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

Great plan regarding tying in with a New York trip.  I also had almost considered visiting the New York Gryphon/McIntosh store when I was auditioning.
A lot of sales-y comments from the Vancouver shop regarding the Diablo, but that said I tend to agree with them.
From what I've seen in forums, reviews, and talking with many experienced people on this board, the Diablo's "tone" is highly regarded, but keep in mind there are a very, very small number of people who don't the Gryphon house sound.  So you do need to hear it yourself.  Still I'd be surprised if you don't love it.  I typically don't prefer warmer sounding equipment, because in my experience it's been less detailed, bloated, slow, and veiled.  The Gryphon's tone manages to be warm, yet at the same time with very responsive, rich high-resolution detail at all frequencies, including right down to the lowest bass frequencies.  This makes it very engaging yet very easy to listen to at the same time.

Please post the results of the head to head test with the 601's!  To be honest I find audio gear testing more stressful than fun - because I find I really struggle to make sense of what I am perceiving over a short amount of time.  For me at least, it takes a ton of focus and concentration to get to a point where I have some reliable conclusions on the sound I am hearing, to the extent where I am confident I won't have a different opinion after days of use.  I can get there, but it takes work.  If I take it lightly, I find my first impression is totally thrown out the window after extended use.  Thankfully that's all over and I am just listening to music when I use my system now, and not endlessly trying to pick apart what I am hearing!
Good luck!

Right on, Nyev! It’s about the music, man!!!
Thank you again for all your help...and I will definitely post how the audition goes.

Until then...happy listening, sir!
All the best,

Kevin

I had a MC452 connected to Magnepan 3.7s then 20.7s.  It had a bias issue so my dealer loaned me a pair of 601’s which I compaired to a Sanders Magtech, the Magtech totally outperformed the 452 and the 601s, much deeper and solid base, like adding a sub to a system.  A few years later I borrorwed a 4b3 and that out performed the Magtech by a larger margin than the Sanders over the 452/601s.  I wanted a little more punch than the 4b3 so thats been upgraded to a 14b3 which is a beast.  The only amps I would consider over the 14b3 would be a Burmester 911 or a D’agostino Momentum and they would have to prove themselves on my system before I would commit.  The 14b3 specs (which is not everything) are better than all the amps listed here.  Someone on this thread said Bryston is not high end, not sure where that thought came from but IMHO Bryston rocks and can handle any speaker out there.

nyev OP
Diablo’s "tone" is highly regarded, but keep in mind there are a very, very small number of people who don’t the Gryphon house sound.

Gryphon amps are to closest sound to a big pure Class-A linear amp with an iron fist for bass control, without having to go pure Class-A.
If this is a "house sound" then count me in, as that’s the kind of sound that is big controlled and 3 dimensional and washes over you, that never sounds like it’s emitting from the speakers, it feels like you can get up out of your chair and walk into the sound stage. Some very good tubes can do this but they fall down with hard loads and bass grip.

Cheers George

Yes, the "house sound" is as you stated George, and I appreciate all the elements you noted with the Gryphon sound.  For those very, very finite few who dislike this sound, based on what these people have said I suspect it may be the "controlled" element you noted, or possibly the very slightly "dark" tone in comparison to an amp that may be more raw sounding.  Having said that I find the Diablo 300 to magically contradict itself with these tonal elements.  What I mean by that is that while the sound is noticeably "controlled" at the very same time it is also very dynamic and engaging, likely due to having a very quick slew rate.  "Sudden" sounds jump out and are very alive sounding compared with other amps I tested, but at the same time there is that controlled element that is often cited with Gryphon's sound.  I'd also agree the tone might be slightly "dark" as some have noted, but at the same time, there are loads of dense detail, even when my system is probably limited in this area by my B&W 803 D2 speakers. 

After a year of owning the Diablo 300 I'm every bit as happy with it now and just blown away by the sound quality versus what my experience has been with other amps.  After living with it during this time, I'm still finding nothing at all I can find fault with whatsoever, and in fact I'm still regularly taken aback by how good the sound quality is.  The two areas that have probably made the biggest impact for me in day-to-day use that really go a long way in preserving all positive aspects of the experience are 1) The fact that all positive elements of the sound remain perfectly intact at very low listening volumes - I've not experienced this attribute to this extent with any other amplifiers before, and 2) The fact that all positive elements of the sound remain MOSTLY intact with any material you can throw at it, including poorer quality recordings.  I think the Diablo's slightly "dark" tone can help with this (while amazingly retaining high-frequency detail), where I find other more "raw" amps just totally ruin the experience to the extent recordings can easily become unlistenable. 

Regarding McIntosh and Bryston - the amps I tested from these brands (MC452 and 4B3), at this point I won't try to peg these in a class of high-endedness, but rather, just comment on my experience with them.  To be blunt, I felt McIntosh was fine by boring and unengaging.  I also just wasn't a fan of the physical build when inspected up-close (looks great from a distance).  This was surprising for me as I had anticipated really enjoying the McIntosh sound.  I found Bryston's 4B3 amp to be much more engaging, with great bass and power.  However, while the 4B3 is supposedly far less harsh than prior generation of Bryston's, I nevertheless found it a bit tiring to listen to for extended periods, and also far more intolerant of poorer recordings.  Nevertheless, I consider the 4B3 a better buy than the MC452 as it's more engaging.
Despite my negative comments on McIntosh and Bryston, two things to note are that these are my subjective experiences I'm sharing, and also, I'm comparing it with Gryphon which generally targets a MUCH higher range (in terms of price) market.  The Diablo is really a "value" offering from Gryphon when comparing the astronomical price points of their separate components.