As you know, I was a huge CJ/Gryphon fan for 11 years consecutively. CJ GAT 2 is certainly within your budget if you go demo, discount and certainly 2nd hand. It is a surprisingly neutral, linear response in my experience...far from the stereotypical CJ of old with its wonderful (but colored) golden hue. That said, like many of the today's true reference standards, the CJ GAT 2 manages to create tonal purity and natural organic qualities without using artifice/color to do so.
Do keep us posted...what a great pairing you are on your way to finding!
Yes i recall you were using your Mephisto with the GAT 2, CJ make some really good linestages indeed.As you know, I was a huge CJ/Gryphon fan for 11 years consecutively. CJ GAT 2 is certainly within your budget if you go demo, discount and certainly 2nd hand. It is a surprisingly neutral, linear response in my experience...far from the stereotypical CJ of old with its wonderful (but colored) golden hue. That said, like many of the today's true reference standards, the CJ GAT 2 manages to create tonal purity and natural organic qualities without using artifice/color to do so.
Do keep us posted...what a great pairing you are on your way to finding!
VAC and Aries Cerat are my favorite tube linestages.Swapped my VAC Signature linestage with a gentleman who owns a Mephsito that drives a pair of Tidals. He says it is very holographic compared to his Soulution 520 and loved the sound. I swapped the VAC for a Soulution 511 as I needed the amplifier.
VAC linestages work very well with solid state amplification. I still miss the VACs but love the Soulution sound overall.
They do have simple remote.VAC and Aries Cerat are my favorite tube linestages.
If i recall VAC linestages don't have a remote ?
If I may ask, what preamplifier do you pair your Gryphon Antileon now?I used to pair mine with ARC ref6. It sounded great.
Oh I see. Thanks for the quick reply.r
Right now I'm using Gryphon Zena temporarily until Pandora replacement comes out next year. I was pleasantly surprised how good the Zena is. It might miss a bit of the Ref 6 midrange magic but overall it opens up everything considerably. I was hooked on tube preamps for the last 25 years but from now on I'm going with all Gryphon.
No one has confirmed it. I’ve heard that is a likely time.
The Pandora was announced in 2011. The commander was announced in January of 2022 at which time Gryphon stated that the Pandora would remain in production. By October of 2024 it will have remained “in production” for nearly 3 years. I did not take from Runes announcement that it would remain in production forever only for a reasonable time frame which it has. The person who told me also told me about the Commanders price and availability a year before it was announced so I have some faith in them. Things may have changed and Gryphon may go in a different direction. Who knows? I wasn’t trying to make an announcement. I was only responding to a question about preamps with my choice and my reasoning.
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