RB-1080 v/s Odyssey Stratos

[Tapesh]

I own Rotel RB-1080 and my speakers are Magnepan 1.6qr.

Came accross this company Odyssey Audio. What they say is their amps have higher capacitance and lot of current and that makes them sound better. No idea what that means :roll:

Has anyone heard or compared Odyssey Stratos to any of the Rotel amps, how do they compare. Better / Same / Better / worse.

Do I have a problem with Rotel amps running my Maggies no :P

Just curious, if I should try Odyssey's or not.

Thanks

Tapesh

[greve]

Hi Tapesh

In this forum you may not find too many people preferring Odyssey to Rotel - it's a Rotel forum, remember...

BUT, I may be one of the few exceptions, although I can't say that I've compared Odyssey and Rotel directly. I use Odyssey power (specifically the Stratos HT3 Plus) and will have more on order soon (mono blocks).

I'm very happy with the whole Odyssey experience, from Klaus (the owner of Odyssey with a dedication you will find hard to match) to all the very satisfied (returning) customers. Meet some of them (us) on www.audiocircle.com in the Odyssey forum. ;x(

And what do you have to loose? The prices are great and there's a 30 day money back guarantee (not sure if this is only applicable in the US).

:T

/Allan (greve)

[Joey_V]

I've read a reputable review that compared the Rotel 1090 to the Stratos and the 1090 won... not sure how you can apply this to the 1080.

[greve]

It's probably this one: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/back_issues_128.html

Can't download it without paying though, it seems...

[mpeak]

Stayed with the Rotel RB-1090

I went through the same thoughts as you did when I came across the Odyssey raves and reviews from the internet. I couldn't decide between the Rotel RB-1090 and the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extremes and unfortuately there was very little help at the time when I was seeking advice on it. To make a long story short, I ended up buying the Rotel RB-1090 and the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extreme (2-separate-monoblocks).
It took the dealer about 10 days to get the Rotel RB-1090, and it took about one month to get the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extremes in, Klaus has more help now so probably quicker build times now.

The Odyssey has a nice build quality and heavy duty case. I had a very long break-in period with my Odyssey that went past my 30 day return but I hung in their until it started to break in and sound better. The Rotel RB-1090 sounded great right out of the box and sounded even better in 2 days. After break-in, the Odyssey Stratos Mono Extremes sounded nice but I still overall liked and preferred the Rotel RB-1090 over it. I liked the Odyssey and could be happy with it but I just liked the Rotel RB-1090 better so when comparing them side-by-side, my final choice was the Rotel RB-1090 hands down. The Rotel RB-1090 is very smooth with a huge soundstage and I like that about it.

I learned about "The Absoulte Sound" article later and searched the internet long and hard for it but you do have to pay for it from their site. I had to pay $3.00 for it at the time, so I went ahead and bought the article and still have it. They gave the Odyssey a good review as they did the Rotel RB-1090 and in closing the article, they do mention the Rotel RB-1090 as the real winner out of the amps they reviewed. As I've learned that you can't always go by reviews, in this case the Rotel RB-1090 was the winner for my setup I have. Both amps are nice and you can't really go wrong with either and anyone that knows Klaus, knows that he gives a very good value on all
his products. I talked a close friend into buying the Odyssey from me, it sounds great with his setup but he tells me he is always happy with the Odyssey until he hears the Rotel RB-1090 at my house, just telling me a few days back that he thinks he is going to try and sell the Odyssey and buy the Rotel RB-1090 while it still being made, he said the Rotel RB-1090 just gives something extra in sound that he likes.

[ProStereo]

Tapesh, The Odyssey isn't going to be an upgrade from the Rotel RB-1080. They are slightly different in sound than performance standpoint. From a performance standpoint, both are more in par. The Rotel's are already high capacitance and current.