Gryphon Essence

[taww]

Thanks so much for the comparison, @taww ! I owned the A3.5s on high efficiency speakers some years ago and they were quite good. The only flaw was a loss of resolution compared to much more expensive amps. I’m curious if the A4mk2 has increased this. I recently heard the Essence and it was very nice- and different from the older more chocolate Gryphon sound.

I haven’t heard any other Valvets but I find resolution to be a relative strength of the A4 mk2, at least compared to amps I've heard under $10k or so (and probably even some above). The Essence is certainly at another level but the Valvet is very fast and detailed in its own right. Looking at the types of upgrades Knut has made over the course of 2 model generations, I get the sense that transparency and dynamics should be much improved over the A3.5.

 

[nonesup]

As Oscar Wilde said,
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it"

 

[amadeus]

A client of me both the Gryphon Essence Mono Blocks 230 volt and the matching preamp whit dac module Brand New in wooden crate he changed his mind didn't open the Essence mono and preamp even and like to sell it in any interest send me a private message on my profile.

 

[Rob181]

Oh my...

 

[taww]

As Oscar Wilde said,
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it"

Congrats! Interested to hear how the bass response is working out for you. I still need to figure out how to improve that a bit with the amp - currently reviewing an ICEPower amp and while I surely prefer the Essence overall, the bass is superior on the class D amp with my Audiovector speakers.

 

[nonesup]

I suppose we each have our own bar for what is sufficient bass. I live in an apartment block, which limits the combination of bass and playback volume to which I can reproduce. Anyway, one of the things that surprised me about my Constellation 1.0 is the bass from Essence.

 

[taww]

I suppose we each have our own bar for what is sufficient bass. I live in an apartment block, which limits the combination of bass and playback volume to which I can reproduce. Anyway, one of the things that surprised me about my Constellation 1.0 is the bass from Essence.

I’ve heard the bass on Constellation can be a little light so that makes sense. In my case I think this is a specific interaction with my speakers - Diablo and Antileon EVO are apparently the preferred models in the line for best bass with Audiovector. That said it is still very good!

 

[nonesup]

The bass on the Constellation was very light on the early models, in fact the Centaur 1 had worse bass than my humble Inspiration 1.0. Then that changed and they used much more robust PSUs.

 

[Ricky64]

Curious;
With the Essence amps, anyone running these with other Preamps? Anyone running their DAC directly into the Essence Amp?

 

[taww]

Curious;
With the Essence amps, anyone running these with other Preamps? Anyone running their DAC directly into the Essence Amp?

I have not tried, and in general my PS Audio DAC (as well as my RME ADI-2) needs a preamp badly. I think there are a few (expensive) DACs that are unequivocally better without a pre, but they are in the minority. The input impedance of the Essence is also on the low side of moderate (20kOhm).

 

[Ricky64]

TAWW;
Thanks for the reply. I have the Mola Mola Tambaqui; it is supposed to have a pretty sophisticated pre out. Numbers from the Mola Mola Lit.
Output level Vout 18 dBu (6.15 Vrms)
Output Impedance Zout 44 Ohm

I'll be receiving the Essence Stereo Amp this week. Will be listening and making some decisions. I'm a bit uncertain about current vs future pricing and inventory. If the Amp plays best with it's own preamp, may be worth acting sooner rather than later.
Heard from folks at Scott Walker, and per the SoundStage review, MSB works well directly.

 

[Ricky64]

TAWW;
Thanks for the reply. I have the Mola Mola Tambaqui; it is supposed to have a pretty sophisticated pre out. Numbers from the Mola Mola Lit.
Output level Vout 18 dBu (6.15 Vrms)
Output Impedance Zout 44 Ohm

I'll be receiving the Essence Stereo Amp this week. Will be listening and making some decisions. I'm a bit uncertain about current vs future pricing and inventory. If the Amp plays best with it's own preamp, may be worth acting sooner rather than later.
Heard from folks at Scott Walker, and per the SoundStage review, MSB works well directly.

In looking at the Gryphon tech, the Essence preamp XLR out is 23MV max at 150 ohms.

 

[taww]

@Ricky64 congrats on the Essence! Re: no preamp, only way to know is to try. MSB is one of the DACs I had in mind as one of the few that truly does not require a preamp. I have heard the Reference DAC driving the Reference amps and it certainly wasn’t lacking for anything...

I can try my DACs direct to the Essence amp later, if you’re curious how they fare without the preamp. That said, the pre + amp really are designed for each other and the preamp is a gem. It has an ever so slight richness and heft that balances out the nearly dead-neutral character of the amp.

 

[nonesup]

In looking at the Gryphon tech, the Essence preamp XLR out is 23MV max at 150 ohms.

Hi.
Where have you seen that data. I look on the Gryphon website and can't find it.

 

[nonesup]

Hi.
I have a question for those who have the Essence Pre and Amp combo.

In my old configuration:
DAC Kassandra ..... Output. 10 V rms
A.R Reference 5SE ... Gain 12 db.
Constellation 1.0 ....... Gain 26 db.

The potentiometer position (103 steps) was (depending on the recording) between 10 and 18.

Now when introducing the Essence Amp. which is 31 db. of gain, heard between 6 and 12.
I am interested in the Essence Preamplifier, but I see that it is 18 db. of gain. If the Essence's potentiometer works the same way as the AR, it just couldn't go above 4 or 5, which would make it very unusable.
My question for combo owners is, what is the volt output of your DAC and what are your potentiometer values when listening.

 

[Ricky64]

Hi.
Where have you seen that data. I look on the Gryphon website and can't find it.

On the main website under the produce Essence preamplifier, click on Technical. A PDF will download, and it is on there...

 

[taww]

I am using PS Audio DirectStream which is 2.8V balanced. Essence internal DAC was pretty close and I generally listen in the 12-24 range. 10V does sound problematic - that’s a full 11dB higher than my setup. Essence combo is a pretty high gain setup and a source beyond 4V RMS might be too “hot.”

 

[Ricky64]

Hi All;
I've had the chance to listen to the Mola Mola Tambaqui directly into the Essence. Sounds quite good. Very fleshed out but resolved midrange, with excellent imaging and deep soundstage. Right now, would love to know how the Essence pre amp would sound with this grouping, but my current results are so good that purchasing the pre isn't an emergency. Will see how "user" friendly my current setup is for volume control and input selection. I suspect the pre would add some in the bass department.
Interestingly, the Mola Mola preamp (which comes with the same DAC built in) has the exact same output voltage and impedance.

 

[taww]

@Ricky64 Mola Mola Tambaqui is on my list to audition!

 

[Mr P]

I drive my Essence with a Lampizator Pacific DAC. The Essence drives Vivid Audio Giya 2 S2s. Am completely satisfied.