Gryphon Colosseum Stereo v Antileon Evo Stereo

AJR

Well-Known Member
Feb 12, 2018
65
7
88
I would be very interested to hear views as to the relative merits of these power amps. I currently use a Diablo 300 and I love it but am starting to think about going 100% Class A sometime over the next 12 months or so.

The rest of my system (excl cables and power) is an MSB Premier DAC (on order) and Magico s3 mk2s. I would probably start with using the volume control on the Premier and then at some point start testing pre amps to see if I can get better sound than using the Premier as a pre amp. My room is quite wide (open plan) and about 18 feet long with an average height ceiling.

All thoughts gratefully received!

Andrew
 

George K

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2012
86
9
913
Either Gryphon isn't it too much for your speakers?

Antileon Evo or Coloeseum deserves much better speakers imho.
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
. . .

Antileon Evo or Coloeseum deserves much better speakers imho.

Why this snotty comment? Different people have different opinions about where in one's system to allocate one's dollars.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ozy

Folsom

VIP/Donor
Oct 25, 2015
6,024
1,490
520
Eastern WA
I don't care if you use them on Met7's... There are fantastic piece of equipment and speakers at all price points. If mixing and matching gets you what you want, do it.

I think the question is more about how you feel on zero global feedback. They're both class A. Magico's have a tendency towards a good amount of damping, so the zero global feedback could sound better to you particularly in the bass.
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
Hopefully LL21, a long-time Gryphon owner, will weigh in on this.
 

AJR

Well-Known Member
Feb 12, 2018
65
7
88
I don't care if you use them on Met7's... There are fantastic piece of equipment and speakers at all price points. If mixing and matching gets you what you want, do it.

I think the question is more about how you feel on zero global feedback. They're both class A. Magico's have a tendency towards a good amount of damping, so the zero global feedback could sound better to you particularly in the bass.

Thanks Folsom. TBH I don’t know the significance of nonglobal feedback, but if this feature can squeeze a little more bass out of the Magicos then I am all for it.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
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).
 

AJR

Well-Known Member
Feb 12, 2018
65
7
88
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).

Thanks LL21. Very helpful.
 

Folsom

VIP/Donor
Oct 25, 2015
6,024
1,490
520
Eastern WA
Too much global feedback can make speaker's bass sound overly tight, and focused too much - unnatural. The Antileon may not have any negative global feedback either, but I didn't find anything on it.

A complaint with Magico's is sometimes wanting more bass, so I think it makes sense to at least have low global feedback. I know first hand some bigger models are certainly better with less, like the M3.

Feedback does lower distortion and make things more linear, but that isn't always a positive thing. MANY here don't like it. The amount of reveal it has for the recording, mixing, and mastering it has can be brutal and detract from the music itself as you're listening to mistakes made during the creation of the album (I call them mistakes because I think most albums could have been done better). Also the creation of the album may have accounted for the fact most people don't have real high performance speakers and such, and produced it in such a way. So there are legit concerns to getting a sound you like when trying to match an amp and speakers.
 

George K

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2012
86
9
913
Gryphon are world class amplifiers and as such they can match and do justice to (almost) any speaker.

I am an Antileon signature owner for 10 years now. In all those years tried many sources, preamps and speakers but nothing could beat Gryphon power amp.
With the latest Evo version I'm tempted to upgrade.

But I have also a big respect for Diablo300 with integrated dac and also a believer of active preamplifiers.
So without a gryphon preamp for Antileon/colosseum the Diablo 300 with dac maybe could be proven a better matching.
Never found an MSB or dCS gear to sound really good when fed directly amplifiers.
Select II is an exemption.
 

AJR

Well-Known Member
Feb 12, 2018
65
7
88
Thanks George. My gut feeling is consistent with your view - if I decide to go for the Colosseum or Antileon Evo I will probably need to get a pre-amp. Wonder if the new Zena will do the job...
 

Down Under

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2014
191
42
333
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.
 

AJR

Well-Known Member
Feb 12, 2018
65
7
88
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.

Wow. That is a ringing endorsement. Many thanks for sharing your views.

The Colosseum is quite old now (7 years?). Assuming an average product life cycle for Gryphon of 8 or so years (I have heard) I wonder if Gryphon has plans for a new Colosseum...
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
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.

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

parkcaka

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2016
116
94
158
Istanbul
Wow. That is a ringing endorsement. Many thanks for sharing your views.

The Colosseum is quite old now (7 years?). Assuming an average product life cycle for Gryphon of 8 or so years (I have heard) I wonder if Gryphon has plans for a new Colosseum...

Hi AJR,

I believe Colosseum is +10 years old design but that means nothing for Gryphon products. They are statement products and they sometimes have a life cycle of 15+ years. I used to own Pandora + Mephisto and they were technical masterpieces.

Love and respect.
 

Down Under

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2014
191
42
333
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.
 

parkcaka

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2016
116
94
158
Istanbul
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.

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
 
Last edited:

Folsom

VIP/Donor
Oct 25, 2015
6,024
1,490
520
Eastern WA
It sounds like the Antileon has lower global feedback than the Mephisto. And that would parrallel my thoughts that Magico is often damped a lot so an amp that is also more damped can make the have bass that is too focused, too tight, so it isn't very natural.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing