Gryphon Apex Stereo or Mephisto Solos
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Well when ever the pieces should arrive you are in store for one wild ride. Any thought as to power cables? AudioQuest sent me 2 Dragon High Current, too forward for me. Don't know if perhaps my Furutech NFC rhodium outlets didn't appreciate all that silver? Went back to my Furutech PC and that silkiness/smoothness returned. I may run them again but not optimistic.
Odd that they copied DartZeel - couldn't Gryphon have selected a different color for the caps and bus bars?!
My 2c: get more efficient speakers and get the DarTZeel equipment - they are unprecedented, nothing really comes close.
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LL21 I saw on a previous post in which you used a Torus Wall Unit with Mephisto. I'm concerned perhaps the Mephisto won't like this? I spent a good portion of the day yesterday polluting my brain with more stuff. I see Equi--Tech is mentioned a lot too. Can you elaborate more on the advantages/ benefits/sonic improvement with going in this direction? If I go down this road I would have a 2nd meter/subpanel/ground/for independent power coming in solely for my audio. If I feed from existing panel it will be approx. 60' run, I can shorten all runs to well under 10'. I would then install a Lyncole Grounding System, primarily they ground for large medical equipment. Anything you can share will be greatly appreciated. All The Best...
John
John
Hi John T,
1. I spoke with BOTH Torus and Gryphon to ensure both were happy with the specs of the entire system. They confirmed in writing.
2. I then did it both ways and decided on keeping it in Torus...so the Torus powers the WHOLE system from a single special 16amp dedicated circuit
3. The sonic improvement was greater 'nimbleness' of the Gryphon. No dimunition in slam, power, dynamic capability, micro or macro. But overall, what DID happen is the amp seemed more able to be fleet of foot on musical transitions, trills, complex passages with pianissimo and forte at the same time.
4. We use an AVR16 (16 amps, 3850 watts...with the capability to handle a few seconds of peak at some 20x or more)
5. In our current configuration, I have again spoken with Robert Koda about the setup...and he was fine with it. His idea was 5000 watts (his own setup), but he was satisfied with the specs.
Hope that helps.
not heard everything. but the dart 108 Mk2 is my second favorite amp of all time. only to the dart 468's. you buy those and forget about electronics. just listen to music. they do everything that counts. and you don't need to balance them with anything. just get out of the way. and they have real world flow and immersion.
L Thank You for the input. I take it you are in Europe because of the AVR? I'm looking at the wall unit WM 100 Bal, and perhaps the RM 15 to separate the digital front end? The WM 100 has 5 circuits and there is a way to add, with another smaller panel, more circuits. Need to find out more on that. What I will do is have the power company run an independent cable to a separate meter that will feed the WM 100 Bal, with a separate grounding system. (Lyncole) They typically do very expensive medical equipment, but they have done work for recording studios. Waiting to hear back from the county inspector. No problem with my power company. This will provide me with a completely independent power for my audio with no influence from my existing panel. Insanity!
Sounds like a great setup! I do know people who tried the Robert Koda K160 Monos (230 watts Class A into 4 ohms so something 1100 watts out of the wall at all times)...and while they liked AVR16...they found significant benefit running 2 x AVR16 (7.7kwatts) and I think decided to go 10Kwatts.
Thank You, lots of stuff to take into account. The Lyncole grounding system can be done vertical or horizontal. The preferred method is vertical. 10' deep hole, I would have to get a friend who is a well digger to drill a hole. This isn't a typical 5/8 copper rod. They recommend a 36" trench for the 4awg wire to connect. On top of that the wire is encased with ground enhancement material and the hole is also filled with the same enhancement material. Oversizing everything to accommodate APEX or any potential larger draw of power. I have this system dialed in now, hard to imagine a much better presentation. Big project!!
Big project...big amp! I suppose reading your description, this is basically a super-giant version of the Entreq box which is mineral mix in a massive box...we are currently trialing some large boxes of them...220lbs worth. In the city, you cannot just go out into the sidewalk and dig a hole! And if you are in a highrise...its even harder to imagine!
I think you're describing the exact chemical grounding project I had a contractor undertake. I have one chemical ground vertically-oriented. I have a separate chemical ground horizontally-arranged. I will have the ability to choose one or the other or to add them together at the subpanel.
In retrospect I think this two ground project was total overkill, and I probably should've just gone with one vertically-oriented chemical ground.
The enhancement material is mixed with water so when it is poured into the hole and trench it encapsulates the rod and wire feeding the rod or electrode. It then hardens. With the 4awg wire feeding the rod one would put spacers under the wire so the enhancement material surrounds the wire. Its actually bentonite along with other "special sauces". Magnesium Sulfate does the same thing but it eventually washes away. One vertical rod done right should achieve a consistent resistance, but seeing that you have 2 already installed, I would bridge them together. If you do bridge them I would advise having the wire making the bridge also encapsulated with the enhancement material. I don't think you could achieve any better than that. Ron was your electrodes or rods from Lyncole? When I spoke with them only 6% of their business is audio related, all the rest is medical equipment.
L what is the mineral composition in the box? For the Mephisto I would need a box car from a train filled with minerals! Entreq, also Acoustic Revive has these products. I think grounding with this approach is technically different than Panel/Meter grounding with Rods and such?
Lyncole sounds very familiar. It was either from them or a competitor of theirs.
Respectfully, I don't think we can know a priori which ground system will sound better or whether they should be bridged together.
This is one of several determinations I hope David will make for me, as I doubt I will be able to hear the difference among these three grounding options.
PS: I don't know why I let myself get talked into the horizontal ground arrangement. Depending on the radius from the center it seems to me like it could function as a quarter-wave ground plane for receiving and transmitting. I sure did not intend to build the ground plane for an antenna!
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Hi - I am no techie. I simply know what I hear. As for internal to the box, I believe there is silver, copper, some kind of minerals as well as more recently Tungsten. Other than that, no idea. All I know is that it works. Having taken it all out and put in the new one, it is a stiff sounding system again in comparison...bit nerve wracking. But that is also what happened the first time as it became more and more nuanced, supple and naturally filigreed across the board even in deep propulsive bass.
I'm no expert, just a little experience from when I installed my grounding system for my home, which is a 200amp service. I installed it myself with the county inspector passing off on it. I have two 8' copper ground rods installed 10' apart. (Bridged ) If the rods are too close together this can defeat what you are attempting to create, which is ground resistance. If your vertical rod is far enough away from the horizontal rod, at least 10' I think it can be done. If its an 8' Rod that requires at least the length of the Rod's distance apart, or further. I did 10'. When I spoke with Lyncole they did say some people elect 2 ground rods. If I knew about ground enhancement material, I would have done it that way. I learned about that after the fact. Don't be too hard on yourself, I think we all have done things and questioned later. WHY!
Interesting concept with the minerals, and metals. A friend of mine has been playing around with this with good results. I'm trying to focus on this new separate power "grid" for my gear. Trenching, power company, grounding enhancement systems! I'm afraid my brain may explode before its all done!
...you could also "water your rod" if the soil gets very hard over extended dry periods. I'm due for a little maintenance on the ground assembly adjacent to the panel, on nearby water pipe.
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