Classe 201 -vs- Odyssey Stratos


OK, after all the positive feedback on the Stratos Amp, I'm wondering what sort of differences I can expect between the qualities of these two amps? The Classe 201 is 3,300.00 and the Stratos is 1200.00. I've had the Classe in my home for an audition and it was really nice, but before I spend all that money I want to try the Stratos to see if I agree with all the positive reviews.

Interestingly enough I only ordered the amp after reading the forums on AudioGon. I called Odyssey at about 6pm on Friday, and the guy who runs Odyssey (Klause) answered his cell phone while he was driving home! I think it was pretty cool that Klause had his business phone forwarded to his cell so he didn't miss a business call. I've been around audio for a long time, and I've never experienced this kind of service. However, I wil not keep the amp if it cannot match the performance of the higher priced amps.

I'm looking for feedback from others who have auditioned this amp against Classe 201.

Thanks.
mhubbard

Showing 5 responses by mhubbard

Hey Rjones, did you get the monoblock version of the Stratos or the basic Stratos. Also wondering if you got the cap upgrade?

If you think the Stratos was better than the Classe 201, can you tell me where it pulled ahead? I cant wait to see for myself how this thing performs!

Thanks.
Confused by Socrates!!!

Your name is all over the place singing the praises of Odyssey more than any other poster on ANY site (I did my research before I ordered my odyssey DM!) Whats up with the about-face?

Are you one of those "I bought one, so (for now) its the best" kind of reviewers?

If this is not the case, let me know. If you are one of those people... stop reviewing equipment!!!
YOU SAID:

"It's really sad that so few people are willing to actually say something less then glowing about a product online, hesitant to say anything negative as clearly, seemingly without exception, whenever one does speak their mind the owners of the product come out in droves to stone the messenger! It’s a lot of fun fending off tactless personal attack as well, let me tell you…."

MY REPLY:

Plenty of people say "less than glowing things" about products online. My point was that YOU have had very positive things to say about odyssey. My point is that you seem to have taken the approach of taking a rather negative view of the Odyssey amp (using words and phrases like "trounce" and "sell the Odyssey and buy some music"). AND dont assume that my response to your post was a "tactless personal attack"! I dont care enough about your review to attack. I simply wanted to comment that your posts in the past were glowing, and now that you have moved on to your new flavor of the month, your tone has changed. All I'm trying to say is that I'm sick of people reviewing positivly simply because they own it, and your name kept coming up where ever I did a search for Odyssey.
Never mind Socrates, you obviously dont understand my point. I dont "cherish my Odyssey amp", because I dont even own one yet! Why dont you "please actually" notice who started this post and what it was supposed to be about!!!
Yes, I agree that this post has gotten a little off track!

My final comment is that the fact is Socrates didn't even own a Odyssey amp in the first place. He owned a "BROKEN" ODL Amp, Which is a shame (that little detail was brought to my attention from the owner of Odyssey, who actually called me when he saw this post.). Its to bad he "reviewed" an impostor, he may have come to a different conclusion!