Thunder, what finish is that on your BMR Salk cabinets? Maybe you've talked about it elsewhere, but is there a "character" to the Odyssey amps that you can describe? I've read some good word on them but not with BMRs (which are what I use now....albeit with an Integra AVR).
Hey Touchez
My BMR cabinets are straight walnut with starburst stain.
I haven’t heard any Odyssey amps other than the Stratos Plus, so I’m unqualified to say whether Odyssey amps have a particular character. I do have two points of comparison, an Emotiva UPA-2, and a Parasound Halo A23. The Stratos Plus is better than either of them. The biggest way it differentiates itself is with the sheer energy it has on tap for big transients. I just finished listening Irvin Mayfield’s “Voodou Love Call”, and it’s got some serious electric pulse that I love (and never got from the Emotiva or Parasound, with their smaller capacitor banks).
It’s harder to pick out substantial sonic differences with acoustic music, but I’d still hand it to the Stratos Plus. Tonally, it sits right between the two. The Emotiva is cooler, the Parasound is warmer. I believe the Stratos is darn close to dead neutral, but it’s really hard to judge this in absolute terms. I’d have called either the Emotiva or the Parasound “neutral” if not for having compared them head to head. It is detailed, throws a great sound stage, and is capable of resolving instrument location with a reasonable degree of precision. With my system, I don’t have the “holographic” sound that I’ve heard only very rarely, and which I believe the BMRs are capable of, but I can’t say whether the limiting factor is my amp, my tiny NuForce Icon HDP preamp, cables, or most likely my lack of room treatments. I read over at the Odyssey forum at audiocircle that the Stratos Extreme and Kismet monoblocks are a notable step up from the Plus in terms of their ability to portray life-like acoustic “images”. I may upgrade to Kismet in the future, but I’m quite satisfied with Odyssey, after having first tried two other respected entry level solid state power amps. Tremendous bang for the buck.
Hope that helps,
Thunder
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