Odyssey Kismet Reference series.


To anyone who has listened extensively to the Odyssey Kismet Reference series of amps, etc - how does the sound fair in comparison to a regular Stratos or the like?

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@arctikdeth,

you finally got them! I’m excited for you as those amps are truly special. Enjoy the break in, I hear they take around 500 hours to reach their full potential.
Just to add my 2 cents worth, I owned them ( Kismet Extremes) for 3 years. They’re very quirky amps. Need to be biased to each speakers sonic signature. Even when this is done there’s no guarantee they’ll perform at their best. Here’s the kicker, unless you learn to do this yourself, you’ll need to ship them back to him to have it done every time you switch speakers$$$. I learned to do it myself after he reluctantly gave me the instructions, but even after I learned to do it, the amps sounded at best, average-good.
They have a very polished smooth sound. Not a lot of depth and bass performance, but adequate. Must be left on continuously or they sound like Crap. Need very long break-in period 500-800 hrs or as he recommends 2-3 months. So if you decide to purchase these amps remember these things are mandatory. 
I never had the problem you described.  Bass was extremely deep and articulate, nothing like you stated. 
@hiendmmoe ... Interesting post.  This may explain why a rough patch in the 5 to 7kHz range, which I had attributed to my speakers/room, turned out to be from the Odyssey amp.  The sharpness in that range vanished with my new amp.  Perhaps the Odyssey amp was never biased properly for my sprakers.  Another reason I am glad to have moved on from my Odyssey amp.  I am not a tweaker type; I want to listen to music.  If I wanted to fool around with bias settings, I would have gone for a tube amp.
They are NOT biased for your speakers, Klaus sets the bias based on the voltage coming out of your outlet which he asks you to check prior to his building the amps.  People need to get their facts straight instead of passing the wrong information.