Ice-cold preamps

[flez007]

I am trying a Gryphon BelCanto preamp, it was mine some moons ago and destiny brought it back to me for a listen.

http://www.audio.home.pl/popup_image.php?pID=82&osCsid=ehdkkjtbzyxzupaz

It is a very analytic, quiet, sharp, dynamic, exact and... cold preamp, i has the same sonic signature as my late Metaxas, Rowland, Levinson or some passives - where the signal remains almost intact from the source, and creates engaging moments with the author and his/her creation... I can easily get used to it!

 

[MylesBAstor]

I am trying a Gryphon BelCanto preamp, it was mine some moons ago and destiny brought it back to me for a listen.

http://www.audio.home.pl/popup_image.php?pID=82&osCsid=ehdkkjtbzyxzupaz

It is a very analytic, quiet, sharp, dynamic, exact and... cold preamp, i has the same sonic signature as my late Metaxas, Rowland, Levinson or some passives - where the signal remains almost intact from the source, and creates engaging moments with the author and his/her creation... I can easily get used to it!

I never felt the Levinson was cold in my system. Quite the opposite-dark and a little thick and opaque. Thought that all the ML gear of that gen had the same sound esp. the digital gear (though there was still that digital etching there).

 

[JackD201]

I found 380S on the bright and dry side but it mated very well with my 332 which was on the dark side. The opposite was true for the 32 which I found dark but sounded great with the 431 or 33H which weren't dark at all.

Is your amp a second generation 300 series flez? From how you describe the gryphon the match makes a lot of sense.

 

[MylesBAstor]

I found 380S on the bright and dry side but it mated very well with my 332 which was on the dark side. The opposite was true for the 32 which I found dark but sounded great with the 431 or 33H which weren't dark at all.

Is your amp a second generation 300 series flez? From how you describe the gryphon the match makes a lot of sense.

What cables did you use with the ML and in balanced? When I reviewed the amplifer (using the ML preamp), I ran them in balanced and used Transparent Reference cables. Boy did I hate the preamp having the AC cord connection under the middle of the unit!!!

 

[JackD201]

Hi Myles,

I was using Analysis Plus Solo Crystal 8 XLRs and Oval 8 Speaker Cables throughout. My speakers at the time were first Revel F30s, then Maggie 1.6QRs and later VSA VR-4 Gen III HSEs. Yes the belly sockets were a hassle. I still have the 360S DAC. The PC went AWOL for quite a spell. The feet were too low for an adapter so it stayed dormant for a while. It's funny now but it sure wasn't funny for a long time.

 

[flez007]

I found 380S on the bright and dry side but it mated very well with my 332 which was on the dark side. The opposite was true for the 32 which I found dark but sounded great with the 431 or 33H which weren't dark at all.

Is your amp a second generation 300 series flez? From how you describe the gryphon the match makes a lot of sense.

It is Jack, the ones with the caps issue resolved - it does sound fantastic with the BelCanto.

 

[flez007]

What cables did you use with the ML and in balanced? When I reviewed the amplifer (using the ML preamp), I ran them in balanced and used Transparent Reference cables. Boy did I hate the preamp having the AC cord connection under the middle of the unit!!!

In my case - I am now running it unbalanced Myles, both the preamp and the amp have that option (Siltech FTM4 Gold), but a balanced cable is on its way...

The Gryphon is actually two separete mono preamps, two AC cords, two PSUs, two inputt/volume knobs.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Hi Myles,

I was using Analysis Plus Solo Crystal 8 XLRs and Oval 8 Speaker Cables throughout. My speakers at the time were first Revel F30s, then Maggie 1.6QRs and later VSA VR-4 Gen III HSEs. Yes the belly sockets were a hassle. I still have the 360S DAC. The PC went AWOL for quite a spell. The feet were too low for an adapter so it stayed dormant for a while. It's funny now but it sure wasn't funny for a long time.

I think that some of our differences may lie in the choice of cables

 

[microstrip]

It is a very analytic, quiet, sharp, dynamic, exact and... cold preamp, i has the same sonic signature as my late Metaxas, Rowland, Levinson or some passives - where the signal remains almost intact from the source, and creates engaging moments with the author and his/her creation... I can easily get used to it!

I have no experience with current Rowland preamplfiers, but previous generations did not sound like passives, sharp, cold or analytic when properly matched in a system. But IMHO both Rowland and Levinson amplifiers only sounded their best (and great ...) with their own amplifiers. I never was successful creating a good system mixing them with other brands. In this last situation I agree they could sound at you refer.

 

[JackD201]

I think that some of our differences may lie in the choice of cables

I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the case. The only Transparents I ever owned and used were the entry level Musiclinks and that was in my audio infancy.

 

[LL21]

Hi, Flez. Sounds like a nice preamp...and by a manufacturer you and i both respect a lot. Nice to see that it has come back your way! Enjoy!

 

[flez007]

Hi, Flez. Sounds like a nice preamp...and by a manufacturer you and i both respect a lot. Nice to see that it has come back your way! Enjoy!

Thanks Lloyd - I had this preamp some years back and liked it a lot, I moved up to the Elektra from Gryphon as well, which I still place in my top-5 best units I have had.

I found a great level of continuesness playing now music throu this preamp, it has the clarity and speed of some passive designs but that extra headroom that good active preamps deliver..I might just keep it!