To add a little substance to this forum here are some comments and reflections about GRYPHON DIABLO 333. I finally had the opportunity to meet the beast on Friday, March 22, 2024 at the Montreal audio show.
The room was huge and the whole system look and sounded quite intimidating. The first thing i obviously noticed were the large speakers (AUDIONEC, made in France). The sound with the Nagra turntable was so so
With a lack of output Dynamics the amp being at a level close to 40 on the meter.
I shook hands with the owner of Bliss Audio Dragan Reljic a chic guy. I think the presentation was largely sponsored by the manufacturer Nagra. Playback design being the digital source and Nagra the
turntable. The sound is described quite precisely by Robert Schryer (Stereophile). I touched the beast and i was surprised it gave off less heat than my Gryphon 300.
I asked to put an organ record but the piece seemed a little too serious for the amateurs on the spot but I remember the sound of the Organ which was in three dimensions almost holographic reverberate
Really a full scale sound like in a church (emotional for me). After reading on Gryphon 333 and watching videos I discovered that the belly of the beast has a fan just behind the toroidal transformer in order to
evacuate heat released by even more class A. Also the manufacturer has well designed the heat sinks around the device (guarantee of durability). Here I think that in this integrated amp the manufacturer have put a
5 liter motor of Mustang in a Ford Pinto like a muscle car. Nowhere is this fan mentioned… If it's like in cars, you have to be wary of the first generation introduced. When they introduce the Gryphonn 333 they
where talking about bi-polars SANKEN transistors.
Strangely, when they talk about the presentation of the new Gryphon Apex amp, mentioned that they are not Sanken bipolar transistors (those are no longer available) and in the new Apex i read
they put Toshiba transistors. What made me a little more perplexed was the notice on page 30 of the Gryphon 333 instruction manual which mentions a possible overheating of one of the two
Channels:- "When excessive heat is detected in one or both channels, the Diablo will mute and the amplifier will go in stand-by mode. Normal temperature can resume when the temperature is within safe operating
limits. If a DC/HF is error is detected in one or both channels, the Diablo 333 will mute, and the amplifier will go into stand-by mode ». Notice worthy of a good old muscle car from the 70s whose radiator can
Overheat on occasion. So let's hope that Gryphon's latest born will be as reliable as the entire work. In the new Gryphon 333 there are several elements borrowed from the upper game (APEX). For my part, I would
hesitate to compromise myself on the new 333 and wait with patience for our audio essayists to finally commit to make some credible reviews on this new born.