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

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.

Yes, changing times, but I too use my Nakamichi 682ZX cassette deck almost daily and have it aligned and tuned every three-four years,
I once read here on Audiogon, a long time ago, a man was asking about the best way to ship big Gryphon stereo amp to Denmark. That was the time when Gryphon was not present in North America but they agreed to service the unit. I am not sure if he was the original owner or not, but you will be.
nyev, where did you see that interview with the current Gryphon CEO ? I would like to take a look too.

By the way, I don't know about D'Agostino but Luxman would sound very different from Gryphon, Accuphase too.

Inna, I’ll try to find the interview, it was just on YouTube.  It was nothing really negative, just said that they weren’t planning to do things differently, that it was an honour, and then something I thought was just a bit odd that he bothered to mention about Flemming.  I’ll see if I can find it again.