Gryphon Mephisto (and Alexandrias)

[LL21]

Hi Guys,

For those who may be interested in Gryphon's new Mephistos, Big Pond on Audiogon has posted his latest updates on his system. CEC tLOX to Audio Note DAC 5 Signature to ARC Anniversary Pre...now to the new Gryphon Mephisto monoblocks...to Alexandrias. Pure SS Class A, 1,000,000microfarads of capacitance (500,000 each mono)...175watts doubling all the way down through 0.25 ohms and doubling again for peak. Crazy build quality! I think he owned the ARC Ref 610s before.

As some of you know, i am an enormous fan of Gryphon (and Wilson) and this is the first person i know who has heard the Mephisto, let alone owns it (monos no less).

i have asked Big Pond about them. Has anyone else heard them?

 

[Steve williams]

He is a member here at WBF although hasn't been around for quite a while

 

[LL21]

From Bigpond

"I just hated the thought of having tubes in a big Power Amp and not knowing if they had degenerated to a degree that they still work okay but not getting the optimum out of them. I heard the Colosseums awhile ago with Alexandria's on a friends system and was very impressed, when the Mephisto release was announced I ordered them straight away safely assuming they would at least be as good! It has been a nervous wait going back to Transitor from Tubes but would you believe in alot of ways the Gryphons are more polite than the ARC [Ref 610] Amps I had.
I have just listened to them for the past 10 hours straight and continue to be impressed with their subtle bass, clean clear highs and magnificent soundstage!"

 

[XV-1]

Hey Lloyd

I saw the mephisto Stereo amp at the importers showroom a couple of weeks back. WOW, they are friggin HUGE.

I have no doubt even the Stereo amp would drive anything.

When are you getting one?

 

[flez007]

Lloyd - I can send a nice offer for your outdated amps so you can get the Mephisto

 

[LL21]

Hah! I would definitely love to hear one! Buy one? Another matter... Someday when they come out second-hand, you'll see me trolling for one perhaps...

Turntable - was the Mephisto on static display or playing?

Flez007 - How's the system sounding? Any updates?

 

[XV-1]

Hah! I would definitely love to hear one! Buy one? Another matter... Someday when they come out second-hand, you'll see me trolling for one perhaps...

Turntable - was the Mephisto on static display or playing?

Flez007 - How's the system sounding? Any updates?

Lloyd, they were not playing at the time. I am going there tomorrow, will check it out if they are hooked up now.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Black is beautifull , i do like your towerdesigns also llyodelee and they were 150 watt class A ?, not bad either .

 

[flez007]

Hah! I would definitely love to hear one! Buy one? Another matter... Someday when they come out second-hand, you'll see me trolling for one perhaps...

Turntable - was the Mephisto on static display or playing?

Flez007 - How's the system sounding? Any updates?

Lloyd - check my mini-review on the King/Cello preamp

 

[Peter]

Mephistos in Taiwan

Here's a monstrous long link to the translated version of my-hiend.com.

This fellow has upgraded two of his Colosseums to Mephistos...I also had to admire his car collection.

http://translate.googleusercontent....ALkJrhgqT6gncwDhu6Q9zwxq9us41ERnrA#post168373

 

[LL21]

Black is beautifull , i do like your towerdesigns also llyodelee and they were 150 watt class A ?, not bad either .

Thanks...yes, 160 watts Class A which doubles down beyond 0.5 ohm load and doubles again peak, so apparently up to 5400 watts peak. I am no techie though many people have confirmed to me how well built these are...i just enjoy how it sounds.

 

[LL21]

Lloyd, they were not playing at the time. I am going there tomorrow, will check it out if they are hooked up now.

Hey Turntable...were they playing this time? Thanks for any comments!

 

[LL21]

Here's a monstrous long link to the translated version of my-hiend.com.

This fellow has upgraded two of his Colosseums to Mephistos...I also had to admire his car collection.

http://translate.googleusercontent....ALkJrhgqT6gncwDhu6Q9zwxq9us41ERnrA#post168373

Thanks!...the translations were sometimes a little difficult to understand, but i [think] there was one long post where i got the sense the Mephisto is very different from anything the owner had heard before...that there was a sense 'realism' he did not expect which resulted in his needing to make big adjustments to the setup of his Arrakis', and also there was a level of extraordinary detail he was not expecting to hear. Seems like an extraordinarily low noise floor, plus a sense of tonal density in the keyboard and violin strings he felt was superior to the Colosseum.

Is that about right?

 

[LL21]

While I prefer the Colosseum to the Antileon without doubt...i will say that there is a tonal density to the Antileon in the keyboard and strings which i think is an element where i would personally seek to improve...or 'put it back' into the Colosseum. Compared to the Antileon, the Colosseum is "95%-97%" of the Antileon in this one regard. The challenge is that with this extra 3%-5% in tonal density also came a heaviness in several areas, including the treble, speed of bass and sense of speed and lightness of atmosphere in comparison to the Colosseum. The bass slam of the Antileon is less articulate, slower than the Colosseum but it is perhaps, "5%-7%" subjectively more powerful.

The Colosseum gives the natural tonality, extension, speed and 'light' in the treble which overall delivers a superior, more natural sense of balance in presentation than the Antileon. There is far less sense of an emphasis or 'bias' to where within the spectrum one listens. You can listen to strings, piccolos, bass, mids...wherever you like. With the Antileon, you are drawn with almost any music to the mids, tonal density of the keyboard strikes and pulsing (but not necessarily superbly detailed) bass.

The Colosseum also lacks a distinct 'grain' that you could really hear with the Antileon (in comparison to the Colosseum)...it is faster, far more articulate in the bass, and the upper registers are entirely different...extension, detail, light, agile and with a density of tone that really allows strings to soar with the power that you hear in real life. The Antileon could not do this. And the pure Class A nature of the Colosseum means you still get wonderful purity of tonality in the mids and across the whole sound spectrum. Noise floor also much lower and thus far greater detailing.

At the same time, one is also less likely to be drawn to the midrange keyboard strikes with the Colosseum not just because of the superior balance...but also because i [perceive] the tonal density of keyboard strikes is perhaps just that 3%-5% touch less 'rich' than the Antileon...again for many good reasons (speed, superior balance, etc)...but it appears perhaps the Mephisto has put that one element, that extra 3%-5% back in without all of the Antileon's drawbacks. It is almost as if with the Colosseum, the pianist did not strike the keyboard as hard, and instead his fingering flew over the keyboard more lightly...the problem is that it sounds less like when you are actually playing the piano (which i studied for 12 years). I surmise from the Mephisto post on myhighend.com that Peter put above...that this 3%-5% has been put back in without all the Antileon's drawbacks...Not easy to do! And magical when it works!!!...that is what i am surmising based on my own observations of owning Antileon and Colosseum...and reading the 'rusty' translation of the Mephisto post.

In addition, the owner seems to suggest that the level of detail is extraordinary and beyond the Colosseum...i would imagine an even lower noise floor? Much of the latest generation equipment from many manufacturers (ARC, CJ, DCS, etc) seems to have dramatically improved on this element, which has naturally resulted in far greater detail being revealed that was originally obscured below the old higher noise floor. Sounds like the Mephisto has done the same and even further lowered the noise floor beyond even the level of the Colosseum.

Anyone else have any other observations either from hearing it in person, or from reading the myhiend.com post...but in the original Chinese? thanks!!!

 

[XV-1]

Hey Turntable...were they playing this time? Thanks for any comments!

Yes, Lloyd, but did not have time to listen unfortunately.

 

[LL21]

Yes, Lloyd, but did not have time to listen unfortunately.

So close!...and yet so far... Next time!

 

[flez007]

Anyone else have any other observations either from hearing it in person, or from reading the myhiend.com post...but in the original Chinese? thanks!!!

I have not yet heard the Coloseum, but fully agree on your lines regarding the Anthileon sound (I had both the Anthileon and the DM100 amps from Gryphon), I might add that the Anthileon signature is closer to your description of the Coloseum sound, and as well eager to have the change to hear the Mephisto any time soon.

 

[Peter]

Thanks!...the translations were sometimes a little difficult to understand, but i [think] there was one long post where i got the sense the Mephisto is very different from anything the owner had heard before...that there was a sense 'realism' he did not expect which resulted in his needing to make big adjustments to the setup of his Arrakis', and also there was a level of extraordinary detail he was not expecting to hear. Seems like an extraordinarily low noise floor, plus a sense of tonal density in the keyboard and violin strings he felt was superior to the Colosseum.

Is that about right?

A friend of mine spoke to Leo (the webmaster and "owner" of my-hiend) and got a brief interpretation - and yes the owner likes the Mephisto and he thinks it is "better" than the Colosseum.

How much better?

I've no idea, but now we're back on that slippery slope of trying to quantify our feelings and perceptions.

 

[Peter]

I was talking to a fellow who is a reviewer in the UK about a separate topic, when we got on to Gryphon. The feeling in his neck of the woods is very similar to what you're saying, but with particular regard to the Mirage and Sonata Allegro preamps. Anyways, to make a long story short, their sense (ie: his circle in the UK) was that the Pandora/Mephisto were reminiscent of the Sonata Allegro/Antilean in their sound.

We went on to speculate that the Mirage/Colosseum styling was not too well received in the often conservative Asian market (which is Gryphon's biggest market), thus the Pandora/Mephisto were released.

 

[Steve williams]

Interesting thread especially with X-2 Alexandrias but IMO Gryphon just isn't that big of a presence in the USA as in Europe and Asia