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Boulder 866 vs Gryphon Diablo 300

I’m looking for some input on an upgrade to my current system. First I’ll list below my current components:

Datasat LS10

Roon Nucleus Plus

ATI 3305 (330 watts x5)

ATI 3004 (300 watts x4)

Kef Reference 3’s with matching center. Kef R3 rears and Kef 8a Atmos speakers.

For those not familiar with the ATI 3300 amps, these are an incredible value. I used to have three PS Audio BHK 300 mono blocks from my front sound stage. I originally bought the ATI 3305 for my rear speakers. I did a pretty exhaustive A/B comparison between the ATI and the BHK and for 90% of the music they were indistinguishable from each other. The other 10% of the tracks the ATI would ever so slightly edge out the BHKs. So needless to say, I sold the BHKs.

To get back to my question. I’m perfectly happy with the HT side of things, but I would like better 2 channel performance. What I would like to add is either the Boulder 866 or the Gryphon Diablo 300. Both have HT bypass, The Gryphon has sub outs, the Boulder doesn’t. The Boulder is Roon Ready, the Gryphon isn’t. The Gryphon has more power and will match my ATI amps better when using everything for HT, but will I notice the difference in power when everything is level matched?

So outside of the obvious differences I’ve mentioned, what are the sound quality differences? For those of you that have auditioned both, what were your impressions on overall sound quality between the two?

 

 

wheelndeal1099
wheelndeal1099 OP
39 posts
 

yyzsantabarbra,

I better not listen to that combo yet.  If I do I'll want to buy it.  I did ask about the 900u when I was looking at the 509x, and was told that is a whole other animal but was just replaced by the 10X.  The 509x uses the 700u amp and the 700u preamp.  It's an amazing piece at an even better price.  The Krell is a pretty good value as well.  

The Luxman, Krell, and Gryphon were are all very holographic.  Each had a slightly different presentation. The Krell was slightly more forward than the Luxman and the Gryphon, depending on your taste you may like the Krell better.  It's really hard to say how "3D" the Accuphase, Boulder, and McIntosh group were compared to the other group as different showroom, sources, speakers.  All the amps were good in that regard except the Esoteric, I don't know what was going on with that. 

soix
9,790 posts
 

Almost sounds like the Esoteric was hooked up out of phase.  Congrats on the Luxman. 

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,699 posts
 

Congrats! You can never go wrong with a Luxman. I had the 590AXII and still wish I hadn’t sold it. They sound as beautiful as they look. The extension, refinement, and richness of sound is a great combo. This is truly a statement piece.

wheelndeal1099 OP
39 posts
 

Soix-  I agree on the Esoteric.  Something was not right!  I can't image they would make something that was that off. 

denon1
345 posts
 

Congrats weelndeel. Nice combo. To me luxman d-03x (if you don’t care about scad) is one of the best sounding players/DACs within 10k range and is a bargain considering it’s price. 
I keep hearing how luxman separates m900 and c900 are much better than 509x or 590axll that I have. Please Anyone who listened both, can you describe what is actually better with separates?

 

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