Anyone bought a Gryphon Diablo 333?

You have a really nice system. Given you made the move to warmer speakers, I think the makua may do the trick. I suspect it will open the soundstage and increase bass and dynamics. The Essence while neutral, definitely is not analytical sounding. So I would be optimistic about your choices!

One advantage that the Diablo 333 (and my current Diablo 300 for that matter) has over the Essence is that I’ve read that the warmup time for the Essence in Class A mode is rather long.  Many hours.  However Gryphon has said that it takes only 30min to warm up after it’s already been warmed up (presumably for hours) in AB mode.  I’m okay with this.

@ricky64 , what has your experience been with respect to warmup time with your Essence in a class A mode?

This has never bothered me that much. It does sound better after warmup, but it still sounds good when switched on You also just have the option of listening (or leaving it) in Class AB if you wish. I think "Many Hours" is a bit of an exaggeration.

@ricky64 How easy (or difficult) is it to change the bias level if you don't have a Gryphon preamp? Is there a switch on the amp?...I'm always wondered that.

@nyev I am excited to hear your thoughts once the Essence and Makua arrive and get setup. I have my fingers crossed it gives you the sound you want!

This past weekend, I was able to move (with the help of a visiting friend) my 333 from its temporary spot to its place on the rack. While this was always the goal, the speaker placement is now compromised with the now-too-short speaker cables. I'm hoping to bring in new cables shortly, however.

For those interested, the 333 has been burning in very nicely. I seem to have a hard time turning it off at the end of each session....."just one more song" :D

@62truck , there are two buttons under the front of the Essence amp, one that controls the bias level and one that controls the lights. On some photos of the Essence you can see two blue lights shining below the amp. These lights signal where the buttons are. If you have the Gryphon pre, I believe you can change the bias on the remote, but I won’t have that option, unless I program a third party remote I guess. The other thing only available with the Gryphon pre is the “green bias” mode, but from the description I don’t think I’d ever use that (basically low bias up to a programmable volume level and high bias after if i understand it correctly).

Still three weeks or so before delivery for me I think.

Glad you are enjoying your 333!!!