Driving MBL 121: Accuphase or Gryphon

Having owned the Nuforce SEV2's for the past 2 years, then switching to the Pass 350.5, I doubt the Nuforces could drive the MBL's 121's. The Nuforce amps are great IMO. The Pass feels twice better at twice the price. That being said, the Nuforce seem to struggle with the Dynaudio Confidence C1's, an easier drive at 85db efficiency than the MBL's 82db or lower efficiency.

I recently moved back to using solid-state integrated and was fortunate enough to have a larger budget ($5k - $10k) during my selection process.

There is a guy down in New Zealand who did some pretty thorough listening to a lot of powerful / high-end integrated amps (Gamut, Gryphon, Plinius, etc). He eventually settled on the Gryphon Diablo.

For my own search, I had to go on the "house sound" that I was aware of for each of the brands I was entertaining (Gryphon, Pass, Gamut, Accuphase, etc), because auditioning was not always an option.

I eventually settled on the Gryphon Diablo also. I decided against Accuphase because there are too many gray-market Accuphase products on the used market. The Gryphon gear is hard to find on the user market too (especially the American used market), but after about 4-5 months of looking I was able to find a new Gryphon Diablo, that was used only as a demo in a showroom and at shows, and strike a good deal.

To be honest, I might have jumped at the chance for the Gamut or Pass first, but having a phono stage in the integrated was a big deal for me. Not many of the really high-end integrated amps have phono stages. The Gryphon Diablo does (as an option), and so do the Dartzeel, but the Dart was wayyy out of my price-range on the used market.

It sounds like one of the biggest criteria for you is having the power to drive those MBL speakers. I think the Diablo would do it (800 watts down to 2 ohms). However, like somebody said a bit earlier, you may want even more power than that. Even if you did like the Accuphase sound better than Gryphon, I still dont think the Accuphase integrateds would be able to really meet the true power needs of the MBLs.

Is there an integrated amp out there that even dishes out 1000 watts? Maybe that big Krell FBI (unfortunately, I dont know the stats off-hand)?

Personally, I'm incredibly happy with the Gryphon Diablo. It sounds great, the ergonomics are nice, it looks cool, the price was right on the used market, it meets my phono-stage requirement (with aplomb, btw), and it comes from a very reputable company that has been around for a long time that is known for their no-compromise style of engineering and highly-regulated manufacturing process with strong quality-control.

In summary, if I were you, I would go with Gryphon. You'd probably be very happy with the Accuphase at low-levels, but I dont think it could hang with the MBLs when at a higher volume.

But with all of this said, you may want to look for an even more powerful integrated. There are not many out there that are more powerful than the Gryphon Diablo, but there are some.

Good luck.

The original question of the Gryphon amp--the Gryphon is not, 'razor sharp', OR I'm not completely understanding your interpretation.
The Gryphon is VERY smooth and neutral, a bit on the 'warm side', with terrific reserve power, doubling to almost infinity.
It is a flawless performer which sounds great when mated with virtually any loudspeaker--and I've tried SEVERAL.
No longer own one, but can recommend it highly. I might shy away from the Accuphase, as it does not, from what you said, keep doubling as the resistence goes lower.

Good luck,

Larry

the best i have heard any of the mbl speakers, has always been with their own amps- the 9008 and 9011 plus their excellent 6008 preamp.
but if you wish to change the "flavor" a bit, the gryphon gear is in a a different league than the accuphase, imho.
the gryphon offers musical correctness, smoothness, realistic sound texture and oodels of refined power, not to mention their mystique good looks.......

Agreed, Ozy.

Larry