Gryphon Diablo 300 vs Vitus RI-101

Having just auditioned Vitus RS-101, RI-101 and the Gryphon Diablo (plus Pass 250.8) I have to agree totally with the reviewers above. The Vitus is much more refined than the Diablo and does not impart as much of its own character to the music (particularly midrange).

I tested both with the pre amps and without, given I noted a distortion in the Diablo with some music (mainly trumpets). So I also used my Chord Dave as preamp which solved that issue and gave a much clearer sound.

In the end I went with the RS-101 rather than the RI-101. Literature and reviews say they have the same amp construction, but not according to Hans-Ole. The RS has a "stronger PSU....to provide better drive for difficult loads". He believes it does not change the sound, but I found it quite a bit better than the RI-101. Best to try both.

@kamphu 

How did the Pass X250.8 compare

to the Diablo and Vitus?

On my gear, room, etc not in the same class at all. I kept everything else constant - cables, music, etc.

Loss of detail compared to Vitus and seemed to attenuate both the highs and lows with a notable lack of bass in comparison to Gryphon and Vitus. Smooth mid range.

Took about 1.5 hrs to warm up enough. Surprised me that it was not competitive, because I have heard some great Pass set ups on friends' systems. They tell me Pass needs the Pass pre to work well, but I did not try that.

A little late to the party, and suggestions may be N/A by now, but if you are still looking to change the nature of your sound, you may also want to consider the Boulder 866 in that price range. Appears to lean more to the ’clean and clear’ camp like the dartzeel, than the bold and dark character of the Gryphon or [very] slightly veiled character of the Vitus. There are several vids on youtube of the Boulder 866 v. Vitus integrateds. Great set of choices !!

Before I tried the Vitus and Gryphon, my friend and I tried the Boulder 866 with DAC also at home with same partnering equipment. Well, Boulder is what Boulder is known for; quick, clean, clear, dynamic, drive... However I felt that harmonics were truncated. It didn't feel like listening to music. I felt like it was re-constructing the data in the source (the in built DAC) and then presenting it as "music".
 

It was the first amplifier that we eliminated from our shopping list.