Bryston 4B3 vs Mac MC462 vs Pass Labs X250.8, OR... GRYPHON Diablo 300?

Hi Guy's,
Interesting thread you have started on the Gryphon Diablo 300.

I have just ordered a Diablo 300. No dac or phono module, as I am all digital with a very good dac I am happy with. I may entertain Gryphon's dac module down the road, but we will see. My dac is out getting upgraded at the moment to their latest  spec in the UK. Both pieces should back and here maybe this week or next. The only other thing is I have to go out of town for a couple of weeks beginning of March as things arrive.  :(

I did not have the luxury of auditioning the Gryphon Diablo 300 prior, in my area. I know I know, but unless you have that exact piece in your environment, with your speakers, etc, it is a guessing game with synergy....
I am down sizing from  McIntosh Mc501 mono blocks, and there two piece C500t preamp. I had these mated to my PMC Ib2i's. This system sang, and I would have kept it, but the sprawl of everything needed to go as my room and setup is different now since I moved. I wanted a top end integrated amplifier. Hence the Diablo 300.

Nyev, your concern's about repair are perhaps warranted, but over thought or worrying too much in my opinion. When you get into this caliber of components, with military spec boards and top selected components, repair will be negligible if any in my opinion. World wide shipping works now a days as repair depot's are not on every corner from most upscale brands anyway. The cost of doing business "if" needed. As you mentioned the dealer sent their unit in and nothing was amiss. That dealer was pushing that amp and doing usual things with it anyway.

So....order, enjoy, and don't look back.

Xsparky you are probably right about overthinking the service risk.  One thing though is I think it is likely that only one or two areas of the Diablo are mil-spec.  I can’t imagine all components, relays, etc are mil-spec.  Could be just the PCB’s themselves that are, and not the components on the boards.

Out of curiosity, what are you feeding your DAC from?  I’m using a Mac Mini with Audirvana but am considering whether to plan a move to a dedicated streamer.  Which may be more important to do once I have the Diablo in my system.

Hi,

I have a Linn Klimax Dsm streamer. This is getting upgraded at the moment to their Katalyst dac architect. It has been in storage for a couple of years since my move. I like the fact that Linn has supported and continues to support their customers with upgrades if desired. I plan to use Roon to source my flac music library and music services to stream to the Linn Dsm.

These two pieces will be the heart of my system to my PMC's.

My Diablo 300 was barebones as I only use digital streaming from a LUMIN U1 to a Chord Dave Dac via AES/ebu.....then to the Diablo. It worked splendidly.
Inna ......in my present system I have the LUMIN U1 to the Chord Dave to a Vac Renaissance Mk5 Preamp to a Vac 200iq amp to a pair of Magico S3MK2 speakers.
I have absolutely no interest in analog and I prefer the flexibility of choosing my own Dac. For the record I got a very noticeable SQ increase when I went with the LUMIN U1 streamer over my Mcbook Pro via USB to the Chord Dave.

Ordered the Diablo 300 today (finally), with the DAC module.  Dealer offered me a demo phono board that may or may not have ever been used, at half price, so I accepted.  The rest will be brand new.

I’ve also ordered an InnuOS Zenith Mk III player, as I don’t think my Mac Mini was really up to the job.

Diablo could be ready for pickup in two weeks, but the InnuOS could take up to two months as the new MK III is backordered.

After everything is burned in I’ll be testing power cords.  Others on this board have told me they don’t really notice a difference between cords on the Diablo.  Possibly due to the Diablo’s design vs other amps which are quite different with different cords.  Need to get my hands on a demo Valhalla 2 just to see if it can do anything with the Diablo.  I’ve also been told the cord makes way more difference with the media server/player than it does with the Diablo, as digital equipment tends to “pollute the AC line.”  But I’ll probably go with something like the AQ Hurricane -  we’ll see after testing.  Depends how the Valhalla 2 does.... I’ll need to wait a couple of months for the InnuOS to arrive before that testing.  Until then I’ll have to burn in the Diablo with the Mac Mini running Audirvana.