Gryphon Mephisto Versus Gryphon Apex

[Ron Resnick]

Who has compared directly a Gryphon Mephisto to a Gryphon Apex?

Please tell us your sonic impressions, and please compare and contrast the sound of each amplifier for us.

And please tell us the loudspeakers used in the comparison.

Thank you!

 

[Lobster]

Jay's Audio Lab did that comparison and has owned these Gryphons:

- Mephisto stereo
- Mephisto mono
- Apex stereo
- Apex mono

The latter two used with Sonus Faber SE17 and Magico Q7. I don't know of anybody else who has first hand experience with these amplifiers, with various speakers, and various front end equipment. That's a lot of iterations. Might want to reach out to him.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Great idea! I completely forgot that Jay had both of these!

 

[andromedaaudio]

With Jay its easy , the most expensive/ impressive marketable Bling Bling wins.
That don t count in my book lol.

If you need musical control on difficult speakers Apex is the Apex i reckon.
The Apex makes the Memphisto sound like an average amplifier

 

[Ron Resnick]

I spoke with Jay. He was very helpful on the comparison.

 

[bonzo75]

Who has compared directly a Gryphon Mephisto to a Gryphon Apex?

Please tell us your sonic impressions, and please compare and contrast the sound of each amplifier for us.

And please tell us the loudspeakers used in the comparison.

Thank you!

Are you finally getting a SS amp for your speakers?

 

[Ron Resnick]

I already have solid-state amplifiers.

 

[bonzo75]

I already have solid-state amplifiers.

Are you getting Gryphons for your Gryphon speakers instead of just using SS on bass in your Clarisys biamping strategy?

 

[JiminGa]

I've spoken to Jay about Gryphon amps before. He hears/values attributes very differently than I do so I personally don't go by his opinions. Just my opinion.The Mephisto,to me, is a dry sounding amp with tremendous grip. It's a tool with a very specific purpose. For me the Evo, which is a newer generation, is a more natural sounding amplifier with better body and soul. Definitely not "dark" as some refer. Harleys review, I think, captures it well. I have not heard the Apex yet but will get to hear the monos soon. My friends say they are everything you could want in an amp. Hugely powerful. I'll let you know. They have Mephisto monos on Orions and Apex monos on XVX. They also have D'Agostino relentless on Lyra. It's going to be fun but I won't get there for a month or so.

 

[Down Under]

Agree completely with your assessment.
Maybe we just have the same taste.Love my Evo but everyone is different .

 

[Ron Resnick]

Are you getting Gryphons for your Gryphon speakers instead of just using SS on bass in your Clarisys biamping strategy?

I am using WestminsterLab REIs on my speakers, after experiencing them on Clarisys Auditoriums and then at the California Audio Show on Clarisys Piccolos.

Long before the Clarisys experiences REI was my favorite solid-state amplifier during Keith's long amplifier audition process.

 

[bonzo75]

I am using WestminsterLab REIs on my speakers, after experiencing them on Clarisys Auditoriums and then at the California Audio Show on Clarisys Piccolos.

Long before the Clarisys experiences REI was my favorite solid-state amplifier during Keith's long amplifier audition process.

Ok so you are using them instead of tubes now?

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ok so you are using them instead of tubes now?

Generally, yes.

 

[bonzo75]

Generally, yes.

I am glad you moved so quickly.

 

[Jeffy]

Ron welcome to solid state. I think when you get use to them you will not want to go back to tubes. SS has such great bass control and they now have good tonality, imaging, and depth. Solid state today is miles above years ago. I still think you will want tubes in your line stage and phono stage.

 

[Jeffy]

Ron when I switched from Gryphon preamp to a tube preamp using my gryphon amps there was no comparison. I also have tubes in my EMIA phono stage. I use to own the Aesthetix Io with dual power supplies.

 

[PeterA]

For me, it depends on the speaker load.

 

[mtemur]

Solid state today is miles above years ago.

Yes SS improved over the years, and it’s now class D or recently GaN. Why hang up on lousy, old technology like discrete transistors used in Gryphon and not move on to the latest iteration of solid state magic then?

 

[mtemur]

I recall Gryphon boasting about the capacitor banks in their amplifiers. Instead of using four large capacitors, they opted for many smaller capacitors in parallel, claiming this approach was faster and provided better response to high current. This was during the Antileon Signature era, about 20 years ago. At the time, companies like Mark Levinson, Krell, and Boulder were all using large capacitors. Interestingly, after all these years, Gryphon has also transitioned to using large capacitors.

 

[DasguteOhr]

They lost great amazing tone after S100 amp for me.
only more watt a bit gigantomania lost my intrest