Gryphon Diablo 250 vs Hegel390
You’ve got to try both IMO... the Hegel really is a great performer. As mentioned, servicing a 10yr old Gryphon might be an issue. Not so much whether it can be serviced, just a possible challenge. Look at the specs too. Which suits your needs best? The Hegel wraps a fair amount of goodies in their chassis, the Gryphon would be without. Buy the Gryphon, not many of those around. Audition them side by side. Hegels are new, and although not a dime a dozen, they are avail pretty readily. Though you don’t see a lot of 390’s used typically. |
I would be very interested to know which integrated you will end up with. I am in a similar situation possibly looking for a higher end integrated. I am considering the Diablo (even thinking of the Diablo 300 but I haven't found out how much better it is), the older Vitus RI-100, the Audia Flight FLS10 and the Audio Analogue Maestro Anniversary. Unfortunately it is very difficult to audition all of them. |
there is no doubt gryphons are beautifully built... for the asking price they should be just reminding the op that build quality does not necessarily equal sound quality -- each brand and model are voiced by their producers i have owned many many amps, roughly 40 over the years, half solid state... i have NOT heard a gryphon except for short intervals at some high end shows, not an intensive sampling but i would say that i own 3 hegels in various systems -- sound wise, they are among the very small handful of ss amps i can happily live with long term, as they have the warm full rich tonality i desire, with clean yet unobtrusive natural rendering of detail no affiliation other than being a very happy owner good luck to op - by all means try the gryphon, but don’t let the big hegel be underestimated for what lovely music it can make |
Is the Hegel unit a new unit? Do both amps have the inputs and features you require? The Hegel has a plethora of digital features that the Gryphon omits. Is that important? Your choice can also depend upon where you live. If either unit breaks is there a quality distributor to handle service? The Gryphon probably has a higher performance ceiling, but whether that can be achieved you will need to take into account your other components. |
Both links work fine, they are only pictures, try to turn off your ad blocker or virus guard for a minute. Or here I posted the picks up on Image-Hosting Gryphon https://ibb.co/t40D5Zr Hegal https://ibb.co/4MMfjbz Cheers George |
Diablo 250 guts https://6moons.com/audioreviews/gryphon/open2.jpg Hegal 390 guts https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/nKXHVMwgGoII-6JPxecdT5b7SBUcp9BiqqP1jsrS3viAMwoAplHC6vJ7NLpU... My money just on the pics, is with the Gryphon more heatsink, more caps, bigger trany, better thought out layout hardly any wiring Cheers George |
