Gryphon Diablo 300 or Pass Labs Int-250 to Sonus faber Amati Tradition

I would be very interested in this thread, as I’m looking at both options without the possibility to demo the Pass. I also had Boulder 866 and Vitus Ri-101 in my radar, but they were way below my expectations compared to the Diablo 300.

The issue with the Gryphon is that the model is already 8 years old and once its replacement comes out, the resale value should drop…

@habermas Did you actually compare the Boulder and the Vitus to the Diablo?  If so, in what areas did the Vitus and Boulder disappoint?

I was going to recommend the OP add Vitus to their list, but it all depends on what improvements they’re looking for over what they have now and what sound characteristics are most important to them. 

Of your two choices, the Diablo 300 all day long. 

I suspect the two Amps really don’t sound that similar. The Gryphon is likely squeaky clean and accurate, and somewhat unforgiving of any shortcomings in the chain. The Pass Labs is likely creamy smooth with midrange being the star of the show for stellar vocal presentation, and not so brutally honest. The SF’s are soft in presentation so the choice is to sharpen the SF’s with the Gryphon, or further accentuate their softness with the Pass Labs. 

I almost bought the Pass Labs Int 250 but ended up getting the Gryphon Diablo 300 instead.  The Diablo 300 IMO is a much better integrated amp.