Ecki's System

[Solartiger]

Let me introduce myself and my system, now that everything is ready. My name is Eckhard or Ecki for my friends. I am originally from Berlin but live since 5 years in Cape Town, South Africa. I spend many evenings reading and enjoying a jazz trio playing "live" in my living room. I was a long time Burmester fan, but have moved on to Gryphon this year.










We tried to integrate the system into a custom build music wall with plenty of storage for CDs, where the cables are (mostly) hidden. The rectangular blinds hide the cables and provide the structural rigidity for the shelves.


Here are all the cables nicely laid out.


As the mono amplifiers have two sets of output terminals each, I use two pairs of speaker cables to connect the speakers (In Akustik Air Reference).


Behind the bottom blind is a little DB board. The power amplifiers and the power conditioner are directly connected (by an electrician!) to this DB board.


When it is all set up, it looks neat and clean (besides my CDs of course that tend to always be untidy). The wife acceptance factor is high, despite the "Star Wars" look of the amplifiers.

Here are the components and some thoughts on them.

Sources:
I use the Gryphon Ethos CD player and the Aurender N30SA as sources. I had one of the first S10 in Europe and I am a fan since. Although I occasionally stream with the N30SA, I mainly play locally stored music, always in critical listening mode. The Ethos is an excellent sounding DAC too and I found AES sounding by far better than USB between these components. If in future I want to buy another DAC, the Ethos delivers the CD stream via AES turning it into a reference CD transport. The Ethos is a gem for any owner of an extensive CD collection. I never heard CDs sounding that good. I can not distinguish a CD from a local Aurender file - unless of course it is a high resolution recording playing from the Aurender. It sounds clearly better to do the upsampling in the Ethos rather than in the N30SA.

I found that the Ethos and the N30SA benefit a lot from excellent power cables. I use Isotek EVO3 ASCENSION cables for the sources and an In Akustik Reference Silver AES cable.

Amplifier and preamplifier:
The Gryphon Pandora is build as two mono preamplifiers. The power supply comes in a separate case that contains 3 power supplies, two for the right and left channel actual preamplifier unit and one for the display and the volume control. There are two Isotek EVO3 ASCENSION cables necessary. Tara Labs "The Muse" XLR cables connect the Ethos, the Pandora and the Antileons.

The two Gryphon Antileon mono amplifiers have a rich, warm class A sound and they make music just come alive in front of you. They get terribly hot and the whole system consumes a bit over 2.000W per hour. But it surrounds you with music that is just in the room, not anymore connected to the speakers. The Antileons get their power from Gryphon VIP Reference power cords directly connected to the breaker box.

Speakers:
The KEF Blades sound wonderfully neutral and disappear within the room. They don't want to be further apart than 3 meters. The power and bass they emit is surprisingly deep and full, given the petite form. The rest of my system can drive a much more potent loudspeaker. At some point in the future I will probably upgrade my speakers.

Power Conditioner:
I have a Gigawatt Evo4 power conditioner for the sources and the preamplifier.

I hope you enjoyed my little virtual tour.

Music is the best!

Cheers,
Ecki

Component placement:
Bottom left: Gryphon Pandora power supply
Bottom right: Gigawatt Evo4
Middle left: Aurender N30SA dirty unit
Middle right: Aurender N30SA digital unit
Top left: Gryphon Pandora
Top right Gryphon Ethos CD player

 

[Steve williams]

Welcome to WBF. Beautifully done and well thought out. Kudos

 

[treitz3]

Impressive!

Please allow me to offer you a very warm welcome to the What's Best Forum.

Tom

 

[Barry2013]

Let me introduce myself and my system, now that everything is ready. My name is Eckhard or Ecki for my friends. I am originally from Berlin but live since 5 years in Cape Town, South Africa. I spend many evenings reading and enjoying a jazz trio playing "live" in my living room. I was a long time Burmester fan, but have moved on to Gryphon this year.

View attachment 102252

View attachment 102237


View attachment 102238


View attachment 102240
We tried to integrate the system into a custom build music wall with plenty of storage for CDs, where the cables are (mostly) hidden. The rectangular blinds hide the cables and provide the structural rigidity for the shelves.

View attachment 102242
Here are all the cables nicely laid out.

View attachment 102246
As the mono amplifiers have two sets of output terminals each, I use two pairs of speaker cables to connect the speakers (In Akustik Air Reference).

View attachment 102239
Behind the bottom blind is a little DB board. The power amplifiers and the power conditioner are directly connected (by an electrician!) to this DB board.

View attachment 102244
When it is all set up, it looks neat and clean (besides my CDs of course that tend to always be untidy). The wife acceptance factor is high, despite the "Star Wars" look of the amplifiers.

Here are the components and some thoughts on them.

Sources:
I use the Gryphon Ethos CD player and the Aurender N30SA as sources. I had one of the first S10 in Europe and I am a fan since. Although I occasionally stream with the N30SA, I mainly play locally stored music, always in critical listening mode. The Ethos is an excellent sounding DAC too and I found AES sounding by far better than USB between these components. If in future I want to buy another DAC, the Ethos delivers the CD stream via AES turning it into a reference CD transport. The Ethos is a gem for any owner of an extensive CD collection. I never heard CDs sounding that good. I can not distinguish a CD from a local Aurender file - unless of course it is a high resolution recording playing from the Aurender. It sounds clearly better to do the upsampling in the Ethos rather than in the N30SA.

I found that the Ethos and the N30SA benefit a lot from excellent power cables. I use Isotek EVO3 ASCENSION cables for the sources and an In Akustik Reference Silver AES cable.

Amplifier and preamplifier:
The Gryphon Pandora is build as two mono preamplifiers. The power supply comes in a separate case that contains 3 power supplies, two for the right and left channel actual preamplifier unit and one for the display and the volume control. There are two Isotek EVO3 ASCENSION cables necessary. Tara Labs "The Muse" XLR cables connect the Ethos, the Pandora and the Antileons.

The two Gryphon Antileon mono amplifiers have a rich, warm class A sound and they make music just come alive in front of you. They get terribly hot and the whole system consumes a bit over 2.000W per hour. But it surrounds you with music that is just in the room, not anymore connected to the speakers. The Antileons get their power from Gryphon VIP Reference power cords directly connected to the breaker box.

Speakers:
The KEF Blades sound wonderfully neutral and disappear within the room. They don't want to be further apart than 3 meters. The power and bass they emit is surprisingly deep and full, given the petite form. The rest of my system can drive a much more potent loudspeaker. At some point in the future I will probably upgrade my speakers.

Power Conditioner:
I have a Gigawatt Evo4 power conditioner for the sources and the preamplifier.

I hope you enjoyed my little virtual tour.

Music is the best!

Cheers,
Ecki

Component placement:
Bottom left: Gryphon Pandora power supply
Bottom right: Gigawatt Evo4
Middle left: Aurender N30SA dirty unit
Middle right: Aurender N30SA digital unit
Top left: Gryphon Pandora
Top right Gryphon Ethos CD player

Thank you.
Very impressive.
A pity you have to cope with the vagaries of the electricity supply in South Africa, or are you in area where the supply is less prone to cuts?

 

[Solartiger]

I have solar panels on the roof and 24k Ah of battery capacity. This brings even class A amplifiers uninterrupted through periods of power cuts. But to make this work and also not negatively affect the sound was difficult. When the electricity supply is unreliable like under WW1 conditions, you notice the big influence of power quality on the sound of a high end system.

It was important to correct the power factor with big capacitors when I have power from the City. When I run on batteries, it sounds best if the hifi system is isolated on a single phase. Therefore I use 3 inverters to have 3 phases, one for the hifi system and two for my critical loads. Now my power is as good and clean as in Europe.

It took me and my electrician a while to figure out how to do it best. Inverters can leave a nasty signature! When the electricity supply is unreliable as under WW1 conditions, you notice the big influence of power quality on the sound of a high end system.

 

[Steve williams]

I have solar panels on the roof and 24k Ah of battery capacity. This brings even class A amplifiers uninterrupted through periods of power cuts. But to make this work and also not negatively affect the sound was difficult. When the electricity supply is unreliable like under WW1 conditions, you notice the big influence of power quality on the sound of a high end system.

It was important to correct the power factor with big capacitors when I have power from the City. When I run on batteries, it sounds best if the hifi system is isolated on a single phase. Therefore I use 3 inverters to have 3 phases, one for the hifi system and two for my critical loads. Now my power is as good and clean as in Europe.

It took me and my electrician a while to figure out how to do it best. Inverters can leave a nasty signature! When the electricity supply is unreliable as under WW1 conditions, you notice the big influence of power quality on the sound of a high end system.

I have the same on my roof. Solar powers my system 100% during the day. I too am all tubes and all class A

 

[thomask]

Nice system.

I had been to Berlin just once 15 years ago.

I also enjoy Aurender 30SA.

Since it is sensitive to any noise, I put seperate isolation transformer for it.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Welcome to WBF, Eckhardt!

 

[jwhite613]

Nice looking room

 

[n+1]

Let me introduce myself and my system, now that everything is ready. My name is Eckhard or Ecki for my friends. I am originally from Berlin but live since 5 years in Cape Town, South Africa. I spend many evenings reading and enjoying a jazz trio playing "live" in my living room. I was a long time Burmester fan, but have moved on to Gryphon this year.

View attachment 102252

View attachment 102237


View attachment 102238


View attachment 102240
We tried to integrate the system into a custom build music wall with plenty of storage for CDs, where the cables are (mostly) hidden. The rectangular blinds hide the cables and provide the structural rigidity for the shelves.

View attachment 102242
Here are all the cables nicely laid out.

View attachment 102246
As the mono amplifiers have two sets of output terminals each, I use two pairs of speaker cables to connect the speakers (In Akustik Air Reference).

View attachment 102239
Behind the bottom blind is a little DB board. The power amplifiers and the power conditioner are directly connected (by an electrician!) to this DB board.

View attachment 102244
When it is all set up, it looks neat and clean (besides my CDs of course that tend to always be untidy). The wife acceptance factor is high, despite the "Star Wars" look of the amplifiers.

Here are the components and some thoughts on them.

Sources:
I use the Gryphon Ethos CD player and the Aurender N30SA as sources. I had one of the first S10 in Europe and I am a fan since. Although I occasionally stream with the N30SA, I mainly play locally stored music, always in critical listening mode. The Ethos is an excellent sounding DAC too and I found AES sounding by far better than USB between these components. If in future I want to buy another DAC, the Ethos delivers the CD stream via AES turning it into a reference CD transport. The Ethos is a gem for any owner of an extensive CD collection. I never heard CDs sounding that good. I can not distinguish a CD from a local Aurender file - unless of course it is a high resolution recording playing from the Aurender. It sounds clearly better to do the upsampling in the Ethos rather than in the N30SA.

I found that the Ethos and the N30SA benefit a lot from excellent power cables. I use Isotek EVO3 ASCENSION cables for the sources and an In Akustik Reference Silver AES cable.

Amplifier and preamplifier:
The Gryphon Pandora is build as two mono preamplifiers. The power supply comes in a separate case that contains 3 power supplies, two for the right and left channel actual preamplifier unit and one for the display and the volume control. There are two Isotek EVO3 ASCENSION cables necessary. Tara Labs "The Muse" XLR cables connect the Ethos, the Pandora and the Antileons.

The two Gryphon Antileon mono amplifiers have a rich, warm class A sound and they make music just come alive in front of you. They get terribly hot and the whole system consumes a bit over 2.000W per hour. But it surrounds you with music that is just in the room, not anymore connected to the speakers. The Antileons get their power from Gryphon VIP Reference power cords directly connected to the breaker box.

Speakers:
The KEF Blades sound wonderfully neutral and disappear within the room. They don't want to be further apart than 3 meters. The power and bass they emit is surprisingly deep and full, given the petite form. The rest of my system can drive a much more potent loudspeaker. At some point in the future I will probably upgrade my speakers.

Power Conditioner:
I have a Gigawatt Evo4 power conditioner for the sources and the preamplifier.

I hope you enjoyed my little virtual tour.

Music is the best!

Cheers,
Ecki

Component placement:
Bottom left: Gryphon Pandora power supply
Bottom right: Gigawatt Evo4
Middle left: Aurender N30SA dirty unit
Middle right: Aurender N30SA digital unit
Top left: Gryphon Pandora
Top right Gryphon Ethos CD player

Very thoughtful. Congratulations.

 

[Sampajanna]

Nice system indeed!

 

[Solartiger]

Thank you very much for the nice words. It sounds even better than it looks!

 

[Contatto2010]

Hello Eckhard,



whow very konsequent and pretty heavy gear your driving there.

With the loadshedding we seem to have the same problem since I also moved from Germany- Kassel- to Cape Town -Houtbay- 2.5 years ago.

I once had the Gryphon Antileon as well combined with a Rainer Roeder -Pre One- Tube Audio Professional Pre Amp and it was awesome but yes it pulled quite some Power out of the socket.

 

[McDee275]

Hi Ecki,

impressive room and gear. Very good to look at and well done. Even as I use a totally different way in case of amplifiers and loudspeakers you have my full admiration reg. the way you combine everything so well together,
And your solar powered energy concept is, imhO, state of the art.
Chapeau and Congratulations

 

[Solartiger]

Here is an update to my system. The placement of the speakers at the long wall as shown before was always a compromise. Ron's "new room" thread inspired me to try placing the speakers at the short wall. This sounded so much better that I decided to change my setup. The big challenge was to bring the signal from the current rack to the power amplifiers. Tara Labs built a 10m "The Muse" XLR cable for me to solve this. We built a new DB board behind the stacked wood and proper trunkings to hide all cables.

Surprisingly the system looks less massive now, the power amplifiers next to the speakers disappear literally. And as you can see, now there is space for some bigger speakers in the future too.

The sound has improved a lot. There is more body and a more solid foundation. The long XLR cable works so well that I regret not having done this a long time ago.

Best regards,
Ecki

 

[JeromeFrancis]

Nicely done. As a compulsive perfectionist, i can appreciate the integration into the furniture and cable management, very slick.

 

[Solartiger]

Big news! My system will get some nice updates. The first shipment from Denmark with the Gryphon Commander is on its way here. New EOS 5 speakers will follow shortly. I promise to make better pictures and to tidy up

 

[Solartiger]

This morning two crates weighting close to 100 kg arrived at my home. The Gryphon Commander comes with two Gryphon Vanta power cords as well as discs for the spiked feet and was surprisingly easy to install.

A short while ago Gryphon released the Commander preamp. I was telling my wife and friends that nobody would ever need a Commander (if you have a Pandora that is), that it was far too big, too heavy, I did not like the new very prominent 3D logo.

Unfortunately a fellow hifi enthusiast, who happens to live more or less around the corner, has swapped his Pandora for a Commander. His words after the Commander was burned in: " The Pandora is shit". The Commander apparently has made such a huge impression on him.

To cut a long story sort, I resisted for a few weeks before ordering the Commander.

The Commander replaces my Gryphon Pandora, also a wonderful preamp, double mono, class A without negative feedback. Coming from Burmester preamps, I loved the airiness, transparency and the huge soundstage of the Pandora. When I was pondering whether to include the Commander in my order for new speakers, I had a discussion with Rune Skow from Gryphon. Rune insisted that the Commander was the best product that Gryphon had ever build. It was more a "nice to have" than "need to have" kind of affair. Although I could argue vehemently in favor of buying the Commander, I could as well defend the "there is no need for it" position. My expectation was that the Commander would do everything a bit better, give me a lot of "pride of ownership" and in future be accompanied by a DAC that also uses the humongous power supply of the Commander (like Gryphon's new phone stage).

Oh was I wrong. The first song I played after a few hours of warm up was like a wake up call. This thing is a beast.

It is as if every note coming out of the speakers is more shaped, clearer, with more presence. It feels like everything snaps into place. There is a much more stable low bass fundament and a clear 3 dimensional soundstage. I had listened to the Pandora yesterday evening until the wee hours to say good bye and to remember the sound. Playing the same songs this evening is an eye opener. The difference is huge and already way beyond my expectations. The manual says that the Commander needs approximately 50 hours to reach its full potential. I am at 8 hours and already in heaven.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Congratulations, Solartiger!

Enjoy that Commander!