Gryphon Audio: The Good The Bad & The Ugly
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 мар 2024
- Back with our most popular series - Another installment, now this time, Adrian is getting brutally honest about The Good The Bad & The Ugly about Gryphon Audio!
Previous Brutally Honest videos:
• Brutally Honest- The G...
• Brutally Honest - The ...
• BRUTALLY Honest about ...
• BRUTALLY Honest About ...
• BRUTALLY Honest About ...
• Brutally Honest - The ...
Social Media:
linktr.ee/audio_excellence
If you are interested in our playlists, here is how to get them:
Donate to your charity of choice and email the receipt to info@audioexcellence.ca, Adrian's playlist is $10.
We match and donate all the funds we receive from RUclips for the videos, so please support us by watching, subscribing and liking them. Thank you very much for your support.
As always, we would love to hear from you, so please if you have any questions about hifi/audiophile or anything audio-related, leave your comments and feedback below. If you have suggestions for future topics, please let us know.
Audio Excellence Inc. is a high-end audio/video store in Markham, Ontario, Canada, a suburb of Toronto. We've been in business since 1991.
Check out our interviews with designers and audio luminaries like Daryl Wilson of Wilson Audio, Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Paolo Tezzon of Sonus Faber, Wendell Diller of Magnepan, John Atkinson of Stereophile, Dan D'Agostino of D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, Nelson Pass of Pass Labs and others.
Contacts:
Adrian@audioexcellence.ca
Mike@audioexcellence.ca
Lewis@audioexcellence.ca
Info@audioexcellence.ca
Audioexcellenceca@gmail.com
Edited by: mike@audioexcellence.ca 
Развлечения
“ Neutrality has always been my preferred choice as it relates to gear in general “, well done Adrian.
Thanks!
For me the highlight of the video is Adrian talking about music. It shows his passion for music, and I am impressed by the breadth of his taste (I don’t know too many people who appreciate Bob Marley and Mahler). Having access to some of the greatest gear and not being a gearhead at all is so commendable.
Thanks! Very kind of you
Allison does a Gryphon-worthy job with these videos. I will never have Gryphon electronics in my home to enjoy, but learning about these spectacular amplifiers gives me great pleasure somehow. Perhaps because through the humour-laced information I am able to take away much that helps me listen better to music presented through the very nice system I am fortunate to have at home.
Ahem...I edited this one 👋🏽. But Alison always does a good job too👍🏽
@@calmic75 The bench at Audio Excellence is deep indeed!
Hello Fellow Audiophiles And Friends: Adrian thank you for Round 2 of the Gryphon Audio equipment. I just adore your step by step review of these amazing components. To sum up your personal opinion of this gorgeous equipment is what you input is exactly what you are going to hear. This equipment reproduces the input without any coloration. Adrian that's what I love about you is your integrity + honesty & no BS. Thank you again sir and my best to you, your family, and your crew 🙏. TMP from N.J.
Thanks so much!
At 17:10 when you refer to the sound from the strings, the actual sound is called "col legno" which asks the players to hit the string with the wooden part of the bow, as opposed to spiccato which utilizes the hair. The Steinberg Planets recording you mentioned brings this effect out better than most.
Just enjoyed the Mahler Adagietto with my Gryphon Diablo 300 and Marten Parker Duo boxes. Gorgeous experience indeed. Many thanks Adrian.
My pleasure! Glad you like the Mahler
Thanks for the video, Adrian.
I really enjoyed it.
This seems to be the complete opposite of what I enjoy from an audio system, but I guess this is also the highest goal for the typical audiophile.
Glad you enjoyed it
Adrian I love you and you know that. Your description of your love of food sounds like someone showing me how great their Bose system sounds.
Oh Snap!!
My local dealer who admittedly is biased because he is not a Gryphon dealer makes the which if true is an all important not insignificant one; he said wait until you need service (in the US); wait until you see who is handling the service. He has been in the business for 30+ years. Apparently if there is an issue with Mark Levinson it goes to an authorized service center in fact many of the top name brands are handled by this same organization (the name escapes me) not so with Gryphon. In all the hoopla and marketing excitement people rarely think of what happens should a service issue arise. I am 74 and my wife is 69; I want to insure that she is taken care of in the event I am not around and she needs help; how service issues are or are not handled at this level of expenditure or even for an 8K integrated should be IMHO part of the decision calculation as well as how great the component sounds. Since clearly an end user will not be shipping back to Denmark then what happens? End of rant 😂
I love your descriptions of what you are hearing. I have a very modest system with Benchmark amps mono-blocked and a homemade I²S streamer (Yes I know these are studio amps not audiophile. ) and I love the neutrality. If its in the recording I can hear it. It is good to know that at the VERY high of this hobby there are neutral non-syrupy sounding options as well to aspire to.
I would argue that Benchmark is very audiophile. They just also have a presence in the pro market.
Thanks very much
Adrian is very good at explaining what the gear sounds like, the meat analogy is great 😊
lol thanks
Thanks for the video, Adrian.
I really enjoyed it :) When you test this against Relentless I hope you use Dan's preamplifier on Relentless :)
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it
Great review. I Adore the Gryphon sound. Best i ever owned
Congrats!!
Expensive is a weakness…
Coconut bars, here in Europe, is called BOUNTY!!! Yes and I loved them. 😂😂😊😊😍😍👍👍
Bounty in Canada too!
Yes it's Bounty! My kryptonite
The only bad thing about Gryphon is the price... sound is amazing and looks even better, maybe in my next life I can afford a Gryphon system. I think is the only "crazy high-end" brand that I really liked.
😆 next life?
@@MasterofPlay7 the only possible way 😂 And maybe 2 or 3 more.
In 10 years, you’ll be able to buy their current lineup. One way to look at it.
Don’t blame price.
@@brucelee5465 blame capitalism 😆
Great video Adrian! Any plans on demoing and reviewing the Integrated Diablo line up from Grypon? From my understanding, each Grpyohn amp is tottaly different sonically. And the DIablo series is a much more "Friendly" amp when it comes to music input. I am curious if it out performs any Acchupase, Luxman, Mcintosh amps .
We have to get out of our comfort zone to experience life. This is why I had crocodile, kangorou meat. With Gryphon, I can't get out of my comfort wallet. I would enjoy listening to it. Thanks Adrain
eeewww lol!
I once briefly auditioned a pair of very tall and skinny Gryphon loudspeakers in Sydney, worth about a quarter of a million (Australian) dollars. They were incredible!
I hope to hear those one day!
I heard that exact same pair in mid-2005. Phenomenal! ❤
Very nice video production…..
yes Mike is amazing, and Alison too!
I have always had this believe that something expensive should look expensive. And for Me high end audio should be designed so that it looks and feels what the price reflects. For Me personally the design and looks means almost as much as the performance sonically. I must admit that I might be just a little biased when it comes to Gryphon because Im Danish and I listened to a pair of Gryphon mono amps for the first time many decades ago at the age of 19 at a friends house, and I was in shock. I never had any idea up until that moment that something like this even existed. I almost startet to cry when he started playing some music to Me. It was such a chock that music in a living room could sound like this paired to a set of Klipsch horn speakers the size of mini bus. Ever since that time Gryphon products are the most beautiful in the World to Me. And oh My God I think that the Apex looks stunning.
Yes Gryphon does an amazing job with their industrial design
Right On! Music SHOULD be a visceral experience!
So for the Gryphons you brought out the good stuff . A high-end system should simply disappear and faithfully deliver to your ears whatever your source material has to offer. Sounds like the Gryphons do that. That, of course, puts a high premium on quality source material; not a small ask. In my experience the most enjoyable, comfortable symphonic recordings deliver what you described for the Chicago/Barenboim/Mahler.
Thanks!
You did a nice job too Adrian!
thanks!!
Adrian, Of all the brands you carry, which amp brand produces the widest, tallest soundstages? Would it be the Gryphons?
You wont hear what the Commander / Apex can do until you hook em up to a big full range speaker (that is not a dynamically limited sonus faber), meaning hook em up to the XVX already. ;)
I had them connected to the Sonus faber SE-17 before. These speakers are definitely full range. And so are the Acora
Hi! Like your series about audio brands. Could you make one about Fyne Audio and their products? Not so many unbiased information about it.
unfortunately we only review products we carry
Everytime I see the front meter of the D'Agostino Power Amp., I always get hungry. How many slices of prosciutto, provolone cheese and salami do you want with your foggaica bread? Thanks for sharing and excuse me while I get my espresso, with grappa!
lol
Great Sunday morning with Adrian… question… after almost see all your videos, your reviews on the Macintosh C70 were so good that I do not feel that Macintosh has teach this level again… is it the case???
Each company decides what market and customers they want to try and reach. McIntosh does an amazing job reaching people who enjoy tradition, and perhaps a sweeter, more forgiving sound.
I am interested in the score speakers and how they sound with mcintodh
Medium well to well done?!?!?!? Oh Adrian 😂😂😂
lol at the restaurant story. My father in law orders his steak ‘still mooing’
hehe, I'm still traumatized
XVX please
Mounds or Almond Joy?
Bounty!!
The whole point of low feedback designs is to allow a little low order harmonic distortion in order to keep IMD and higher order distortion minimal. Measurements by Stereophile show that these designs have higher low order distortion but also high levels of IMD and higher order distortion which kind of defeats the whole point. They also found big differences in performance by channel. At this price regardless of how it sounds these amplifiers should not be displaying these issues and the manufacturers QC should catch any issues.
A better cd player would probably allow the electronics and speakers to deliver more information. It's kind of surprising that a front end commensurate w/ the rest of chain wasn't used.
Point taken.
Compare it to the Dan Agostino/Ongaku/Mcintosh in another video.
Do they make car stereos? Am looking for a great sounding cassette deck fer my ‘65 VW bug.
you can use the Apex in a car, just use an inverter ...
Gryphon has a distinct "vibrating" type of sound , you love it or you don't.
I was wondering why, after many requests, you still have never brought in any Pass Labs XS 300 monoblock amps. At $85000 perhaps these would be a new ultra high-end value. The amps have been out many years now. Perhaps I missed an earlier reason if so I apologize. Usually manufacturers that carry Dan Agostino do not carry
Pass Lab this is also true of Gryphen. Is it a mfg. policy issue?
I thoroughly enjoyed your war stories.
You are 100% right, Pass Labs is a much nicer and more pleasant company than Gryphon. I have owned different Pass Labs monos and stereo amps. I now own a Gryphon power amp. And yes they are of the same level of performance. The D'Agostino amps do not have that level of performance regarding all their products.
I also think that PassLabs is one sweet spot in the industry (regarding sonic quality, reliability and user friendly service…plus looks …but that’s a matter of taste). I‘ve been owning X 600 monos since about 20 years now … GREAT stuff!
If I had to build a secondary system these days I would (keep my first system anyway) possibly go for Jeff Rowland … just to own and enjoy both great amplifier brands in my home in different rooms.
@@bikemike1118 , I have worked full-time in audio for over 25 years now. Jeff Rowland is not of the same level. Buy a .5 series Pass amp. The .5 seriesis a huge step above their former series.
@@bobbykingma4109 well, Nelson Pass himself once said when asked about the .5 changes etc : „… well, the market (or better say ‚marketing‘) wants to see a newer model from time to time, not that it was necessary“.
And that’s exactly the point: the manufacturers do some minor changes - sometimes only slightly updated looks and not even the technicals. I mean: sure, why should they when the original product already nailed it. Sometimes a few parts they buy from suppliers aren’t available anymore for some reason … then they take the replacement parts as the others are out of production or whatever, refurbish the faceplates and call „the new model“ Mk II, III or .5, .8 and so on. These products never get any better in reality - only in the brochure of course - because the potential customers better believe it… I never swap to .5 ….
And I‘ll check out the Rowland gear (625) as soon as I have an opportunity.
My friends store has all 3 and I like the agostino the most. Pass and Gryphon are nice too
Coda 16.0 first 100watts A 😊
Really enjoyed this discussion and these type videos. I was with you until you said you ordered your steaks medium well or well done. Oh man you need some help there. You may know audio but you don’t know food. 😂. Thanks again for sharing this discussion. Very informative.
lol. I know! Like I said, I'm no foodie
It's not blood, it's hemoglobin...water.
Genuine question for the audience. If neutrality is a characteristic some listeners strive for (me included) why are we not seeing more class D amps? They measure perfectly, they are so transparent that you could call them a wire-with-gain that you’d expect more hi end companies introducing this typology.
Probably because class D chops up the signal into tiny bits and has to paste it all back together through a noise filter, while class A is smooth, unadulterated analog. Most audiophiles prefer the sound of class A (when done right) over a class D switching amp.
it's impossible to attain full recording resolution detail , transparency , dynamics , with a passive crossover audio system full stop , and even more so with a passive loudspeaker such as the acora and others of similar ilk . If you really want to hear what's detail resolution of a recording , you have to listen to the large 3 way ATC SCM ASL dynamic monitors along with their large seperate active sub bass . It's absolutely impossible to hear absolute detail resolution transparency with any passive crossover audio systems full stop . You want to hear the best recordings with the sound of real instruments with dynamics then you need to listen to some large ATC SCM ASL . And i don't mean listening to such monitors with active crossovers that use crappy class D amplification . Also small standard drive units underhung or not are not capable of clean low frequencies with out distortion below 80 hertz , and with passive passive crossovers it's even worse , no matter how audiophile and powerful an amplifier is . Gryphons big powerful expensive amplifiers cannot attain the best signal to noise , the lowest distortion , best detail resolution possible , because that is impossible for all large powerful amplifiers the size of gryphon and others , that also can't get away from having an inherently overall longer circuit path topology that is limited by their large inherent design .
While I think these videos are somewhat interesting, getting opinions on uber expensive systems seems not very helpful. If you’re in the market for this level of equipment this is no help unless you just want to spend a lot of money for status and not interested in the last degree of audio nirvana. I guess some of us live vicariously hearing the review, personally, I’m much more interested in the more moderate levels of our hobby. BTW, my main system is around $60k so I get audiophile stuff…
Well to add, we do have plenty of clients whom purchase this level of kit, and find this quite helpful. And trust me, there are people who'd look at your system and call you utterly insane for spending 60k
I owned one of the most procedure audio boutiques in the 90s and represented the most prestigious lines from international vendors andI wouldn’t listen to what this guy has to say about audio. I was introduced to Bill Johnson, Mark, Levinson Nelson, pass by Dan D’Agostino, and many of the pillars of the audio industry.
Why wouldn't you listen to him? I'm curious.
@@johnfoster2592 because he’s a dumb jerk that’s why
@@johnfoster2592
I also would like to know
@@toddwillard8927me too! lol
@johnfoster2592 this is whats wrong with the internet
Sorry way too long and rambling....
Exactly, the guy keeps on taking and talking, get to the point please.