"Put bluntly, you can’t cheat physics. There are no engineering shortcuts when it comes to pure Class A, so we repeat with no apologies: TRUE, PURE CLASS A means heavy transformers, very large heatsinks, large quantities of expensive parts and costly assembly. While we appreciate and endorse every effort to conserve energy and preserve our global resources, our research into efforts to obtain Class A performance from class A/B topologies makes it clear that there simply is no substitute for the sheer magic of pure Class A."
I completely agree with this comment from Gryphon above .
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"The Gryphon Apex is by nature a product for the fortunate few who can afford such a statement: a product for the connoisseurs who seek absolute purity in the reproduction of music. In short, Apex has been created for music lovers whose respect for the musicians, producers and mastering engineers inspires them to seek the truth lurking in the original recording".
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You might be surprised with what's coming .... |
@tjassoc
You are correct - i assumed the same as well. That said, what is very interesting to me is how we are as human beings. If we have to pay for something we complain and if we get something for free then we complain too?
i remember a long LOOOONG time ago (true story) when i had to go to downtown miami to hand out sandwiches for the homeless. It was soooo hot (like 100F with insane humidity) so we were walking up and down the streets and i was shocked at what some of the homeless people said to me:
" hey, if it does not have any cheese, i dont want it"
I am just shocked at how we can be as humans. If someone is handing you free food, you are broke, living on the streets, you are going to complain and turn down food??????? lol...
Some people complain about the commercials on local tv stations so then why dont they pay for Netflix ??
ohhhhh because it costs money so that is an issue too... i just don’t get it. |
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All stands are critical mass. Boulder told me to get them off the stands and put them out by the pool deck... They don’t need all the damn "babying" that most audiophiles like to do with components.
Grab a sledge hammer and hit them hard while you listen to music. It won’t matter" LMAO
Well, i sold my Magnepan 20.7s so that allowed me to buy Critical Mass Centerstage footers to put under the Boulder EVEN THOUGH i was told me to stop the nonsense lol.
It will be one epic battle, but i am glad i am off next week so i will be able to play with all this.
The only thing i need to really REALLY think about is if i should leave the Mephisto with the Audioquest Powercords for the shootout or not. Someone said to me that i should leave the mephisto with audioquest powercords because that is how i have always played them for you all so it would not be fair to strip it from the powercords for the comparison... hmm.. i need to think on this one. |
MSB into Mephisto monos is a step backwards.. I have been very clear on the fact that the mephisto needs a "race car" driver. You can't make a dac do a real preamp's job.
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Makes sense but since you all have never heard the boulder, maybe i should have left them on the floor...and since we are trying to close the price gap between both... |
Yes you're right. I just want for us to have cool discussions because what i have coming will ruffle some feathers and i don't want us to start arguing.
I want grown up discussions and keep an open mind.
I hate to give one small advice but i would like for all of you to keep an open mind to all sorts of gear and let your ears decide. Maybe if you applied a little of what I say all the time: " I'm not married to any of this stuff" would make it a little easier to keep an open mind.
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anyone surprised at the move?
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Guys,
Let's just be happy as hell we will hear cool stuff during our Christmas break. Let's be nice to each other at least through the holidays. We always have 2021 to tear each other apart.
Don't worry, the surprise has actually arrived and i hope I can display it this weekend.
We have the boulder to listen to as well as another component. I also want to try the synergistic research powercell SX to see if it is better than my audioquest Niagra 5000?
I will spend 3 days straight packing, shooting videos and slowly releasing them to you all.
Let's be cool and get along? I am working my ass off here to get you something to be looking forward to🙂 |
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The poll is very tight. 43% for boulder vs 39% for Gryphon. That's what people are choosing between both. |
Interesting 🤔. Many want Joseph audio to be in here.
Don't dismiss any brand and remember they are under $100k MSRP. Incredible bass in my room is an understatement!
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All I will say for now about the new speaker is this:
- Less than 100k MSRP
- Not made in the U.S.
- 3-way speaker
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You contradict yourself techno...listen. To your last post yet you left thumbs down on the video??
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So to give you a little more context, the boulders were using Wireworld Platinum 8 speaker cables, Synergistic Research Atmosphere level xlr from dac to preamp and gryphon xlr interconnects. yes, all are cables from different brands. Boulder gear was on stock powercords. The goal was to start with the least amount of cable synergy possible, but based on the reaction i have been receiving on youtube it appears the experiment was successful -meaning people liked the presentation... hmm, i wonder what will happen when i do a full loom of cables ? Coming up next: - Center Stage 1.5 version 2 footers (to use under Boulder 1.5 monos and Mephisto)
- Introduce Synergistic Research speaker cables and grounding block (to see how it will sound vs Wireworld Platinum 8)
- Spikes under Alexx
- Alexx will be dialed in by the dealer (Peter Mcgrath will be helping via Facetime)
A couple of thoughts in my head: (thoughts at this time) - Aftermarket Footers for Wilson Audio Alexx
- Upgraded powercords for Boulder Monos (expensive tweak)
- Using Audioquest Dragon Source PC on Boulder Linestage
- Many other ideas..
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@ron17.
I agree i am plenty OCD :)
I am putting one more video of the boulder shortly before i begin filming my shootout for next week. |
@dasign
It could be a possibility. Thank you for the link.
When it comes to ac management, ground conditioning, after market circuit breakers, replacing the light pole outside my house, calling florida power and light to come out to replace the transformer outside my house since it’s probably 10 years old, etc etc, i am the wrong guy for that. You are looking at the wrong person. That is a bit above my own OCD.
I am in agreement there are systems that kick my system’s ass from here to Hong Kong and back but let’s keep it real: how many systems are we talking about out of the bunch?
5%? 15%?
Also, sound is very subjective and when you get to the level where I am, you ACTUALLY feel that this is above what you have owned or in some cases what you have heard at shows.
I heard the Alexx 2-3 times before and i left feeling unimpressed and disappointed.
This pretty much proved to me that shows aren’t really for you to be impressed in any way shape or form. This doesn’t meant it is not possible to be impressed but nothing beats YOU doing it at home with your own electronics.
I personally feel i have the best sounding Alexx anywhere here in South Florida. Yes, from Tampa all the way down to key west and 90 miles south to Cuba.
Bleached vocals - i mean if what im hearing is bleached, I’m loving the sound and i might be trying to find a way for my room to smell like bleach too because I love the bleached sound I’m getting.
I am also in a tough spot here because I don’t have a single person near me that has a rig at the level of mine where I can go and listen and take notes and probably be schooled too.
I don’t live in TX, California, NY where there are a ton of serious Audiophiles.
No disrespect to my fellow Floridians but even local dealers and manufacturers have average systems in their own homes (some, not all)
You would think that an audio store owner or even the store manager would have a good rig? You would think that an audio manufacturer would have a reference system at home to test their products on? Nah... Not here in my neck of the woods. Average systems is what you’ll find in their homes. Think "Jay’s system" 8 years ago.
Even at my local audio stores, i have heard nothing that impressed me. NOTHING AT ALL.
I heard the WAMM, Chronosonic XVX and left ten min later. Why? System matching was poor (mainly tubes) as well as the sources and cables,
But I won’t blame the speakers either because I went through this with the ALEXX. I’ve learned way too much on my own (still have more to learn).
The next time I go to a show, I’ll have better ears and a much better reference point in order to gauge things better than when I went to AXPONA 2019.
I get it, i am being more vocal and public and have more exposure than before so I know this comes with the territory. The critics are a real thing and i when i don't listen to them or when i refuse to put their product on my floor, they get a little salty with me -although not all of them.
I've said it several times before, i get blocked from buying certain gear from some manufacturers (something you might know or not know about). Why does that happen?
BECAUSE I AM SHARING MY THOUGHTS WITH YOU ALL!!!
if i didn't post any of this or had a growing YouTube channel then I wouldn't have manufacturers trying to block me from buying anything. So yes, me sharing with you causes difficulties for me so MAYBE, just MAY BE, some of you might take that into account the next time you want to be abrasive with me.
Jay
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By the way,
The last song i uploaded is from the same album as song #3 from the first video. No other changes have taken place. |
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I'll play everything through them. I am not sticking to one single song. I don't sit here cherry picking songs to only find those that are unprocessed etc. Why?
Because as kren said about me using stock Powercords, that's not what the average Joe will do with the Mephisto and i also believe the owner of this kind of gear will not just be playing unprocessed music. I play everything including 80s, 70s etc. If i have to cherry pick my music to only choose unprocessed music then this won't be fun anymore. |
Boulder VERSUS Gryphon:
Date: December 24th, 12pm Eastern Time.
This will be the first time I will do one song with one set up immediately followed by the same exact song with the other set up.
-Volume levels will be matched at 82 db.
-Speaker cables will be audioquest dragon on both systems which will be on each system for 24 hours prior to shooting video in order to allow cables to settle.
-Gryphon XLR throughout
Mark it on your calendar so you don’t miss it.
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@joecasey
I think kren was referring to music selections... |
You confirmed that you pay attention to what i say and hopefully this has translated into your audio room in some sort of way.
More to come in 2021. I think 2021 will have a dry supply of amplifiers for me because I am pretty much near the end. There isn't much more room for me unless I want relentless, dartzeel 468s etc and those are hard to come by for me.
Thanks for tunning in you all - |
@joecasey
If Miguel is up for the challenge of doing a shootout of his tripoint vs synergistic research then sure.
The question is WHAT should be used to do this shootout? we would use his tripoint with my wireworld cables and gryphon interconnects VERSUS full synergistic research ?
His top device is $75k i think and a Galileo speaker cable, 2 sets of Galileo xlrs, Galileo SX PowerCell and grouding block i think retail for like $53K??
I have asked many manufacturers to send me their speakers, cables, etc since i now have 2 great amps and well they fear the thought of doing that...
Here is the thing that many of you should ask yourself: IF you are a manufacturer, do you send your product to a reviewer without a hidden agenda for the world to hear it on youtube or do you feel afraid that it might not be as well received as you hoped it might be?
Very few manufacturers have the balls to send stuff in and some have actually told a few dealers to NOT send me anything for me to put on my channel -YES I AM SERIOUS... meanwhile, Boulder tells me that they do not give a damn what i do, where i place their amps or if i connect them out under the tree out in my patio. They know their amps are serious stuff.
Look, if ANY OF YOU paid attention to the video from yesterday, you should have heard the song from yesterday was ok sounding BUT NOT as good as the 3rd song on the first video right? We can agree on this?
yet, these songs are from THE SAME ALBUM!!! so what does that tell you about the Boulder? how can one song sound awesome and the next one not so much and yet they are both recorded on the same live event?
In conclusion, what many manufacturers DO NOT realize is that when they block or try to control what i have access to, this gets back to me one way or another. YES, this is a small industry and yes I END UP finding out and that just fires me the hell up to go after your product on the used market until i locate it and bring it here and put it under the fire. When YOU as a manufacturer have a problem with me and decide to block me from acquiring any sort of gear, TRUST ME i will find out. TRUST ME and all this does is fire me up and now i am hunting down your product NON-STOP day in day out until i find it, bring it here and throw it under the fire. So maybe NEXT TIME they should think twice before they try to negate my efforts or they might find their product in my room faster than they thought possible.
Sometimes saying NOTHING might be the best way to stay hidden.
You can't control what we all have access to. This is stupid. how can manufacturers control the used market? how can they control what other dealers who are not dealers for their product sell to you? You think a dealer who is not Dartzeel dealer gives a damn to sell me the 468 amps? hell no they don't care. They don't support the product so why would they care? and this is EXACTLY MY POINT here.
Look, there are A LOT of salty manufacturers with me RIGHT now because they did not like the fact that i sent their amps away and kept the Gryphon. YES, these are facts. I can't go into more details than that. |
@keithr
Thanks for the wishes.
When it comes to people’s taste, I’ll never have something for everyone and to be honest i am not trying to satisfy everyone.
I’ve had more positive comments on the boulder than negative comments. Some other people prefer tubes in the mix and that’s fine. I am just not looking to add condiments to the presentation at least for now.
I will go in more depth about this on a future video but for now, I’ve said it before - nobody is wrong or right for liking one thing over the other.
Boulder is extremely revealing and a dan agostino lover won’t like boulder.
Boulder sound isn’t for everyone, but i can say that with my short ownership of the product it has qualities I’ve never heard before.
I am only getting started with boulder...today i will be receiving the center stage 1.5 v2 footers which won’t be part of the shootout but will be added down the road.
Remember, i still have Powercords to try on the boulder and maybe that will do the trick of adding what might be missing for some of you.
You’re hearing Boulder extremely raw and uncut right now with absolutely zero accomodations yet it has been well received. Imagine once we begin to "dress it up" ? How far will it go once I add $10k Powercords to the preamp and both monos? Footers on all 3 ? Footers on the Alexx? Remove the grills of the Alexx? Upgrade the outlets?
Soooo much more to do...
As far as the speaker review i did, many people thanked me for being so brutally honest. Many people want me to be this raw and tell it like it is because they don’t want the same politically correct review. They want to hear someone speak from the heart and say "fuc# this - this is how I see it"
Ever notice how you read about a product that you are interested in and all magazines pretty much say the same thing often times about the product? It’s almost redundant.
I don’t want to tell my story how others tell theirs. I want to be known as the dude who owned it and also told it like it is. If these comments ruffle feathers then sorry, but I’m here to tell you all how i perceive things. I am not here to be taken as gospel but i truly believe that if any of you want to buy a product in the future, you’ll read some reviews and then find out if Jay owned it before and what he thinks. That would be more than enough for me.
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@grey9hound
@viber
Please Send me a private message with the best songs jazz/blues/classical
(One of each if you can) and choose the most widely recognized song of each. I also would like for you both to search each song within youtube to make sure they are not blocked. The way to do this is by just searching the song and if you find someone playing it on their system or something along those lines then that is an indication that it is good to be used. If all you can find is an official music video then this is probably an indication that it is copyrighted and can't be played.
Thank you
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@daveyf
you clearly did not watch the entire video from today...you didn’t care to watch what I said about me selling gear quick.
Who in here can look at all the components I’ve had in 2021 and calculate how long each component stayed in the room?
If someone did, it would dismantle this narrative created by you above. I hang on to stuff for months now but of course the narrative seems to be the same because nobody bothers to do a little research. If someone has the time to do so, please go on and post here.
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Man...the tekton hatred has commenced on my YouTube channel with the negative comments...ugh |
@ricevs
Thanks for the above. I don't believe i would be doing any of that because the speakers are loaned to me. |
My goal is to live with my components for a few months then move on. Do you think magazine reviewers live with gear for a year or two before they write about it?.
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Lol...haters will always exist !
Their job is to hate and they feel unproductive if they aren't hating daily. We just have to try to keep pushing forward.
The tektons will have 1,000 watts of class A pushing their 99db sensitivity!
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You don't need to live with any component for a year in order to know if it moves you or not.
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I’m running a YouTube channel so the day I arrive at not moving to the next component then that is the day I can close my channel. As long as more product keeps coming out, I will keep going.
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Well, it's 1155PM and I'm listening. Synergy is far greater with thrse Mephisto monos and these new speakers than I remember it being with the XLF. It's going to be a long night!
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@viber6
Msb sounds bright into Mephisto. You will get ear fatigue faster than if you stood in front of the speakers at a club.
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I no longer have that. I have audioquest niagara 5000 now. |
Video #1 of the Boulder versus Gryphon has been uploaded and will be live tomorrow at 12 pm eastern time and it's about 19 min long.
3 songs will play on each system and i will not disclose which cables i used in order for you all to not be biased. I want you to rely on your ears instead.
Then I will upload the final video this Saturday with the same songs as video #1.
Video #3 will be me revealing what cables were used on videos 1 and 2 and giving my opinion on what i heard in the room.
Please use headphones and i encourage you to listen to the entire video multiple times if you can. If you listen once and you think you know what you prefer, i urge you to listen to the video a few more times. Dont jump the gun because there is no reason for that. Hurrying up to post your comments here without really REALLY evaluating the demonstration is not smart. I took the time to put together this video so at least take your time listening to it multiple times.
My initial feedback with the first video is that things aren’t as easy as i thought they would be. Both are phenomenal and you will finally hear their weaknesses and strengths.
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Because they are sounding amazing with them on lol.
I'll remove them this weekend once they are property set up. |
I'm done with both videos. Gryphon used dragon powercords because that is what we decided to do.
Kren can give you more input on this. |
@theophile
Sorry that my music selection isn't really doing it for you. This is why I have decided to do something unique next year for those of you who want to hear specific music seletions and with a specific combination of my electronics. Lots and lots of people ask for specific music and or songs and so i will be doing this privately for those who want and are serious of course. More to come |
The Mephisto has always been on upgraded powercords... You all have never heard the Mephisto on stock pcs...not on my channel anyhow... |
I am live now. If you care to talk to me live on Youtube |
Thanks greyhound. I got them and they will be the songs i will play on the tekton speakers.
You all ever wonder how a tekton Ulfberht looks next to an Alexx ?
I'll be posting a pic on youtube shortly :) |
thank you to those of you who joined the live stream a few min ago.
Tomorrow will be a good shoot out and i hope you all enjoy it tremendously. Let's try to have a mature, productive discussion in here tomorrow and share how each person saw it.
thanks again! |
Amen -
Let’s try to have an open discussion tomorrow right after the video at 12pm.
Maybe I’ll do a live video chat around 2pm eastern tomorrow for those who want to give me their impressions on the first boulder vs Gryphon video. |
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