Odyssey Stratos, McCormack DNA 225 or Bryston4BST?


What would you buy and why. On the used market the Stratos is about 1/2 the price yet continues to get wows from the audio community. Would I be disappointed with the Stratos compared to a Mccormack or Bryston. I listen to all types of music use an Audio Research SP16L preamp, Myryad MDP500 G6 processor, and Dynaudio Contour 1.3 MK II speakers. Cabling is Harmonic Tech ProSilways, Truthlinks, and a Magic Link. Thanks for your experiences and input. Dave.
canucks0
I agree the Oddyssey stratos is the way to go.
I am a happy stratos owner, I heard the MC Dna 225,
its on the lean side,I dont think they are musical
than the Stratos,I am familiar with Bryston
product,maybe its just me, I was never impressed
with their amp, musicality wise, IMO,Tell you what?
The monos Oddyssey ,they are as good as Plinius SA100,
maybe better,The Plinius is way much better than the
DNA225, Ive heard them side by side,I know a dealer
who no longer MC Cormack, because, He borrowed my
Plinius and was totally impress.Thanks.
If you are going for a Stratos, I also suggest you go for the dual mono version or single monoblocks. I have the dual mono version and think it's a great amp with my Harbeth Compact 7 speakers.
I will offer a somewhat divergent opinion regarding the Stratos. I had one with the cap upgrade for a year driving B&W's. The amp was fine until pushed, somewhat warm and pleasant, always ran cool. At fairly loud levels however, the amp would lose control of the woofers and they would "break free" and become unstable. I ran some side to side comparisons against my Hafler DH200, this amp never exhibited this behavior. FWIW.
Well, Hammergjh, Canucks0 never mentioned Hafler in his short list so I guess it took you to bring those up. And I gotta agree with you - 'cause the Odyssey is in the den and the DH-500 is in the "large room". Yeah, the Haflers are older gear, but my ears are getting older too so maybe that's why I still like them so much. And if you look at the typical EBay, etc. prices for proper vintage Hafler amps vs. these three - I would also lean toward another Hafler. It's been rock-solid, has plenty of capacity to drive whatever I have, and I still think it sounds wunnerful - at least to me, YMMV.

And Canucks0, if I liked the Odyssey at the lower price, I'd love the Hafler and all the content I could buy with the difference in prices. I don't find the Odyssey thin or lacking or anything like that, but a clean 250W-per Hafler still gets the #1 nod even after all these years. Good luck with your decision!
Odyssey Stratos are great, but make sure the SP16's output impedance is low enough to drive the Stratos' 10kOhms input impedance. A great convenience is that Klaus can modify your Stratos in several stages for not much money.

I would also suggest to investigate the smaller McCormack DNA-125, a sleeper and one that Steve McCormack can modify to be at the top of the amplifier heap.