Gryphon Colosseum stopped working

[Philip O Hanlon]

Larry, your amp is in good hands. Pardon me we have not been on the forum for a little while. Glad you made it out there to Soundsmith. They are very good and will bring your unit back to optimal condition. What Lloyd said about being careful plugging anything in between the wall and Gryphon units is very astute. Gryphon recently sent out a manifesto on this subject to its distributors to disseminate to its installed base. Go to our site here to read more: https://onahighernote.com/blog/2019...-that-has-an-analogue-amplifier-in-the-chain/.

 

[LarryK]

Larry, your amp is in good hands. Pardon me we have not been on the forum for a little while. Glad you made it out there to Soundsmith. They are very good and will bring your unit back to optimal condition. What Lloyd said about being careful plugging anything in between the wall and Gryphon units is very astute. Gryphon recently sent out a manifesto on this subject to its distributors to disseminate to its installed base. Go to our site here to read more: https://onahighernote.com/blog/2019...-that-has-an-analogue-amplifier-in-the-chain/.

Hello Phil,

Thanks for the reply. Could you ask Gryphon their policy on electrical panel surge suppressors? Is there any problem with using one?

My friend, whose father was a commercial electrician, recommends that I have one installed on my panel to protect everything from surges. I have attached a picture of one model of surge suppressor. He said:

“Finally got to work on my panel pulling a new circuit. Here's the surge suppressor hanging off the bottom. It's in a standard sized outlet box and runs into a 20A dual pole breaker. If you don't have a spare slot, it just needs to cross both poles (i.e. 240v) at 20A or higher and can sit on an existing breaker (AC, range, or kitchen circuits rated @ 20A).
These come in various form factors, and all the major panel/breaker manufacturers make them - some go right into a breaker slot or can live in empty space inside the panel. ”

By the way, my amp is on one dedicated 20A circuit and all the source components are on their own 20A circuit.

Thanks!

Larry

 

[Down Under]

So, I finally got my act together and drove the amp to the service center, SoundSmith, in Peekskill, NY. I didn’t want to do it when we had snow or ice and I kept putting it off. Anyway, now it is there!

I’ve attached a picture of the amp seatbelted into the rear seat of the rental SUV. This is why you always tip your building workers, if you live in NYC. They were nice enough to lift the amp up and put it in there, no easy feat. I could never have done that.

Fingers crossed it doesn’t have a major problem. I miss it. I don’t listen to its Class D replacement much.

Best,

Larry

Any news yet on your amplifier repair?

 

[LarryK]

Any news yet on your amplifier repair?

No news yet. Fingers crossed it isn’t too badly damaged.

 

[Vienna]

Larry, your amp is in good hands. Pardon me we have not been on the forum for a little while. Glad you made it out there to Soundsmith. They are very good and will bring your unit back to optimal condition. What Lloyd said about being careful plugging anything in between the wall and Gryphon units is very astute. Gryphon recently sent out a manifesto on this subject to its distributors to disseminate to its installed base. Go to our site here to read more: https://onahighernote.com/blog/2019...-that-has-an-analogue-amplifier-in-the-chain/.

The problem with Gryphon cables is that simply it’s hard to find them for testing.
I have repeatedly tried to find gryphon speaker and power cables to test but even the dealer hasnt any
The only cable from Gryphon I have, is the tonearm RCA to swiss lemo which I have purchased and paid for ,without any prior audition

 

[Down Under]

No news yet. Fingers crossed it isn’t too badly damaged.

Hoping it works out well for you.

 

[LarryK]

Hoping it works out well for you.

Thanks! It is heart breaking to not have it up and running, it is meant to be the last amp I’ll ever buy.

 

[LarryK]

The problem with Gryphon cables is that simply it’s hard to find them for testing.
I have repeatedly tried to find gryphon speaker and power cables to test but even the dealer hasnt any
The only cable from Gryphon I have, is the tonearm RCA to swiss lemo which I have purchased and paid for ,without any prior audition

I lucked into a pair of Gryphon speaker cables a number of years ago. There are some websites that often have Gryphon cables for sale, such as this one:

https://www.hifishark.com/search?q=gryphon+cable

 

[trueblue]

Be warned that there are lots of Chinese Gryphon fakes offered, if you find one that you desire, you should contact Gryphon to have it verified.

 

[Fred]

So, I finally got my act together and drove the amp to the service center, SoundSmith, in Peekskill, NY. I didn’t want to do it when we had snow or ice and I kept putting it off. Anyway, now it is there!

I’ve attached a picture of the amp seatbelted into the rear seat of the rental SUV. This is why you always tip your building workers, if you live in NYC. They were nice enough to lift the amp up and put it in there, no easy feat. I could never have done that.

Fingers crossed it doesn’t have a major problem. I miss it. I don’t listen to its Class D replacement much.

Best,

Larry

Is that Peter Lederman's Soundsmith?

 

[LarryK]

Is that Peter Lederman's Soundsmith?

Yes, it is. I'm still waiting for word on the extent of the damage. Something failed in the power supply and they're waiting for parts. It could be an age-related failure. Hopefully, it's not too big a deal.

Richard Modafferi fixed the power supply on my MR-78 tuner for a song, if I recall correctly. I think the power supply blew a rectifier. Richard is a great guy.

I'm lucky that I didn't have to ship the amp to Denmark. I miss the amp. I don't find myself spending much time listening to its Class D replacement.

 

[Rob181]

I'm lucky that I didn't have to ship the amp to Denmark. I miss the amp. I don't find myself spending much time listening to its Class D replacement.

Now there's a surprise - not.

 

[LarryK]

Now there's a surprise - not.

LOL. Imagine that, there is a difference in performance when the price difference is 20x.

 

[christoph]

Now there's a surprise - not.

 

[Fred]

Yes, it is. I'm still waiting for word on the extent of the damage. Something failed in the power supply and they're waiting for parts. It could be an age-related failure. Hopefully, it's not too big a deal.

Richard Modafferi fixed the power supply on my MR-78 tuner for a song, if I recall correctly. I think the power supply blew a rectifier. Richard is a great guy.

I'm lucky that I didn't have to ship the amp to Denmark. I miss the amp. I don't find myself spending much time listening to its Class D replacement.

I have one of his very excellent moving iron phono cartridges. I had no idea he also did repair work for Gryphon. I've watched a lot of his youtube videos. He is very dedicated to his craft. Your amp is in good hands.

 

[LarryK]

I have one of his very excellent moving iron phono cartridges. I had no idea he also did repair work for Gryphon. I've watched a lot of his youtube videos. He is very dedicated to his craft. Your amp is in good hands.

I'm glad to hear that. Peter told me that they got into the Gryphon repair business a number of years ago when an owner of an expensive Gryphon system sustained a lot of damage from a lightning strike, and they repaired everything. Soundsmith was recommended to me by the service department at Gryphon.

Here is a tour of Soundsmith:

 

[Philip O Hanlon]

Morning Larry,

Sorry for the tardy reply. Here is Gryphon's response:

"We do not really have a general opinion on surge suppressors.
If it has the required capacity (+headroom) - and doesn’t affect the performance of his system negatively, it might save his equipment the next time.
Some surge protectors are connected in parallel with the mains, thus shouldn’t affect the performance. But it might be an idea to try disabling the surge suppressor to check the difference. "

Hello Phil,

Thanks for the reply. Could you ask Gryphon their policy on electrical panel surge suppressors? Is there any problem with using one?

My friend, whose father was a commercial electrician, recommends that I have one installed on my panel to protect everything from surges. I have attached a picture of one model of surge suppressor. He said:

“Finally got to work on my panel pulling a new circuit. Here's the surge suppressor hanging off the bottom. It's in a standard sized outlet box and runs into a 20A dual pole breaker. If you don't have a spare slot, it just needs to cross both poles (i.e. 240v) at 20A or higher and can sit on an existing breaker (AC, range, or kitchen circuits rated @ 20A).
These come in various form factors, and all the major panel/breaker manufacturers make them - some go right into a breaker slot or can live in empty space inside the panel. ”

By the way, my amp is on one dedicated 20A circuit and all the source components are on their own 20A circuit.

Thanks!

Larry

 

[LarryK]

Morning Larry,

Sorry for the tardy reply. Here is Gryphon's response:

"We do not really have a general opinion on surge suppressors.
If it has the required capacity (+headroom) - and doesn’t affect the performance of his system negatively, it might save his equipment the next time.
Some surge protectors are connected in parallel with the mains, thus shouldn’t affect the performance. But it might be an idea to try disabling the surge suppressor to check the difference. "

Thanks Phil! I will investigate further. I'm going to talk to my electrician and my friend about getting a panel suppressor installed.

 

[LarryK]

I heard back from the repair center and it looks like the failure was contained to the power supply, so, good news. Hopefully, I'll have the beast singing again in a few weeks.

Somebody on another forum said I didn't need more than ten watts, but, well, I like the way this thing sounds, and once you muscle it into place, it disappears in the room, lol. I say, what about transients? Tidal has a dynamic range number on their CDs. A Brahms symphony has a dynamic range of 18 while a pop record usually has a dynamic range of 9. The first will get loud, but not for long. The Gryphon doesn't shy away from playing orchestral music.

Just don't grab a heat sink when it's running. The guy I bought my amp from said he is scared of having people stand around with drinks near his mono blocks during listening parties. That would scare me too. I don't let anybody near the amp.

 

[LL21]

awesome...nearly there!