Ok...almost 3 hours warmed up, and the Gryphon concedes nothing to the CJ...betters it in every way and I loved the CJ for 9 years. Plus it adds a power thru the mid and upper bass that the CJ had no ability to do.
Notes:
1. The realism has increased...my test for this is to go into the next room and listen. When it sounds like someone is singing next door, that's my "unscientific test".
2. What I find most remarkable about this amp is it truly is as powerful as (at least I) could possibly want. No strain at volumes that punch thru 2 floors of concrete block apartment bldg so the neighbor comes upstairs afters 3 minutes to complain.
3. But it retains the purity of tone which is what I first found so amazing when I first heard tubes (and immediately bought that day in the store...CJ MV60). Many SS amps have great drive, but the uppers have a hardness I could not get used to.
4. I find it hard to dissect the sounds...more focus on the music which I enjoy. I also find it harder to play just the first 30 seconds of a track to test things...instead I want to hear the song.
5. Finally, the amp almost feels like it can do all of this while truly playing different parts of the music in more the way I imagine the artist may have originally played it. For example, bells don't sound like an afterthought anymore...they sound like the artist used them for a reason...to emphasize a passage or a tempo change. I suspect much of this is a combination of much greater dynamic range than the 55-watt tube amp I had (good as it was)...and the added, tremendous control and accuracy that allows the amp to keep all the different instruments going at the same time in their own space, rhythm and relative volume.
7. Overall, this is an amp of remarkable quality. I am grateful for the opportunity to own one (at a good s/hand price) and enjoy music. After all, that's what this is all about in the end.
8. Thank you to every single person who helped shaped my thinking. As you can see, I spent 9 intensive months talking, reading, consulting and listening...and changed my mind from originally wanted powerful tubes (as this forum is titled) to going SS Class A.
I will continue to both post and read throughout AGon. All the best.
