I know the MC300, as well as many other Mc amps, and I know the Odessey Stratos as well - I had one in my system briefly.
I agree the MC300 is not the best. The 352 is clearly better, and so is my 7200. I have tried all my Mc amps with passive pres and I don't like it either. Mc amps usually have a lowish input impedance to reduce noise and passive pres don't like that.
The Odessey was nice but kind of generic sounding. It didn't do anything wrong but it didn't do anything great either. I prefer my 7200 - better timbre, clearer imaging, more slam, overall more finesse. The differences however are rather subtle.
As far as Mc amps having a weak/smoother bass I would say it really depends on the model. the 7200 doesn't have autoformers and it has killer bass and high damping factor (200 instead of 40 for the MC300). So far, I feel the autoformers are the ones that contribute to the "tubish" sound more than anything since they level-match the output impedance. I have to say I really like the effect on the latest amps and will probably trade up eventually.
But with any amp - and particularly Mcs - you need to match it to your speakers. I am not familiar with Epos 11 so I can't say. The pairing of amp and speaker can make you or break you way more than the amp or speaker alone. Hook up a Mc amp to a soft speaker and the result will be a screwed up piano. Hook it up to a detailed and dynamic speaker and you will be in for a real treat.
Arthur
I agree the MC300 is not the best. The 352 is clearly better, and so is my 7200. I have tried all my Mc amps with passive pres and I don't like it either. Mc amps usually have a lowish input impedance to reduce noise and passive pres don't like that.
The Odessey was nice but kind of generic sounding. It didn't do anything wrong but it didn't do anything great either. I prefer my 7200 - better timbre, clearer imaging, more slam, overall more finesse. The differences however are rather subtle.
As far as Mc amps having a weak/smoother bass I would say it really depends on the model. the 7200 doesn't have autoformers and it has killer bass and high damping factor (200 instead of 40 for the MC300). So far, I feel the autoformers are the ones that contribute to the "tubish" sound more than anything since they level-match the output impedance. I have to say I really like the effect on the latest amps and will probably trade up eventually.
But with any amp - and particularly Mcs - you need to match it to your speakers. I am not familiar with Epos 11 so I can't say. The pairing of amp and speaker can make you or break you way more than the amp or speaker alone. Hook up a Mc amp to a soft speaker and the result will be a screwed up piano. Hook it up to a detailed and dynamic speaker and you will be in for a real treat.
Arthur