Best Integrated, period.

Kiwi, thanks for the update. I read your reviews pretty thoroughly while on my quest to purchase one of the best (if not *the* best) integrated amp.

For some reason, I thought you were partial to the Gamut over the Gryphon.

Anyway, I ended up buying the Gryphon Diablo too. On my short list was the Gamut, the Pass Labs INT-150, and the Dartzeel integrated. The Diablo's sound is absolutely superb, but I also really appreciate the power on-hand, as well as the fact that it has an on-board phono stage. The Dartzeel was the only other integrated on my short list that had a phono stage. For me, the phono stage was a pretty crucial element to my selection process.

Anyway, I run my Diablo with Quad ESL 57s and also with JBL L300 Summits. Within the next year or two, I would like to buy some of the higher-end Rockports to match it up with.

*yawn*

Vernneal, is there a model or any actual experiences you want to share about "Mcintosh"? No offense, but I'm not sure how much that comment actually added to the conversation.

Anyway...

Kiwi, I will admit that the Diablo is slightly more dry on my Quad ESLs 57s than my favorite tube amps that I've put on them in the past. But I do think that the Diablo scores a lot better in certain other areas.

The original 57s are pretty different from all other ESLs (in my experience), so maybe that is why I think they sound good with the Diablo, whereas maybe some other ESLs would not sound so good.