Gryphon Colosseum Stereo v Antileon Evo Stereo

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Interestingly on their website, Gryphon actually lists the main Mephisto and Colosseum as having no negative feedback, but DOES confirm the Antileon Evo has "Limited" negative feedback. Is this global feedback? Presume so?
 

lesacre

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May 9, 2015
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I have been fortunate to own both the Colosseum and the Antileon EVO.
The Colosseum is a wonderful amplifier,but the EVO is superior in many ways.
The grip and control it exerts on a speaker is phenomenal.One other owner felt like he had new speakers when he installed the amp.
Bass control,quality and musicality is significantly improved over the Colosseum.
Transparency with a wealth of new detail is another improvement.
I know of one person,whose opinion I respect, thinks the EVO sounds better than the Mephisto.
Hope you get to hear it.


What you are describing is partly due to the double the size of capacitance in the power supply of the Evo vs. the Collosseum.
Being a Gryphon dealer, I am contemplating which amp to purchase for my demo - I am leaning towards the Evo.
Have always been a big fan of oversized power supplies in amplifiers.
 

analogsa

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Apr 15, 2017
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the Antileon Evo has "Limited" negative feedback. Is this global feedback? Presume so?

Definitely global. All amps advertised as NFB-free rely on local feedback anyhow. "Limited" should indicate less than 20db.
 

AJR

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Feb 12, 2018
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Bump - any other Gryphon users out there who can add to the discussion?
 

AJR

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Feb 12, 2018
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I will soon (when my MSB Premier arrives) be testing the Antileon Evo Stereo against my Diablo. Can’t wait!
 
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AJR

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Feb 12, 2018
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I owned both Antileon Signature and Mephisto with Wilson Alexia and Magico Q3 speakers. I also heard EVO many times. Antileon and Mephisto are two different perspective on sound. They are both great products but the choice depends on your tastes and rest of the gear.

Antileon line sounds warmer, darker, more musical with bigger stage than Mephisto. Mephisto sounds more transparent with better bass grip and more detail on higher frequencies with realistic stage size.

In contract Antileon has a tendency to round the high frequencies and soften the deep bas but that is not a fault, that's a conscious design choice. I'll come to that.

Antileon line is romantic. Mephisto is a realist.

Antileon can replace a valve amp easily. Mephisto can compete with the best solid states such as Boulder and Soulution on resolution and speed.

To give an example, being a past owner of both, with Alexia I would choose Mephisto without thinking. The bass will tighten up with maximum resolution and Wilson's silk tweeters will sing without a sign of brightness and fatigue.

With my Magico Q3s Mephisto was not really sounding its best. It was great on audiophile recordings but put a less than par recording and you get relatively thin and bright sound with dissatisfactory, too tight, unnatural bass. Antileon line is the perfect choice for Magico Q3 on this case. It will smooth out the potential hardness on Q3s tweeters and blooms the already tight bass. On mid frequencies because Q3 is naturally (world class) crystal clear, Antileon's tubey presentation won't hurt. But if your speaker is already a little bit on the "got the flu" side on mids (I won't name an Italian speaker) Antileon will make the matters worse.

These are all personal conclusions. I am not an expert. Please take these info with caution. Listen to these great amps yourself and decide.

Love and respect.

Cagdas

Hi Cagdas,

Somehow I missed your post. This is very informative and helpful - thank you.

Your views seem consistent with what my research has uncovered. I am a Magico fan (I like the transparency and speed) and for now will stick with my S3 Mk2s (but with a view to upgrading to the M3s perhaps in a few years time). From what I can gather, the Antileon Evo and Magico should complement each other very well.

Will let everyone know how I get on.

Cheers,

Andrew
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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I will soon (when my MSB Premier arrives) be testing the Antileon Evo Stereo against my Diablo. Can’t wait!

HI...any update by any chance?
 

AJR

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Feb 12, 2018
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Still waiting for my MSB to arrive - hopefully end of this month.
 

LL21

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LL21

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What you are describing is partly due to the double the size of capacitance in the power supply of the Evo vs. the Collosseum.
Being a Gryphon dealer, I am contemplating which amp to purchase for my demo - I am leaning towards the Evo.
Have always been a big fan of oversized power supplies in amplifiers.

Interesting...how do you compare Mephisto to Evo? As an owner of Colosseum, I have been reading up on Mephisto, Evo as well as a few other options for fun, and enjoying it.
What do you anticipate in your primary system with either Gryphon amp? Thanks for any insight!
 

LL21

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Fantastic! Most curious...do you know WHY the person prefers the Evo sound to the Mephisto? Thanks!

I would not like to misquote him unintentionally,but i would direct you to Soundstage Ultra's review of the EVO which reached a similar conclusion.

Thanks! I did see Jeff's article, and I did take away there was a preference, but it was not all about absolute sound...it also involved value for money as well, which is consistent with the direction Jeff has been taking the last 2-3 years since his days of 'World Best System' where price was no object.

I do wonder if price is not a consideration which he prefers? I might ask him and see.
 

AJR

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Feb 12, 2018
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DB36350F-60E9-4B4E-9BE5-CCC9636DF417.jpg

Not sure if photo uploaded but I helped my dealer unbox the Antileon Evo. Took two of us to lift it out of the crate (and then only just) as it is 84kg! It is a beast! The Diablo 300 is next to it. Looking forward to home demoing it later (hopefully) this month.
 

LL21

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Beautiful! Please let us know what you think and how it compares!!!
 

analog brother

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Jan 20, 2014
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antileon evo is a great amp. as are the other antileons'. the diablo 300 is nowhere near it. not even close.

the new one just feels like it is a little more dynamic on transients and resolution is turned up a notch.
personally, i am not very fond of the helipad on top, and i prefer the brutish, angular designs and heatsinks of the original models.
the handles on the front of the first antileon are just so useful!
 

AJR

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Feb 12, 2018
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antileon evo is a great amp. as are the other antileons'. the diablo 300 is nowhere near it. not even close.

the new one just feels like it is a little more dynamic on transients and resolution is turned up a notch.
personally, i am not very fond of the helipad on top, and i prefer the brutish, angular designs and heatsinks of the original models.
the handles on the front of the first antileon are just so useful!

Think we have a similar aesthetic! Except that I can live with the helipad. A minor detail.
 
I am a big fan of the Colosseum, and used to own the older Antileon. I cannot speak to the new Antileon Signature. I hardly think you will go wrong with either, and the price differential is actually not as great...certainly not when comparing different 'levels' in a number of other higher end brands.

The Antileon has historically had a slightly warmer overall presentation...the Colosseum overall perhaps cleaner, more 'disciplined'...and then I am told (as expected) the Mephisto holds the intensity of sweetness of the Antileon with even greater precision, power, effortless than the Colosseum.

I am told the new Antileon is fantastic and even heard from 1 person who preferred it to the Colosseum. Sorry i could not be more helpful. Hopefully Phil O'Hanlon can weigh in here as he is the US Distributor (which is fantastic news by the way).

Gryphon Amps.jpg
L - R Antileon EVO, Mephisto & Colosseum

I was fortunate enough the week before last to spend many pleasant hours at The House Of Gryphon in Ry, Denmark with Bjørn Hegelstad (Gryphon's export manager) listening to the Trident 2 driven initially by the Diablo 300, fed by a Mikado CD player. We played the same music throughout the comparison. Subsequently we used the new Zena preamp with the Antileon EVO, then the Colosseum. Afterwards, we compared the Zena to the Pandora preamp using the Mephisto.

Both Bjørn & I are currently using the Pantheon at our respective homes, driven by the Diablo 300. We really were not prepared for the huge improvement to the sound quality by simply changing out speakers; the Pantheon for the Trident 2. Fair enough, the Tridents are considerably more expensive than the Pantheon and aside from the obvious bass improvement, the Diablo only having to drive the mids & highs was completely unstressed and displayed a wonderfully relaxed midrange. Effortless was the feeling that came to mind.

As delighted as we were with the Diablo 300 / Trident 2 combo, both Bjørn & I were not sure what to expect when we installed the Zena & Antileon EVO into the system. Wow !!!
Remember that the Trident 2 has its own dedicated amps driving the woofers, so we were only listening to the different amps extracting more information from the mids & highs. Before I left Ireland in 1978, my brothers used to caution me, that pay peanuts get monkey; you get what you pay for. The Diablo 300 is the better $$ value, but the Zena & Antileon EVO is head & shoulders better. Not only are we talking about resolution, but also timbral colour, better image specificity in the sound stage. We are talking a huge improvement in refinement; listening to the Melody Gardot & Cayetano Velosa duet Se Voce Me Ama from The Absence, the texture on the vocals was glorious, the contrast between Gardot & Velosa's voices is laid out before your feet.

Truthfully, the large differnece between the Diablo 300 and the Antileon EVO was not replicated when we moved along to the Colosseum. There was a comparatively smaller improvement in resolution & tonal colour between the Antileon EVO and the Colosseum. The latter did display more refinement & better tonal colour. But we are not talking about a night & day difference. The major difference between the two amps is the most obvious: do you want a traditional horizontal amp or a vertical tower ? The Colosseum has replaceable side panels available in a painted finish, satin or high gloss wood veneers, carbon fibre or pretty much any colour leather with a different colour stitching. For some people that may sway their decision.
 
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LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Great stuff, Phil! How do you compare the Colosseum to Mephisto? And how do you compare the relative uplift in performance between Evo - Colosseum and Colosseum - Mephisto?
 

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