Gryphon Antileon Sig Mono vs Ref One Mono

Hi, Kops
I am driving the Antileon directly from the (digital) preamp of the Esoteric combo P70/D70. There is a interesting thread (see Esoteric) on whether one should drive directly the amp and spare a considerable amount of money or use a high quality preamp.
Some Agoners complain of a "mechanical", "cold", etc... sound when driving directly, but frankly I would never use those words to describe what I get home (perhaps is the Antileon who makes the diference). True, the P70/D70 is on the cold side of neutrality, detail emerges on a black background and the SF Amati are very quiet (which did not happen with my former preamp Gryphon Bel Canto). If you are more on the "warm side of neutrality" a valve preamp, like the last Ear Yoshino should do wonders with the Antileon. Regards
Pedro

I had a Gryphon Elektra by the time I owned the Gryphon Anthileon Stereo, there are some good opportuinties once in a while here at AGON, something to consider.

Fernando

Hi Pedro
Which EAR you mean the 864 or the new expensive one?
I was thinking the Cary slp 05.

I owned the Gryphon Reference One amps for a few years. They were very good solid state amps but in comparison to the Lamm ML1.1, which I owned simultaneously, they were a bit coarse. I have 94 dB efficient speakers and it is possible that I was not using the Gryphons with loads where they would really shine compared to other amps (e.g 1-2 Ohm, 82 dB efficient speakers like MBLs). Also, they use an enormous amount of power and my electric bills were sky high; plus here in southern California, it was not possible to use them from May to September due to heat issues (that, or ratcheting my electric bills even higher by turning on the AC, which for me is whole house).

Given the apparently similar design of the Antileon series, I think they (at least in their monoblock signature form) should supercede the Reference Ones.

William

The new expensive one, sorry. The Cary should do fine. Anyway, all my audiophile friends rave about the Audio Research Reference 3. Regards
Pedro