in all locales for auditions, and provide great after purchase support.

Klaus,

   Recall my comments about my preparing to post a review on audioreview.com.   This thread again reaffirms that many of us have little or no use for that site's review section.  I just wish when you revise your website that you list other sites besides here and audioreview.com where the quality of your equipment is discussed.  

--Bob


Addendum:

  Just for giggles I just did a search at audioreview.com.  Can't find anything else posted by "Clint" including in the discussion area.  That raises a 'troll" flag for me.  Besides what's with the dumba$$ comment about not being able to use the power amp with "cans"?   The only headphones I've ever owned that took their feed directly from a power amp were Koss electrostatics.  Sure you could hook up some cans to it but you'd probably have difficulty with a preamp's volume control's adjustment sensitivity to keep from frying them.  So what's the point of his comment other than like his "put" about a sub $300 component being better than the Stratos?  Talk about your self-impeaching jerk!  BTW I use a Headroom Supreme headphone amp with either my Sennheiser HD-580 or Shure E2C.  I still own  Koss ESP-6A vintage electrostatic cans which are still available for use and in great condition -:)

[Eduardo AAVM]

You know something ? There is always this kind of idiots..

Here in Mexico also I am in a constant fight against guys who always write or insinuate in some forums that I ask or pay people to talk fine about Odyssey products performance, damn assholes, but hey! What really happens is that they are afraid of loosing some business because some of them Iguess have a gang of second hand tube products.

So they can't compite with quality, 20 years warranty and brand new products, they can only try to misslead general public's perception of Odyssey.

So if you have ever read "El Quijote de La Mancha" from Cervantes you'll maybe remember a dialog that reads:

"- Dogs are barking at us Don Quijote...
- Don't worry Sancho it's a signal that we are moving forward and forward"

So I guess there will be always a number of damn desperate rabid barking dogs we'll have to deal with, but anyway it is a real nightmare to manage those kinds of situations.


The best thing is that a stupid bad intended review at this point is inmediatly evident and I really doubt someone can take it seriously...

[amandarae]

Damn!  Now them idiots are populating AR!  Not that it is new, but clueless audiophile wannabe's really tick me off!

Complaining about $100/year to keep the amps on, that is $0.27 cents a day.  Errr....I don't get it!  What is he complaining about?  

I am telling you, person with such illusions are the filth of the audio world.  Okay, not a good thing to say but I can't help it.  Let's see why....

[u]"the soundstage was unrealistically deep, distant and disproportionate regarding instrument location and the spatial relationships "[/u]

What the...?  Definitely, this guys listening room is a goddamn cave or something!

Stratos arbitrarily rearranges the soundstage, giving midrange elements, especially vocals, false prominence

I wasn't informed that the Stratos can rearrange the stage!  Klaus amps are not only great, it can think as well!


Enough of that!  This guy claims that he's been in audio for 30 years.  This saddened me because in 30 years, the guy definitely lost his hearing and point of orientation.  Maybe that is the reason why for the review.

[F-100]

"I bought a Harman Kardon 3475 as a backup amp after I sent the Odyssey stuff back. It sounds much better overall than Odyssey and only cost $279. Go figure."

Yeah... I figure it out alright. This person definetely is an Odyssey basher. If he think that a $279 HK receiver can outperform the Stratos, then he need to go see an Audiologist for a hearing test.    


The Stratos/Tempest combo running through a quality pair of monitor towers

He didn't specify the brand name of this speaker so it make me wonder if they are those high quality speakers from the White Van    

[Anton]

I bought my Stratos on September 2001. I acquired four monoblocks to biamplify my Magneplanars 3.3R. Later I bough Magneplanar 3.6R. However, due to their extremely low WAF, I had to disconnect the 3.6R and bought a pair of Silverline Sonata II (I still keep both pairs of Maggies in their boxes). Through this time I have kept my Stratos while I improved most of the system. Mind that I do not have the extremes.

I wrote a review on September in Audioreview and the another later, after the amps had broken-in. I still stand by that positive review. And I know that I am not alone in my appreciations, as The Absolute SOund considered the Stratos an exceptional amplifier. In fact, so clean that they paired it with a Placette passive preamp (I have one three input Placette). In addition, I bought the Stratos after listening (for extended periods of time in my home) to much more expensive audiophile amplifiers.

Besides being a University professor, I studied music at a conservatoire, I played and conducted a chamber orchestra, and I attend regularly to concerts. I know how instruments sound and I know about spatial cues. And I can say that the Stratos excels in all these aspects.

The person that wrote the negative review seems to be a "troll". A person with too much time in his/her hands and willing to do damage. If you notice, the list of equipment he lists at the end includes the likes of Pioneer and other similar mass market products.

Happy listening!

[Eduardo AAVM]

Wow Anton your background is very amazing, congratulations, your post based on that is very valuable for me...

[djbnh]

To Klaus and others who read this circle,

As a Christian, I feel sorry for the person named "Clint". My experiences with Klaus, and the Stratos (cap upgrade) and Tempest combination, daily provide me with total affirmation of Odyssey products and the owner. I firmly believe the Odyssey gear mentioned above was the wisest investment of my audio resources. I fail to see anything remotely close to an accurate statement by Clint's report in regards to, "Sound authenticity, finish quality, sparse documentation, 100$/yr cost of leaving on 24/7(takes days of re-break-in if turned off), takes hours of play to warm-up to peak even when left on". I have no idea of Clint's frame of reference, and I find it entirely appropriate to politely question the accuracy and motives of Clint's review.   Heck, my ex-wife even raves about the accuracy, listenability, and improvement to my audio system due to the inclusion of Odyssey gear. How many ex's say anything positive post divorce?

As a Christian, I can personally affirm that Klaus will do what it takes to make things right for the customer (UPS seemed to get its jollies by bashing the contents of several deliveries to me, the frustration of which I care to not relive.) Klaus was very patient with me throughout the process. I note that when feeling stressed I may not come off as a guy you want to be on the phone with for long. Klaus hung in there with me, stayed cool, listened to me, and helped me out. What more can you ask for?

In closing, I find it fair that persons express opinions that may diverge from other views. However, it is NOT fair nor tolerable for persons to falsely or maliciously malign the good works of others. I question which category above suits the person behind the "Clint" moniker, and don't see how his review and its lack of accuracy can but place him in the latter.

Peace.

[Doug_B]

(I still keep both pairs of Maggies in their boxes) ...

So how do they sound through boxes?  

I feel your pain (although I've never heard the Sonatas).

Doug

[chino]

I got my stratos bout a few weeks ago... plugged it in left in on played lots of music and it just keeps getting better n better just like klaus said it would. Used my NAD integrated as a pre like klaus told me to me. My axioms M80Ti never sound good like this before as I recalled. I am no audiophile just a music lover likes all kinds of music who plays music and so far the stratos delivers what I want in a 2-ch set up. Been flipping thru lots of cds these days and spending more time with the 2 ch which I havent been doing a lot recently after I upgraded my HT. So klaus keep it up man I feel you. Bad review good review dont matter I know my stratos is for keeps   Now wheres that Victor Wooten cd go to? dammit gtg now.

[Anton]

Doug_B, thanks for your sympathy. Yes it is very hard not to be able to listen to my Maggies now.

However, after listening to many (too many) dynamic speakers, the ones that gave me the sound I was looking for were the Silverline Sonata II. Alan Yun has introduced a new version, Sonata III, but I have not heard them.

The Sonata II are sweet, fast, dynamic, detailed, they image and have a soundstage that no speaker has the right to have, are musical, and a killer for instrument timbres and human voices.

They seem to have been made for the Stratos. It is a marriage made in heaven. And as both, the speakers and amps have matured they have become even better. For me its sad to admit this, but I do not miss the Maggies so much as I thought I would.

Happy listening!

[zybar]

Anton,

If you like the Sonata II's, you really need to hear the VMPS RM 40's.  I own both and will be selling the Sonata II's.

The only bummer with the RM 40's is that they are so much more power hungry than the Sonata II's.  

GW

[Anton]

Zybar:

Thanks for the advice. However, I am settled right now with my equipment. There are perhaps one or two things I need to do (as getting my monoblocks converted to extremes) but they will have to wait a while. Since last Christmass I have gone through two surgeries, my father died and I have had to pitch-in to help my mother settle some debts. It is not the end of the world nor of my audiophile forays, but I will have to take it more slowly.

BTW, yesterday I managed to sell the Magneplanar 3.6R to a close friend who was willing to pay the asking price. Still have the 3.3R, but I hope to sell them pretty soon.

Happy listening!