Gryphon Colosseum Stereo v Antileon Evo Stereo

[rshad0000]

Thanks LL21! Sounds like the EVO may be for me. The Mephisto also sounds like it would be fantastic, but it is a pretty big investment.

 

[AJR]

Either Gryphon isn't it too much for your speakers?

Antileon Evo or Coloeseum deserves much better speakers imho.

Am now considering a speaker upgrade. what would you suggest?

 

[lesacre]

Am now considering a speaker upgrade. what would you suggest?

We have several speakers in our showroom (Gryphon, Vivid, MBL, Piega, Gamut) that we have tried with the Evo and all of them sound fantastic. It seems like the amplifier doesn’t care what it drives. They did of course all sound different due to their nature.

 

[Philip O Hanlon]

AJR
If you like your Magicos and are looking to upgrade from the DIblo 300, perhaps you might consider the Essence amp & preamp ?
Ciao,
Philip

 

[AJR]

AJR
If you like your Magicos and are looking to upgrade from the DIblo 300, perhaps you might consider the Essence amp & preamp ?
Ciao,
Philip

Philip - I have Pandora and Antileon Evo. Am now starting to think about an upgrade from Magico S3 Mk2s.

 

[Philip O Hanlon]

AJR,
The Anitileon EVO & Pandora combination is wonderful. We used them last year at THE Show in Long Beach, CA with the Magico S5 Mk2 to great effect. The Magico speakers have become considerably more musical over the years. The other piece of gear you should audition would be the Ethos CD player / DAC - simply stunning.
cheers,
Philip

 

[Philip O Hanlon]

AJR,
Another point worth considering when it comes to speaker selection is whether you focus on the recording or the music ? The Magicos are superb at retrieving detail, whereas if you are looking for a more musical experience, you might consider auditioning the Pantheon. Though your room size will play into this equation. Food for thought.
cheers,
Philip

 

[AJR]

AJR,
Another point worth considering when it comes to speaker selection is whether you focus on the recording or the music ? The Magicos are superb at retrieving detail, whereas if you are looking for a more musical experience, you might consider auditioning the Pantheon. Though your room size will play into this equation. Food for thought.
cheers,
Philip

Thanks for your thoughts, Philip. I think the Pandora + AE combination is wonderful. I also like the transparency, coherence and detail retrieval of the Magicos. Allows the richness and musicality of the Gryphon combo to really come through. The Pantheons are on my list too. A long term project for me.

 

[AJR]

Thanks LL21! Sounds like the EVO may be for me. The Mephisto also sounds like it would be fantastic, but it is a pretty big investment.

Rshad0000, where did you get to on this?

 

[Thieliste]

Hi guys, i might also upgrade from Diablo 300 to Antileon Evo/Zena combo in the future if i decide not to change my speakers.

 

[LL21]

Hi guys, i might also upgrade from Diablo 300 to Antileon Evo/Zena combo in the future if i decide not to change my speakers.

Big news...by all accounts, that should be quite a phenomenal upgrade if you like the Gryphon sound ( definitely do and have done for 11 years now)...its pure Class A sound imho is fantastic. I have never heard their integrateds.

 

[Thieliste]

Big news...by all accounts, that should be quite a phenomenal upgrade if you like the Gryphon sound ( definitely do and have done for 11 years now)...its pure Class A sound imho is fantastic. I have never heard their integrateds.

Well reading on the forums it seems going from Diablo 300 to Antileon Evos seems to be a substantial upgrade, my speakers would open up even more with 150W pure Class A.
Regarding the Zena linestage i don't know how good it is compared to the competition ?
Other linestage options would be Thrax Dionysos and CH L1.

 

[newbiecapri]

Hi guys

Would you guys know if the Antileon Evos are an upgrade from the newer design Essence ?
Pre-amp would be the one of the Essence.
Thanks for the inputs

 

[Thieliste]

Hi guys

Would you guys know if the Antileon Evos are an upgrade from the newer design Essence ?
Pre-amp would be the one of the Essence.
Thanks for the inputs

They are very different, it depend on what type of sound you are looking for.
The Evo is very musical, full body, organic, very deep bass.
The Essence leans towards the Mephisto sound, very transparent, faster, much more neutral, better resolution, bass is tight but not as deep.
For instance if you have Magico type of speakers go for the Evo.

 

[newbiecapri]

They are very different, it depend on what type of sound you are looking for.
The Evo is very musical, full body, organic, very deep bass.
The Essence leans towards the Mephisto sound, very transparent, faster, much more neutral, better resolution, bass is tight but not as deep.
For instance if you have Magico type of speakers go for the Evo.

Thanks!
How would the EVO match with warmish speakers in the likes of the Sonus Fabers, the British speakers like Spendors, Harbeths ? Wouldn't it be too dark, lacking in details when paired w. such warmish speakers ?

 

[Thieliste]

Thanks!
How would the EVO match with warmish speakers in the likes of the Sonus Fabers, the British speakers like Spendors, Harbeths ? Wouldn't it be too dark, lacking in details when paired w. such warmish speakers ?

For Sonus Faber i would purchase the Essence.
The Evo would be too much on the warm side.

 

[newbiecapri]

For Sonus Faber i would purchase the Essence.
The Evo would be too much on the warm side.

Would you say the eVO would sound like a tube amp but better ? tube amp like a VAC or VTL ?
I have heard the SONUS Faber with Mcintosh tube Amp and VAC. Its sounds very good.
Hoping the Antileon would have character of tube amp esp on the top end and midrange but the guts and balls of a good solid state amp.

 

[LL21]

Would you say the eVO would sound like a tube amp but better ? tube amp like a VAC or VTL ?
I have heard the SONUS Faber with Mcintosh tube Amp and VAC. Its sounds very good.
Hoping the Antileon would have character of tube amp esp on the top end and midrange but the guts and balls of a good solid state amp.

Hi newbiecapri,

I used to own the SF Strads and read up volumes of comments from owners of SF and SF Strads...many of whom did love them with Mcintosh tubed amps. I myself used the original Gryphon Antileon. I think that it was (for that generation of amp which is now over 20 years old) very much a tube amp with incredible muscle and guts.

Today, I think that people would have said it does not have the incisiveness of today's best amps (tubed or solid state) and was also quite dark (not that I minded that)...but it was. The treble was detailed just 'set back' a bit relative to the rest of the spectrum. The Colosseum was far more illuminated in the treble, as has each subsequent generation of Gryphon amps as I understand. (I also owned the Gryphon Mephisto which is an absolutely fabulous amp).

Coming back to your question, if you value warmth and warmth...and are already planning on tubes with SF as your 'target sound'...then the Evo would not be inconsistent with that choice.

 

[newbiecapri]

Hi LL21,
Thanks for chiming in.
On your last sentence:
So if I want a tube sound, the EVO would not give me that ?
The Gryphon Mephisto is a bit out of my range & I heard its quiet revealing.
The Essence is more like it but I wonder if the ANTIleon EVO is an upgrade over it.
Yes, I hear it dark, seductive, tube sounding but I wonder if that gives up resolution, dynamics, details , sound staging of the newer Essence Design..
I think the better question would be:

Would an Essence Power amp + tube pre amp (CJ, Mcintosh, Vac)

sound similar to a

Antileon Evo w. a Essence /. Xena preamp ?

That would be an interesting thought.

Thanks
NC

Hi newbiecapri,

I used to own the SF Strads and read up volumes of comments from owners of SF and SF Strads...many of whom did love them with Mcintosh tubed amps. I myself used the original Gryphon Antileon. I think that it was (for that generation of amp which is now over 20 years old) very much a tube amp with incredible muscle and guts.

Today, I think that people would have said it does not have the incisiveness of today's best amps (tubed or solid state) and was also quite dark (not that I minded that)...but it was. The treble was detailed just 'set back' a bit relative to the rest of the spectrum. The Colosseum was far more illuminated in the treble, as has each subsequent generation of Gryphon amps as I understand. (I also owned the Gryphon Mephisto which is an absolutely fabulous amp).

Coming back to your question, if you value warmth and warmth...and are already planning on tubes with SF as your 'target sound'...then the Evo would not be inconsistent with that choice.

 

[LL21]

Hi LL21,
Thanks for chiming in.
On your last sentence:
So if I want a tube sound, the EVO would not give me that ?
The Gryphon Mephisto is a bit out of my range & I heard its quiet revealing.
The Essence is more like it but I wonder if the ANTIleon EVO is an upgrade over it.
Yes, I hear it dark, seductive, tube sounding but I wonder if that gives up resolution, dynamics, details , sound staging of the newer Essence Design..
I think the better question would be:

Would an Essence Power amp + tube pre amp (CJ, Mcintosh, Vac)

sound similar to a

Antileon Evo w. a Essence /. Xena preamp ?

That would be an interesting thought.

Thanks
NC

Hi...sorry, i put a kind of double negative. The Evo + SF is a sound that would be consistent with Tube + Evo. (In my post, I had said that Evo would not be inconsistent with choosing a tubed amp. I should have said choosing Evo would be consistent with choosing Tube amplification.)

Hope that makes it clearer. Evo is a good choice if you wish to go for a sound that is Tubed + SF and want all-out assault grunt and bass power.