Joseph Cali Systems Design opened their new Gryphon showroom last night ; it was utterly magical. Among the Gryphon equipment on demonstration were :
Antileon EVO stereo amp, Zena preamp with optional DAC, Sonnet phono stage, Scorpio S upsampling CD player, Diablo 120 and Diablo 300. Speakers were the Gryphon Mojo S, Joe Cali mentioned that they are waiting on additional bespoke bass traps to be placed in the corners before they position the Pantheons; these will control the sub 250Hz bass energy. Cabling was a mixture of Shunyata Research & Gryphon VIP series.
A Brinkmann "Bardo" for spinning vinyl with a Sound Smith Sosurro moving iron cartridge. I played some of the SonoruS recent vinyl to tape transfers on a SonoruS modified PR99, which feature the Holographic Imaging, these all throw an amazing three dimensional soundstage, with performers playing well outside the speakers.
All the walls have a mixture of absorptive & diffuser panels wrapped in a beautiful, acoustically transparent dark blue cloth.
The diffuser on the front wall is a foam mock up, the finished version will be constructed from wood and will be motorised. The acoustic sculpture will be able to split in two to reveal an 85" 8k TV panel.
Most of the gear will be hidden in a credenza once the room is complete. The room was neither overly dry nor dull (over-damped) but pretty much spot on, sonically. Its a lovely quiet room where detail is not artificially pushed in front of you, but
Joe Cali played songs from Lori Lieberman's new album The Girl With The Cat, featuring the Matangi Quartet. I must say Lori's version of Don McLean's Empty Chairs, which is piano led , instead of guitar in the original is a refreshing update to the original. As an interesting side note, Lori explained last night that it was Empty Chairs that inspired her to write Killing Me Softly With His Love. The Matangi Quartet provide a wonderfully intimate backdrop to Lori's seductive voice. Personally I have always been a huge fan of chamber music and its wonderful to see artists such as Lori Lieberman take advantage of this under appreciated musical genre. I am sure Lori will gain many more admirers with the introduction of this new album, due to be released next week on CD and shortly after on LP. Wonderful music, beautifully perfromed and superbly recorded - highly recommended.
Clearly the Pacific Design Center is not your average shopping center.
