Agreed inna, for me it’s pretty simple - why would I pay the same amount of cash for seperates that have lesser sound quality versus the Gryphon Diablo? Only reason may be to sacrifice some sound quality now for the sake of future flexibility facilitated by seperates.
That said, I’ve been trying and failing at finding separates that give me the type of sound I’m looking for - detailed and transparent with great sounstaging and dynamics, with well defined bass and good overall drive and timing. And enough bloom on certain tones so that it doesn’t sound too dry and lean and non-musical, and yet having the right tones “pop” with immediacy and air and space, like with vocals. And tonal evenness so that sibilants or sharp upper mids are reigned in and do not totally ruin lesser recordings. Is that too much to ask? So far at my price point I’ve found products that excel at some of these elements but not all of them, and because of that these products take me out of the “flow” of the music. If the Diablo can check all the boxes above it will be worth every penny and will offer an experience I can’t get with separates.
Of note, last night on a whim I in-home demoed a Simaudio 600i integrated with my B&W 803 D2’s, and was totally dazzled by the detail and soundstage the amp offered. But it was also dry and cold, shy on bass (but what bass was there was uber-well defined) and presence across the band, and rather cold and boring. Not what I would call engaging.... Maybe just because my 803’s need more power, but something tells my the Simaudio is all about surgically presenting just the raw facts and nothing more, which I don’t think is quite enough for me to stay connected with the music.
