Anyone Compared Odyssey/PS Audio amps?

Further time spent with the PS audio HCA-2 has confirmed my belief that the HCA-2 is the superior amp over the Stratos, can't speak for the Stratos mono blocks, never owned them.

Both the Stratos & HCA-2 are equally as transparent but that is where the similarities end. The HCA-2 has much better imaging where as the Stratos, the image wonders. Again the HCA-2 has the much larger soundstage with better bass slam that is more well defined & details are more fleshed out. The HCA-2 fills the room with music, beyond the speakers & walls, providing an all-involving & enjoyable listening experience. If I would of never compared the two, I would still be a happy camper with the Stratos.

I have a different twist here. I sold my Odyssey Stratos for the HCA-2. The improvements over the Stratos are:

1. Much larger soundstage.
2. Better midbass.
3. Tighter more well defined lower bass.

A persons preference on one amp over the other will depend on a few factors. The type of speakers and preamp used. Whether or not the HCA-2 is used in balanced mode since the HCA-2 is a true balanced design, the Odyssey is not. Finally a couple of Odyssey Stratos reviewers on audioreview.com prefered the HCA-2 over the Stratos, personally I think they are both great amps but in different ways.

Doug,
I found the audio circle Odyssey site to be very helpfull. Many owners can share what they used before and after thier Odyysey experience. Klause is known to love to talk shop. He can even talk about the T-7 speakers that you love and how they match with his gear. The one warning is many of his guys buy once and end up jumping right on board with an all Odyssey set up.

Hi Doug,

I had them both at the same time. I remember being wey impressed at the punch and clean-ness of the bass with the HCA-2, but in the area of midrange it was no contest. The HCA-2 midrange never sounded quite right to me, somehow on the "synthetic" side, whereas the Stratos Dual Mono had the midrange right. Bass was good enough to keep, so the Stratos it was for me. At the time, I think I was running Proac 2.5 speakers, but the Stratos doesn't dissappoint with Quad 988's or Harbeth Compact 7's.

All the Best, Peter