Pgaulke60: when I first purchased my Amati’s I listened to both the Serafina’s and Amati’s on Macintosh tubes. The Amati’s sounded better to my ears at that time and I purchased them. When I listened to the Diablo/Serafina two days ago again to my ears it sounded significantly better then my Plinius/Amati at home. The detail and soundstage was amazing. The speakers practically disappeared. Given the improvement in detail, I did not think that I lost any of the warmth that my Plinius possessed. I did not find any issues at all with the midrange. I realize audio memory is somewhat brief, but I do not remember the McIntosh having the detail or the analytic speaker control of the Diablo. I heard details in the music, I was unable to hear with the McIntosh with the SF speakers. I listened to a wide variety of music for several hours on all occasions. That said, I totally understand that your preference is for the McIntosh, a company which makes excellent components. Mine is for the Diablo. Realize the I totally agree with your statement “if a McIntosh showed up.....”. Regards
I listened to the Gryphon Diablo today , what an experience !
I just had an opportunity to audition the Gryphon Diablo 300 at Evolution Home Theater. They have recently become the authorized Gryphon Dealer in Atlanta. First a little background. I normally listen to my Sonus Faber Amati Tradition powered by a Plinius 9200. My music is from Tidal, played through a Cambridge Audio Azur 851N network player or via my network hard drive. I thought that this combination sounded great and was very happy with my system until today when I heard the Gryphon.Although I expected some improvement with Gryphon, I did not expect to be blown away by the amplifier, However after hearing the amplifier for the first time, that is exactly what happened!The Gryphon 300 was set up to use the internal DAC with Tidal via a music server. The speakers were the Sonus Faber Serafina’s. I had previous heard both the Amati’s and the Serafina’s on MAC equipment and thought the Amati’s sounded significantly better on the MAC gear,When I listened today and compared the music with my own system, I heard significant improvement with the Gryphon. The first thing I noticed was the pinpoint control the amplifier exerted on the speakers. This was manifested by an extended frequency range with both improved bass and treble. It seemed as though a veil or haze had been removed from the music with a marked increase in clarity, detail, and analytics. Yet the amplifier showed no coolness or harshness and after listening for several hours to a variety of music (mostly jazz, classical, and rock) there was no evidence of fatigue. The soundstage was large, three dimensional and detailed. It was an improvement over my Plinius in every way.It also changed the way that I look at my music system. I used to think that it was all in the speakers and with great speakers all that was needed was a good amplifier. I learned today that a great amplifier with very good speakers, can sound better than a good amplifier with excellent speakers.I can hardly wait until I can make the time to be able to demo the Gryphon in my own music room with my Amati speakers.
- ...
- 43 posts total
- 43 posts total