Experience with Tannoy Westminster Royal Gold Reference

Hddg, that does sound like a good deal on the Gryphon Mephisto mono's. And no question they are great amps. Though I don't agree the Mephisto mono's are a grade superior to Gryphon. I can tell you, Vitus's factory is SOTA, and arguably superior to even Boulder. Virus designs his gear to achieve a sound which offers the best of SS, Class A, zero NFB design, with a natural/organic tube-like quality. He also designs his amps to be non-fatiguing. 

Fyi, Vitus will be releasing new SM-103 mono's, probably by early next year based on the SS-103 stereo amp which should be around $60kEUR. Like the SS-103, they will operate in pure Class A with Zero NFB & feature Intelligent Class A bias' & two tunable modes 'Classic' and 'Rock'. They will absolutely compete with the Gryphon amps on any metric. Though I wouldn't pair Vitus monos with a tube preamp. Rule of thumb: Vitus sounds best with Vitus. Sound-wise, I think you'd find Vitus sounds more organic and tube-like compared to Gryphon, but still with PLENTY on control, speed and resolution. Just with a more natural presentation. Just another option to consider...

In an earlier post on this thread I think hddg indicated that he's not looking to spend that kind of $$$$$.

There has been good feedback using Sophia Electric 300B amplifiers. The life they bring to the speakers is in the midrange. 

hddg OP15 posts10-17-2016 6:59pmThanks Melbguy1. I can go to some USD60k, and actually i am having a great and rare opportunity around that price for a pair of brand new Gryphon Mephisto Solo (230V) from Europe, that’s the monoblock version, with 200W ClassA with zero NF

According to XE.com, $60,000 USD = €54,511.64EUR, so he is not far off the mark. Also, Vitus is made in Denmark so he would be able to access better pricing than in the US. Besides that, personally given the choice I would prefer to own a Vitus SS-103 & SL-103 preamp over the Gryphon Mephisto solo & Pandora pre. But in the end, this is all subjective.

Thanks again to all for your input!!
Hi Roxy54, i said i wasn't ready to spend for USD200,000 and over, it is a big difference with $60,000 for an all European made and outsourced 200W ClassA zeroNF very high grade SS amp don't you think? just $140,000 less than the Audionote!!!
Melbguy1, i understand you like Vitus, and i am positive that they must be excellent amps.
The philosophy of Vitus going to monos is same as Gryphon doing monos, just more power and stereo separation, and that's about it i believe. But if i can get this additional quality at the cost of the stereo version, why not? The fact is that i am having that rare deal for Gryphon Mephisto solos at near half price, whereas i don't have the same for Vitus. As for taste, as you rightly put it, it is subjective, but it is also nice to hear and learn from others, so thanks again for sharing. The Mephisto has also some high degree of tube like sound to it, but maybe a bit more on the neutral side, and i think it could better suit the Westminsters who have some character.
Dynamics wise, the Gryphon beat the Vitus hands down, but all the rest is comparable i think. Both great amps, but i think i am not missing the deal and going Mephisto solos' way!!! I will inform and share my observations of the results if you are interested. I think such pairing will be sort of first of a kind, probably, and could be very interesting...
Believe it or not, i have experienced it, european gear is more expensive in europe than in the US. You can google on european shops for same products and compare with US shops, you will be surprised. For example, the Tannoy Westminster GR is over 35,000euros in europe, and around $30,000 or maybe even less in the US... In Europe there are big taxes (21% VAT) and on top of that the people are considered as ever milking cows, if i can put it this way (i am french speaking, so forgive my English if the imagery is not so good).