New Gryphon Amp coming!

[aangen]

hi aangen, I am about to pull
The trigger on pretty much your setup
Grim MU1 to mola mola Tambaqui dac , Gryphon commander ,APEX stereo amp Kef blade one meta speakers with rel no 31 pair subs
Thing is I loved the Essence , Diablo 333 amps that I have auditioned but did not like the antellion Evo At all found it lacking a lot in the higher frequencies , loud but bland it wasn’t connected to a pre amp but was bieng driven by my Tambaqui dac at the time at my dealer
I have never been able to audition an APEX as there simply isint one available in my neck of the woods at this point
how do u rate your apex commander combination in terms of the overall sound especially the upper frequencies
Thanks

I loved my Pandora Antileon EVO combo. I thought I was done done done. But the Commander and Apex, oh my. No limitations, no missing anything. Straight up enjoyable all the time. With the Apex you can control its power use buy selecting low, medium and high bias. It clearly sounds its absolute best at high bias. My Vivid Spirits are very efficient so a lot of the time I listen in Medium bias. I have had visitors exclaim when I switch from medium to high bias. I think they are very close but perhaps my friends hear something I don't.

I think part of your issue with the Antileon EVO was feeding it from the Tambaqui. I had a Tambaqui for four months. I fell hard and heavy in love with it. But I prefer the DAC in my MU2 and my BACCH-SP adio. So after four months I sent the Tambaqui down the road. Wonderful and exciting DAC though. Can't recommend the Commander AND Apex enough. A fella could do well with a Diablo 333. Maybe some day I will switch to it when I want to simplify things. I have a half a dozen friends who now have the 333 and they are all very happy. Gryphon is my thing.

 

[ApUk25]

I loved my Pandora Antileon EVO combo. I thought I was done done done. But the Commander and Apex, oh my. No limitations, no missing anything. Straight up enjoyable all the time. With the Apex you can control its power use buy selecting low, medium and high bias. It clearly sounds its absolute best at high bias. My Vivid Spirits are very efficient so a lot of the time I listen in Medium bias. I have had visitors exclaim when I switch from medium to high bias. I think they are very close but perhaps my friends hear something I don't.

I think part of your issue with the Antileon EVO was feeding it from the Tambaqui. I had a Tambaqui for four months. I feel hard and heavy in love with it. But I prefer the DAC in my MU2 and my BACCH-SP adio. So after four months I sent the Tambaqui down the road. Wonderful and exciting DAC though. Can't recommend the Commander AND Apex enough. A fella could do well with a Diablo 333. Maybe some day I will switch to it when I want to simplify things. I have a half a dozen friends who now have the 333 and they are all very happy. Gryphon is my thing.

Thanks Aagen that’s all the reassurance I needed
I spoke to Jay from the Lab about this too and he pretty much gave me the same feedback
Well orders going in this evening I guess
I am playing with the MU2 vs MU1 + Dac
Only thing is I like the idea of being to able to change my dac down the line option with the separates
Have a good day Mate

 

[John T]

I loved my Pandora Antileon EVO combo. I thought I was done done done. But the Commander and Apex, oh my. No limitations, no missing anything. Straight up enjoyable all the time. With the Apex you can control its power use buy selecting low, medium and high bias. It clearly sounds its absolute best at high bias. My Vivid Spirits are very efficient so a lot of the time I listen in Medium bias. I have had visitors exclaim when I switch from medium to high bias. I think they are very close but perhaps my friends hear something I don't.

I think part of your issue with the Antileon EVO was feeding it from the Tambaqui. I had a Tambaqui for four months. I feel hard and heavy in love with it. But I prefer the DAC in my MU2 and my BACCH-SP adio. So after four months I sent the Tambaqui down the road. Wonderful and exciting DAC though. Can't recommend the Commander AND Apex enough. A fella could do well with a Diablo 333. Maybe some day I will switch to it when I want to simplify things. I have a half a dozen friends who now have the 333 and they are all very happy. Gryphon is my thing.

Al, you can do a simple experiment. If you are listening at say 70-74db (for example) no need for High Bias. Where is your typical numerical listening number on the Commander? Or around. To confirm this simply connect the Green Bias Cable. Leave the Apex in Medium Bias. Keep turning the volume up until the Commander switches to High Bias. I suspect that will be 47-48. This is what I did with the Pandora. I later disconnected the Green Bias cable as I knew when the demand called for High Bias...

 

[aangen]

Al, you can do a simple experiment. If you are listening at say 70-74db (for example) no need for High Bias. Where is your typical numerical listening number on the Commander? Or around. To confirm this simply connect the Green Bias Cable. Leave the Apex in Medium Bias. Keep turning the volume up until the Commander switches to High Bias. I suspect that will be 47-48. This is what I did with the Pandora. I later disconnected the Green Bias cable as I knew when the demand called for High Bias...

I understand what you are driving at. I can listen happily in medium bias always. But there is a nice increase in sound quality in high bias, EVEN IF it is not required. A friend bought a Apex Stereo and he always listens in high bias. His thought is why would you buy a sports car and drive it in Eco mode. I had a little trouble with that thought at first, but I think he is on to something. It is not about needed wattage, its about using the Apex in it's best state. For what it's worth, my Commander volume indication is usually around 36. 85db peaks.

 

[John T]

I understand what you are driving at. I can listen happily in medium bias always. But there is a nice increase in sound quality in high bias, EVEN IF it is not required. A friend bought a Apex Stereo and he always listens in high bias. His thought is why would you buy a sports car and drive it in Eco mode. I had a little trouble with that thought at first, but I think he is on to something. It is not about needed wattage, its about using the Apex in it's best state. For what it's worth, my Commander volume indication is usually around 36. 85db peaks.

I understand the fact High Bias sounds better. I had the Mephisto Stereo for 4 years before the Mono's. The point I am attempting to make is at low listening levels, like in the morning having coffee at 7am I don't need for it to be in High Bias. (Or now 6:25 am) Not close to 85db peaks. If I was I would also be in High Bias. I've had a few sports cars. One I wrecked, a lot younger and driving very fast. To each his own I'm certain many of us have different listening habits/protocols...

 

[Solartiger]

I am always listening in High Bias. The sound is fat and sweet.

I use my Commander with the minus 6 DB setting and rarely listen to anything above 50. My normal level is 35 to 45. Low or medium Bias would probably be sufficient to drive that load in class A. But to me the Antillion Monos sound so much better in High Bias.

 

[LL21]

I have to say, as a 12+ consecutive year owner of Gryphon Class A amps, I have always found High Bias to sound different from Low or Medium…at just about any volume level.

There was a slight grain I heard the Antileon, Colosseum and Mephisto pick up when under Low or Medium.

And interestingly, I also prefer the High Bias setting of the Robert Kodas.

 

[thedudeabides]

I pray every day that the first reviews say that the new Antileon Revelation is... disappointing, unmusical, strident..

A negative review? Maybe. But if it is positive and you are happy with your Essence combo, what is the issue? You have no idea whether it will be better than what you have based solely on reviews. Correct?

 

[Ron Resnick]

I have had visitors exclaim when I switch from medium to high bias.

Couldn't this merely be expectation bias?

Next time, better not to tell them you switched bias settings, and see if anyone exclaims. Or, better still, tell them you switched from low bias to high bias, but actually switch from high bias to low bias, and see what they exclaim.

 

[nonesup]

A negative review? Maybe. But if it is positive and you are happy with your Essence combo, what is the issue? You have no idea whether it will be better than what you have based solely on reviews. Correct?

I guess irony and Google Translate don't mix well. What I meant to say is that no matter how happy I am with my Essence, I'm very afraid that if the new Antileon sound is as I suspect, I'll end up buying one. Given that (for me) it would be a significant outlay, that's why, using irony, I said that I hoped the reviews would be very bad, so I could save myself the money. Naturally, I'm sure they're not going to say the Revelations are a disaster.

 

[John T]

Definite difference between High/Medium Bias. However, first thing in the morning I'm not reveling over SQ with a peak db at 65. Here is another tidbit, prudent suggestion, (do as you please) that one of the people who is/was involved in design with Gryphon told me yesterday; I tend to keep mine in low bias (24-7) most of the time because I listen daily. In that case its okay to go straight to high bias from low. With a new unit I would break it in slowly. He suggested when powering up COLD its a good practice to gradually increase to High. Another words low, for 15 minutes, med, 15 minutes, then to high. This is suggested because of expansion and contraction of the metal. Same when done listening, decrease High to Medium to Low. Again, just a tidbit/suggestion, do as you please...

 

[John T]

Couldn't this merely be expectation bias?

Next time, better not to tell them you switched bias settings, and see if anyone exclaims. Or, better still, tell them you switched from low bias to high bias, but actually switch from high bias to low bias, and see what they exclaim.

In a room my size listening at lower level db it would be difficult for "me" to discern medium/high. But at typical listening levels High Bias is the way to go...Sweet and Meaty...

 

[JiminGa]

Definite difference between High/Medium Bias. However, first thing in the morning I'm not reveling over SQ with a peak db at 65. Here is another tidbit, prudent suggestion, (do as you please) that one of the people who is/was involved in design with Gryphon told me yesterday; I tend to keep mine in low bias (24-7) most of the time because I listen daily. In that case its okay to go straight to high bias from low. With a new unit I would break it in slowly. He suggested when powering up COLD its a good practice to gradually increase to High. Another words low, for 15 minutes, med, 15 minutes, then to high. This is suggested because of expansion and contraction of the metal. Same when done listening, decrease High to Medium to Low. Again, just a tidbit/suggestion, do as you please...

That is excellent advise. I learned the hard way