Best Integrated, period.

Last year I bought a Gryphon Diablo integrated amplifier after spending more than six months evaluating options including the Jeff Rowland Continuum C-500, the GamuT DI-150; the AMR AM-77; the Unison Research Unico 200 and the Plinius Hiato (to name some). I wrote about my experience in detail Here

Almost a year on there has not been a single moment of buyers remorse – other than when I tried to pair the Gryphon with an ESL speaker which did not work out. No problem. I also own valve amplification which was better for that specific task. Currently the Gryphon is driving dynamic speakers from Eben Acoustics (Raidho) and the pairing is simply wonderful. There must be something in the water in Denmark. The Danes seem to create some awesome audio products.

Kiwi, thanks for the update. I read your reviews pretty thoroughly while on my quest to purchase one of the best (if not *the* best) integrated amp.

For some reason, I thought you were partial to the Gamut over the Gryphon.

Anyway, I ended up buying the Gryphon Diablo too. On my short list was the Gamut, the Pass Labs INT-150, and the Dartzeel integrated. The Diablo's sound is absolutely superb, but I also really appreciate the power on-hand, as well as the fact that it has an on-board phono stage. The Dartzeel was the only other integrated on my short list that had a phono stage. For me, the phono stage was a pretty crucial element to my selection process.

Anyway, I run my Diablo with Quad ESL 57s and also with JBL L300 Summits. Within the next year or two, I would like to buy some of the higher-end Rockports to match it up with.

Hi Rottenclam, I am interested to read that you've paired the Gryphon with Quad ESL speakers. I've recently been trying out different ESL's (most lately Kingsound, Martin Logan and Sanders Audio) and i've generally found the Gryphon / ESL combo's too stark for my taste.

Wow, higher end Rockports are really something. Do try others in a similar price category though [Avalon, Eben, Hansen to name some].

McIntosh

*yawn*

Vernneal, is there a model or any actual experiences you want to share about "Mcintosh"? No offense, but I'm not sure how much that comment actually added to the conversation.

Anyway...

Kiwi, I will admit that the Diablo is slightly more dry on my Quad ESLs 57s than my favorite tube amps that I've put on them in the past. But I do think that the Diablo scores a lot better in certain other areas.

The original 57s are pretty different from all other ESLs (in my experience), so maybe that is why I think they sound good with the Diablo, whereas maybe some other ESLs would not sound so good.