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

Okay, I've completed a second audition of the Gryphon Diablo 300.  As I was prepared for the type of sound to expect, from the first audition, the results were far clearer for me this time.  I'll be proceeding with purchasing the Diablo 300.
I started testing driving the 802 D3's again, just as a baseline from where I left off last time.  In the end I didn't feel the need to switch out the speakers.  The huge dynamics, timing and drive, impressive 3D soundstaging, very solid and well developed midrange, and excellent bass that most all reviewers / posters have commented on were all there, and were all very impressive.  I believe that a good portion of the midrange quality is derived from the internal DAC module, with mids being well "grounded" as one pro review put it.  I noticed that this quality was not there when using an external (albeit much lower-end) DAC. 

Everything was very, very impressive.  At the end I even threw some poorer quality recordings at the Diablo to see how badly things would go, and it totally surprised me by making them sound great - even highlighting vocal details I'd never caught before on these crap mixes.  I thought the incredible amount of detail would surely make the Diablo tear these songs apart, but instead the songs really did take on the feel of a live performance.  These same recordings have bordered on un-listenable on my current rig at home.  It's paradoxical that a system that is so transparent and revealing in detail can still make poorer recordings/mixes sound musical and enjoyable - this is not typically the case.
I think my first audition went off the rails a bit for a few reasons:  1) Up to that point I'd been used to auditioning gear in my home.  While it is obviously better to test in your own space with your own gear, the mental shift to testing in a shop was also jarring, and 2) the first audition I used my own speaker cables for part of the test, and I noticed after I got home that one of the spade terminals had become slightly unscrewed, which would have slightly unseated the compression contact on one of the terminals, and 3) just the sheer capabilities of the Gryphon was not something I was expecting.  During the first audition, it felt a bit like seeing a 3D movie - stunning, but not an experience you necessarily want all the time.  However, this time around, I was just impressed and enjoyed the music.
While I'm planning on proceeding, the only slight concern I have is with regard to service, should I ever need it.  Shipping the unit back to Denmark for repair will not be cheap, however my guess is that this may only happen once in its (or my) lifetime.  Chalk it up to cost of ownership.  The other concern is that there are only three dealers in North America.  If Gryphon decides (again) they want or need to pull out of N.A. sales, there won't be any way to get service.  Gryphon states they do not provide any direct service or communication to customers; they direct customers to their dealers.  Finally, Fleming Rasmussen has now retired, and as Gryphon is a very small company (say compared to McIntosh or Bryston), I'd hope that they have a strong future even without their former leader who was heavily invested in all aspects of design, and I expect in other areas of the company operations as well. At the end of the day these concerns won't stop me from proceeding, but they are certainly considerations.  Their headquarters looks cool but it is tiny - you can see it from a distance on Google St View!  I guess these things just go along with a bespoke brand like Gryphon.

You see, I said you'd forget Bryston after hearing Gryphon. Gryphon is true high end.
Yes, Flemming has left but I think he will keep an eye on what's going on. Regarding service, I suspect that if they pull out of North America they will service units sold here, you will just have to ship it to Denmark. Their model of communications with clients sounds a little arrogant and potentially inconvenient to me. But the risk is small, I would say.

Quite frankly, your concerns seem valid and would probably stop me from laying out this type of cash for the unit. Its the two big show stoppers, having to ship to a heavy unit to a different country for repairs and an unknown as to the future direction of the company.  Nowhere near the same financial investment, but I have Museatex-Meitner mono block amps, designed and manufactured by Ed Meitner.  After this company shut down one of the amps had problems.  If it was not for John Wright who worked with Meitner, there would be no easy avenue to repair the unit that is not of a completely conventional design.  As it is, the unit is being shipped to Canada for repair.  No huge deal, but it doesn't weigh 100 lbs either. So your concerns are valid.

Most true high end companies are small, creations of one or two people, and many of them are not young. So there is always some risk. During its 30+ years of history Gryphon sold a number of pieces, especially in Europe and Asia, there should be places to service them for many years to come. Yes, some parts are custom or semi-custom.
For my future set up in addition to Gryphon I am considering Lamm, VAC and Allnic. I think, they are even worse in this respect, Lamm and VAC are basically one man operations and Vladimir of Lamm uses some very rare tubes and maybe something else too that you cannot easily get.
Shipping to Denmark would be very expensive but easy, you wouldn't have to even leave home, DHL or FedEX would pick it up. I would be more concerned about potential difficulties of communicating with Gryphon than about shipping.

I agee Inna, that’s why I say it’s something that is a consideration but not something that will stop my from purchasing.  Shipping to Denmark is expensive but doable, especially with Gryphon’s wooden crate for the unit.  I think this is just part of what you get when you leave the more “mainstream” companies like McIntosh and Bryston and move up a level to a bespoke company like Gryphon.  I don’t think their refusal to deal with customer directly is arrogance, rather I think it is likely necessity due to their size.  Just like their tentative re-entry into N.A. distribution - it’s likely they are not set up to scale for larger volume sales and subsequent support.  Gryphon have never appeared to be interested in really pushing geographic expansion or targeting wider market segments, but again this may be simply because they never focused on positioning company to scale while still maintaining their no-compromise approach to design and (sub-contract) manufacturing.  I think if the N.A. distribution were to stop they would very likely provide direct service.  To me the biggest concern is what their future will be like without Flemming, this is what is different about Gryphon vs most other bespoke companies.  I saw an interview with their current CEO and it didn’t exactly inspire conference, especially what he said about some of the reasons that influenced Fleming’s retirement.   Regardless, I am now fairly confident that to beat the Gryphon Diablo’s sound quality I’d need to spend double the cash (for say a D’Agostino or Luxman system).  And since I’m not prepared to spend that much, the Diablo just makes sense, and it’s a great value.  I don’t know too much about D’Agostino or Luxman but similar concerns could exist with them.

My dad still has an Accuphase pre-amp/amp and a Nakamici tape deck that he bought in the seventies.  The first brand is still around in its mostly original incarnation, but not the second.  When I was a kid there were multiple local shops that provided repair services, which I recall my dad relying on from time to time.  These shops were authorized by the brands to provide service and surely had training.  All of these service options no longer exist.  Changing times.