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Get a load of this Deceptive add for a Gryphon Amp here on AG

So the title is  Gryphon Essence Stereo Power Amplifier Pure Class A 5 Months Old.

You can read the description for yourself.


I make an offer on the amp. Below is the reply I get from the Seller. Maybe its just me but this kind of selling should be BANNED on AG.  Selling Grey Market gear without putting any of it in the description. Total BS...and he isn't even the owner of the amp.  He's in California but says he's selling for somebody else in Massachusetts.



Thank you for your offer that I can accept.
I have some things to explain:
It's imported, from out-of -US distributor.
Gryphon designed it voltage interchangeable, manufactured 220-240V, then set up by distributor's technician to US 120V so you can just plug ( the power cord ) and play.
Gryphon's warranty is not transferable, made very clear in user's manual Page 25. But don't worry. Whenever in need of service, just send to LA and I will take all things ensuing.
If these are fine with you please let me know then I will accept to proceed.
Will ship to you from Massachusetts by the current ( the only ) owner.


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big_greg
6,723 posts
 
BIG_GREG....BIG difference between a Grey Market Amp and an Amp with No Warranty. If your not the original owner BUT the amp has your country’s voltage and was purchased in your country they will still fix the Amp and charge you for it. If you purchase a GREY MARKET amp they will refuse to work on it PERIOD. Thats a HUGE factor to consider.

That's not necessarily true and will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.  I have more familiarity with this issue as a photographer.  For example, if you buy a Canon camera from another country (international or "grey market"), Canon won't honor the warranty.  They will repair it.  The same holds true for many products.  I've never heard of a manufacture refusing to repair an item because it was an international model.  It seems unlikely, since Gryphon is not made in the U.S.  Have you contacted them and been told that they won't perform repairs?

There's also the option of having a local repair center make any needed repairs.  Is there something proprietary about their amps that would force you to ship it to Denmark rather than have a local (or at least US based) dealer service it?

I agree that the seller should have been forthcoming with those details in the ad itself, but I'm having a hard time understanding how it's a "Deceptive add" (SIC).
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riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook OP
1,003 posts
 
Gryphon and Accuphase I can GUARANTEE wont work on Grey Market Units as per their distributors. This is to protect the distributors business model. If you can buy Amps/Speakers from any country without consequences then everybody would be buying them from Europe/Asia where many of the brands are MUCH cheaper. Speakers in particular have no Voltage settings obviously. Accuphase gear costs like 50% of the USA price in Japan (Audio Union etc).   Rules are in place to safeguard/discourage that kind of thing from happening.
missioncoonery
1,250 posts
 
I agree...as they say put on your big boy pants  and move on...geeez,grow some dude
mushashi78
4 posts
 
I got a Gryphon Callisto 2200 integrated amplifier with 230v. I got it before Gryphon Audio Designs started selling their products here in the US a few years ago.
I want the power voltage changed to 110-120v. Any ideas what/where I should go with this amp. I am the second owner. I tested the amp at our garage which carries a 240v line and it works.
I've read the discussion above and it somehow rekindled this idea that the voltage can be changed.
My gratitude to all that help.
moto_man
400 posts
 
I just don't see the issue here.  Although he certainly could have, and perhaps should have made that disclosure in the text of the ad, he has an excellent track record here, and made full disclosure of those issues in his confirming message.  Plus, is it a big deal (I don't know) that the voltage was changed to 120?  Many amps can be changed internally from one voltage to the other, so that doesn't seem like much of a big deal either, although perhaps it is more involved with Gryphon amps.  As for the warranty issue, from the comments above, it seems like Gryphon does not have a transferable warranty, period, so although it is important to disclose that, it does not seem to be tied to the "gray market" issue.
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