This is for Georgehifi especially but others can chime in.

bubba12 OP156 posts01-25-2018 6:37pmI need opinions on the Odyssey Stratos Extreme mono amps

I’ve come across some Odyssey amps, a stereo and the mono-block version of it here in Australia, that a friend bought in who was going to be the Au agent for them.

I can’t remember which ones they were but they were the upper end of the range.
We listened to them, with a group of our audio society friends and were all in the opinion that the stereo version sounded better than the monoblocks, even through the very hard to drive Infinity Systems Renaissance 90 Signatures, oldie but a goody.

After that listening session, we peaked under their skirts, and what I pointed out to the potential agent was that the monoblocks were just bridged versions of the stereo one.
Now I don’t know if this bridging of the stereo ones for the monoblocks is done right through the range.

But if you post a photo of the inside on one of the many free image hosting websites I can let you know, if they are just bridged stereo’s or true monoblock amps.

Cheers George

george, great point and something to pay attention to when buying monoblock amplifiers. I've noticed the same approach by a couple of other manufacturers and also found their stereo amps sound more musical than their comparably power monos.

I am not very tech savvy and tge amps haven’t arrived yet but there is a picture of the Stratos extremes on tge Odyssey website. @geor

Yes, George raises an excellent question.

Looking at the specs and descriptions of the stereo and mono versions of the Stratos Extreme, though, several things suggest to me that the mono version is not bridged, but instead parallels the two output stages and perhaps some of the other circuitry.

Specs which point to that conclusion include the 8 ohm power rating of the mono version being only slightly higher than the rating of the stereo version (a 4 ohm rating is not provided for either amp); both amps are described as stable into 2 ohms; the output current rating of the mono version is twice as great as for the stereo version (yes, I realize that output current ratings are usually meaningless, in part because how long that current can be supplied for is not defined); damping factor is much greater for the mono version than for the stereo version; input impedance is specified as being the same (22K) for both versions of the amp.

I note also that **both** versions have a statement saying "RCA & XLR (bridged) inputs." Not sure what the reference to bridged XLR inputs means.

In any event, while the sonics of many bridged amps can be expected to be significantly compromised driving the 4 ohm nominal impedance of the Dynaudio C-1 Platinum, this appears to be a different (and presumably better) situation.

Regards,
-- Al
   

Manufacturer's thread and lots of discussion of Odyssey amps over on A. Circle.