odyssey amp's how do they compare to others


are other amp's just over priced? could most people tell one amp from another if it was covered with a cardboard box?the stratos seem to get rave reveiws.am I just crazy to send more money on other move expensive amps.thanks in advance to everybody this is a great website
nikonf
I own the Odyssey Monos. Probably some of the first Klaus did. I bought them from a local dealer when Odyssey wasn't sold direct. I have had them for 3+ years and haven't looked to upgrade and I haven't posted a review on AR. I have compared them to a number of other amps. Did other amps sound better? Sure there were other amps that I liked marginally better, but the price was more than marginally higher for the other amps. These amps took a long time to break in (longer than 30 days Klaus), but I haven't regretted this purchase in any way. I will say that before the monos I had the stero Stratos and that the monos are much better in my setup.
I was one of the original people who purchased the monos. They are very fine amps and are hard to beat at 2K. I would have to say that they are very musical amps that are amazingly fast and detailed. I sold my pair of monos a few months back and have replaced it with a custom amp built by Andy Bartha. For a "stock" amp the Odyssey is very hard to beat.
I have owned Symphonic Line amps. First,the RG1 mk2.It was a good match with my Martin Logan CLS 2 with the old copper version of the audioquest lapiz and clear cables. I played and compared it with the old Krell KSA50 (too dark in sonic character), VAC90C (not enough power,but a killer at moderate volumes with female vocals), Melos 400 GOLD (talk about huge holographic images popping in my living room), and Rowland 8 (I mostly fell asleep while listening to music). Above are the personal snapshot impressions I've come up with over a few years of audio listening comparing Symphonic Line to other namebrands. Today I own a RG4 MK3 monoblocks. I am in the process optimizing the system by trying out Straightwire cables. So far I have gotten good results matching the amps with CAT SIG pre-amp, SONY SACD, and a good assortment of copper and silver cables from Music Metre, XLO, Tara Labs,and Dunlavy. However, I am getting the itch to switch back to tubes again. Perhaps an ARC VT200 for my ML CLS2Z, and Thiel 2.3, I heard they work well with these speakers,hmmm... Isn't this fun?
I was (was considering) the Odyssey line but after reading all responses and seeing first hand Reviews being removed by Audioreview of less than 5 I'll go with a brand I'll feel more comfortable spending $2000.00 on. I don't see Pass, Mccormack,Belles having less than 5 star reviews removed. Their reputations speak for them!