Hi Lloyd -
now that you have had the unit for a year, it would be interesting to hear your view - also, I'd be interested in knowing your assessment when you compared them to the Boulder 2060? What preamp did you end up settling on?
Hi Vav,
I will share with you my personal experiences, no more and no less. First, i have had the Gryphon Antileon for over 2 years and the elusive repair problem has finally been fixed! Second, I have had the Gryphon Colosseum since October but i play my music probably 40 hours/week (25-30 hours on weekend and 10-15 weekdays) so I have a pretty good handle at this stage. Third, I own the CJ GAT preamp, which is far and away my favorite pre. Now - onto the details:
1. Antileon presents seemingly limitless power, extraordinarily broad, sweeping soundstage with a propulsive, tight bass that is loads of fun. The midrange has a purity of tone when you heard piano Middle C struck that is in the 'body of the note' that is rare for SS imho, and which i really, really enjoy with this amp.
This treble is dark, beautiful, extended, but dark. For example, i had a Goldmund amp in my system...very, very old amp and not on the same level as Antileon...the mids were thin with nowhere near the space, soundstage breadth and certainly nowhere near the bass power/slam. But the treble was shockingly well lit by comparison...and very, very pure. Flutes, piccolos, strings all had a purity of tone with a level of detailing that was so different (and yet felt right) in comparison to Antileon, it really taught me something.
2. The Colosseum is every bit the equal of the Antileon in the endless power (i suspect its actually much greater but who knows?), it has the purity of tone in Middle C that is a joy to listen to, but its entire treble balance is totally different. Now , the strings, piccolos, flutes all come forth like the Goldmund did but with greater balance, and a far better weight due to the superior lower treble/upper mids.
The Antileon sometimes made me feel like pound for pound, it slammed a bit harder than the Colosseum. But interestingly, the Colosseum is much more detailed in the bass, so i cannot be totally definitive about the bass slam of each...if Antileon felt like 100, Colosseum was 95 but far more detailed (and therefore Antileon may be 'wrong'). Plus, having completely recalibrated my Velodyne DD18 recently using Auralex Subwoofer Isolation Platform, i now have such ridiculously superior (and more powerful, propulsive but accurate and detailed) bass in my room, i am not interested in going back to 'dissect' the bass virtues of the 2 amps.
3. In comparison to the Boulder 2060, i listened to the Boulder on virtually the same system as i have at home...but in a different room. People did not wish to carry the 2060 to my house until i had heard it on the same system in the shop...i cannot blame them. And i know that shop room very, very well. I have spent countless hours in both rooms and have heard equipment in both rooms in very careful auditions so i know the room have a pretty good impression of the 2060 v Colosseum.
The Boulder 2060 is superior imho to the Antileon overall and definitely more competitive with the Colosseum. The 2060 and Colosseum bear much similarity in their power delivery, purity of tone, detailing and effortless presentation. I am no technie, but both are pure Class A and perhaps that is a start. In particular, the Boulder is definitely NOT dark. The treble balance is far closer to the Colosseum's. In fact, the physical elements of the entire spectrum of sound is quite similar if you were to 'grade' them: power, slam, detailing, control, bass, treble detailing, natural and neutral, etc, etc.
Where they differ is in the ease element. I feel like the Gryphon has an ease to the delivery of a staccato piano riff which i missed with the Boulder...not better, just more at ease which is my taste. I am quite confident others (with different cables, sources) could prefer the Boulder.
FWIW, if you read Jeff Fritz' review of the Colosseum, he comes to a similar conclusion, and i believe his reference at the time was in fact the Boulder 2060. He announced in the review that the Colosseum was his new reference and preferred amp over the Boulder by a hair, for a similar reason...the ease, the closeness to the music. I think Jeff also said he felt the microdynamics and soundstage of the Colosseum were more variable in the Colosseum on various different recordings than on the Boulder 2060, getting him closer to the musical message of each recording.
4. CJ GAT. Though all CJ is single-ended, I am aware that balanced is the ideal connection for Gryphon...i had my ICs reterminated RCA-XLR to get rid of any adaptors. Other than that, i would have no other preamp i can think of. I have never done the comparison, but a dealer in Asia who sells Shindo, Zanden and Wavac (but not CJ) specifically told me the CJ GAT in his opinion was a superior pre to the reference pres of these 3 manufacturers. Thus, he knowingly lost the sale...and gained my respect and future business!!!!!
Elements: super quiet, low noise floor, exceptional detail. A tonality so pure, i cannot imagine anything that would get me closer...the kind of unit you keep and stop worrying about.
Noise Floor: if i crank the volume on my pre (with no signal) to 55 out of 100 (which with signal would push the bass through 2 floors of concrete into my neighbhors kitchen...i got complaints once when i was testing the system...oops.)....the system is silent unless my ear is actually touching the foam of the tweeter.
Very quiet operation and a very, very low noise floor...probably 35%-50% more decay, detail than the CJ ACT 2
Far purer midrange, and the treble is totally different: Probably 2x better mids to treble purity, natural tonality. The treble on the ACT 2 is quite hard, stiff in a way i did not fully appreciate. The dynamic range is also quite compressed. The GAT has far greater dynamic shadings and macro contrasts...and the treble difference is detailed, hard, stiff vs 50% more detailed...and yet vastly more natural, easy to listen to...it makes me wonder what the ACT 2 was doing the whole time! How could CJ CAT 2 not have delivered the treble which is so easily coming thru the GAT "properly"? It feels like the ACT 2 is voiced incorrectly...and that says a lot to me, as i always enjoyed the ACT 2 when i had it.
5. Happy to answer any other questions.
hope that helps...my [personal] impressions.
