Bryston 4B3 vs Mac MC462 vs Pass Labs X250.8, OR... GRYPHON Diablo 300?

Nyev,

I know what you mean with the speakers, when i was going to buy a pair of 800 D3 series speakers. I listened to 800, 802 and 803 speakers, the 800 speakers
where excellent but you need the room size and equivalent electronics to drive them to get the best from them. The 800 was crossed off as my room couldn’t
accommodate them. Then I listened to the 802 D3 again due to the turbine head which is the same size as the 800 D3, they require careful placement, the dealer never
set them up correctly. I too had the same issue of focus / confusion etc as you have encountered, I think the speakers need quite a big room to breathe and focus. So they too
were crossed off. Then i listened to the 803 D3, they were just right, good focus, good midrange, good bass and generally a enjoyable speaker. I listened to various amps and ended up buying them.

"When I bought my 803 D2’s I compared them against the 804D3’s and concluded the D3’s midrange, while more detailed, was too forward and aggressive for me,"

There is a massive difference between the lesser 804, 805 in comparison to 803, 802 and 800. This is primarily in regards to the turbine head, I believe the 800 series really begins from the
803 speaker. As the midrange treble is night and day in comparison to the ones without the turbine head.

What do you mean by this-

"I now understand what others say about the Diablo being “muscular” and “controlled”."

Does it it have huge dynamics? Does it catch you out if you have the volume turned up and your listening to a quite passage then some loud music comes through? Does the music flow effortlessly?

Whats the strings like? The bass does it hit you hard like a Mike Tyson punch in the chest? Can you listen to it forever? Did you hear things you haven't heard before?

Did you get a chance to listen to the Chain?

I think it would be beneficial for you to go back for a second listen and listen through something you are kind of familiar with likes of 803 D3 speakers. There is no point you changing your speakers
to something else as you are not going to be familiar with them. You'll be even more confused!

Gryphon makes their own speakers and probably doesn't support anyone. Look up their discontinued Atlantis on ebay, as an example.

Bubb, unfortunately the shop didn't have the 803 D3's for me to test with the Diablo, as they said they sell so many 804's and 802's they don't need to demo the 803.  I should be clear I'm not even slightly saying the 802 or D3 line is bad - it just has a less relaxed mid than I prefer.  I agree it is an excellent speaker and I believe others may specifically like it better for how revealing it is.  I've extensively A/B tested my 803 D2's with the 804 D3 and I've heard the 804 D3 in other systems as well with the same qualities detected in the midrange which are simply not to my liking.  Regarding the typical analysis of dynamics, timing, attack, decay, etc, as I said I was unable to get a good read on these during my test of the Diablo.  Sorry to fail in my typical reviewing abilities!  Another way to put it is that the sound was so unique in my experience, that I admit I lost my sonic bearings a bit and I spent most of my time trying to get them back!  Again this was due to the soundstaging (it was like, how can I test this amp when there is a singer right in front of me distracting me from the test!) and the "control" aspect which I found very different.  With the vocals it is like a disembodied voice is planted right in front of you.  I've seen others say this about how pinpoint the Diablo is with vocals.  By "control" and "muscular" I mean that you get the sense that the speakers are doing EXACTLY what the amplifier is telling them to do, and not leaving any leeway for the speakers to do anything else.  It is hard to described in terms of typical descriptors of dynamics, attack, decay etc.  It is more a sense of being completely "dialed-in" and "focused". That's what gave me the feeling of using high-end headphones while I was listening.  The only difference being the soundstage was in front of me instead of left/right and in my head as it is with headphones.  That is what I am working through, whether I'll grow to enjoy this as a sonic benefit.  I think I will - it is a really cool effect and I think it is just my ears are biased to what I'm used to which is most definitely not this!  Sorry, I didn't get a chance to listen to The Chain, as I was working through my own sense of experiencing sonic discombobulation.  Realized when I left the audition I was quite dehydrated too so that didn't help.  I am thinking of going back next week which is my nearest opportunity.  Also of note - the room was medium sized, I was maybe 8-9 ft from the speakers, and it was set up to be an equilateral triangle between both speakers and me.  The room had a lot of dampening - which could have added to the "control" factor.  I typically like a bit more energy to come from the room to liven it up (but not much).  I did request they bypass the power conditioner they had and plug the Gryphon directly into the unconditioned wall outlet, so there shouldn't be any issue there.  In terms of burn-in, it was a "distributor demo" that had just arrived at the shop.  They said they expected it had some heavy use on it but they said there'd be no way for them to know for sure.  The did offer the demo unit to me (with DAC and phono modules) at a very aggressive price so I'm thinking it can't possibly be new if they can do that.

I think, you definitely need another audition. One thing about Gryphon you certainly got right. It has a great grip on speakers and you feel the amp's presence. In a manner of speaking, it is quite authoritarian.