Gryphon Diablo 300 vs Vitus RI-101

hello; I currently have Focal Sopra 2; I have a PS Audio Directstream (had the A21 Halo/JC2 combo, BHK and also LS27 so similar hardware experience as you) and currently run a luxman m900u amp (c900u preamp inbound); Previous to the Sopra 2’s I had Dynaudio Contour 60s; The Lux has a very "alive" and very transparent presence about it;
I personally do not like the synergy with the Sopra 2 and will be moving on from the Focals; With the Contour 60’s the tone and overall sound quality was far superior to my ears; I did a ton of research about the Gryphon Diablo 300 (was very close to acquiring) and, on paper, it seems the Focal synergy would be better, or perhaps the Luxman 590 AXii Class A integrated.

One thing I noted with the Sopra 2’s; I was surprised to find them about as efficient as my DYn 60’s; on paper that should not have been, but it’s what i’m experiencing. It actually seems that they like MORE power than the 60’s; go figure.

I would include the class A stuff from Pass Labs in your hunt; I had an XA30.5 and it was a wonderful amp on the Dyn 60’s. a velvety beautiful mid-range excellent dimensional aspects, sweet treble, that I think would have been a better match on the Sopra 2s; With the DSD/BHK and a Pass XA30.8 I think there is potentially excellent synergy;
You did mention 260.8 monoblocks, and they have about 35watts in class A, so that might be better...you already have monos, so you probably have stands too :)

I have only read this, and so it’s mere conjecture, but Naim might be too thin with the Sopra 2’s.
Another up and comer to check out would be the Hegel H590. Reported to be very powerful and smooth, yet highly resolving.

Please describe your acoustic and music characteristics; Room dimensions, listening position, spacing, damping (bare walls/floor heavy carpet...), genre of music, preferred listening volume...etc.

Also, what cables are you using, IC's, speakers, power?
Have fun!

@btbluesky

. So I figure to get the best out of this chain is the fastest neutral amp I can get my hands on

For giggles, why not try for FREE the Benchmark AHB2. They have a 30 day trial period. You would likely need 2 of them to run in mono mode. FREE only costs you your time. Each amp is $3K.

Stereophile reviewer is going to review the Kaya 45 with these amps (amongst others). These amps are fast and have no voice other than sheer silence. I owned them and if my next speakers are not bright I will have these amps to rotate in.

BTW - BHK did some tests on the AHB2 for some magazine and he said he had never measured an amp this quiet. Link is on the Benchmark web site.

@yyzsantabarbara 2 years ago I had the AHB2 with Dyn Contour S3.4 Le's and was initially impressed by the little amp, but overtime grew to dislike the sound; super duper detailed ...to a fault in my mind; There was something very odd about the presentation overall and I felt like I could not connect to the music. Not sure what it was, as I really wanted to like it but was easy enough to send back. Benchmark is a wonderful company.
Oh ya, the amp also ran out of headroom quickly; Having Sopra 2's which, to my ears are much more forward in the presence region than any Dyn I have ever heard, IMHO, I think that synergy might not be the best.

@dpac996 Great feedback. I would be interested in hearing the AHB2 with darker sounding speakers, such as the Harbeth, Yamaha NS 5000, Vandersteen Treo. I mentioned the AHB2 since the OP wanted to hear something fast and neutral. Not too familiar with the Focal Sopra sound myself.

@yyzsantabarbara

Thanks for your suggestion. But the AHB2 might be abit thin sounding combine with sopra. From the stereophile review:

" That's where I discovered that my new hero amp wasn't quite perfect. Oh, its power and resolution were still not to be faulted, but through a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 8 speakers, the sound was somewhat hard and thin. "

For the Kaya 45, we'll see what preamp they use. With a alloy dome tweet, AHB2 might sound too lean. It's an amazing amp for it's price, but monobridged spec at 6ohm 480w, the sopra dip at 3-4ohm at ~100hz. It would not be better than JC1 stable at 2ohm. damping factor also way less than JC1.

I want a neutral grain free amp, but if I have to pick a side to to fall back to, of course it'd be on the warm side of things (thus the Pass labs X.8 series might work). For the upper echelon european brands, beside soulution, the rest are all categorized to be neutral with a hint of warmth.