Odyssey Stratos, McCormack DNA 225 or Bryston4BST?

What LJ said... Even though Bryston is on my short list of personal wants now, for the money getting a used Odyssey is awfully darned hard to beat. If you can possibly get a chance to A/B a couple of those then that would be highly recommended, but I'd be kinda surprised if you would find that either the McCormack or Bryston were compellingly more wonderful in direct comparison. They all should have enough power for most applications and I don't think you can go wrong w/ any of them. I went w/ an Odyssey 'cause I'd never had a chance to listen to one before and I don't regret it a bit. It drives what it has to, does it well, and left me w/ (relatively) lots of spare change for more stuff to listen to. Good luck w/ whatever you choose!

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!