Considering Gryphon Diablo 300 "OR" Simaudio 700iv2 ???


Hi everyone,

I am considering one of the two integrated amplifier's now as I am downsizing. Different residence.
The Gryphon Diablo 300 or the Simaudio 700iv2? Unfortunately I can not audition either in my area. So I am going at this blind. Pretty much from reviews.

I am downsizing from a beautiful McIntosh system that just sang.....A  C500t tube two piece pre-amp with Mc501 mono blocks, powering my PMC IB2i speakers. Connected to a Torus power RM20, and my digital front end is a
Linn Klimax Ds.

I am keeping the PMC IB2i speakers, the Torus power, and the the Linn Klimax. Although I may consider selling my Klimax Ds to get the Simaudio 780d dac if I go the Simaudio route. I could update the Klimax to the latest spec too, but that's another topic.....

I did audition the Ma9000 integrated amp, and it did not grab me sound wise. So I feel it is out.
I did get to audition some Simaudio separates, that sounded very very good...

So that's where I am at.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.


xsparky
He posted back in March on another thread that he’d ordered the Gryphon.  Fortunately for him he now not only doesn’t have to read ads about other brands he never asked about, but his wise choice was confirmed by Humberto, George and Mike, LOL
Wow Audiotroy... Your statement is also fascinating, but not factual :) I may be new to this forum but surely not new to audio. 
 
I think except ma8000 every other amplifier I mentioned was audutioned in the same room with my white fact 12 speakers or with fact 12 provided by a dealer. You can see this on the yt video below. Bold guy is me :) amifiers are all over the room.

I also audutioned many of them in different places with different cd Player and cables. Therefore, I think based on this I can easilly judge what is better and what worse. Of course for me. 

Regarding some amplification being in a different league... Only Tucana, sugden and luxman l509x were considerably cheaper. I had Tucana 2 in my home system for 2-3 years therefore I made comparison and it was my starting point. 
Luxnan m900 pre plus power £22,000 with c700 £17,000
BRYSTON 7bsst2 plus pre approx £15,00.
Ayre Ax5 £14,800 (not like you said $5000 cheaper) 
T+A 3100 £14,800
Diablo 300 £13,600
Avid £13,000
Mark levinson 585 £12,000
McIntosh ma8000 was £11,000, ma9000 £12,600
BRYSTON 4b3 plus pre approx £10,000
Nu Vista 800 £8,800, but in Poland £11,000! 
Luxman l509x £8,500
Sugden ia4 £5000
Tucana 2 anniversary £5000
 
Therefore, out of 7 amplifiers we went down to 3... I think you should take into the account different prices in different cuntries before you make a statement, because pricewise gryphon was in the middle of the group I auditioned.

I don't understandard your way of thinking when saying vitus is in a different league than Mark levinson or ayre. Actualy ML and especially ayre are more expensive than Vitus here so they may not be in the same league sonically, but pricewise the same. 

Thanks 

https://youtu.be/fVR0Gkjim18

Huberto, 

Thanks for your post. Your testing methodology seems a bit skeewed, see a room full of gear, did you move the gear that you were testing from the one main rack between the speakers? 

Was the cabling exaclty the same, power etc?

Did you warm up each set of gear before testing?

Did you use exaclty the same tracks?

The issue we have is your hyperbole, the Gryphon gear is great, so is the Vitus and T+A gear, any one of these brands makes outstanding gear that is generally considered better than most of the othe players you were mentioning. We have heard all of these players and it comes down to personal taste and system synergy.

We had one unfortunate demo with the T+A where someone turned on the tone controls and it killed the demo, didn't realize that the tone controls were engaged until the client left.  

The Gryphon, T+A and Vitus gear are generally considered a step up due to their outstanding construction and design.

The Luxman separates should have outperfomed any of the integrated amplifiers, what cabling and power conditioning were you using with them?

What cabling and power conditioning were you using with the gear?

Your one statement is very true I think a lot depends on personal preferences.

Last question are you a store or private listening room? That seems like a huge amount of gear in one room.

We run similar tests frequently we keep all of the variables down to a minimum by just swaping out the gear, same rack, same cables, same power conditioning.

Good luck 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor




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