My three State of Art Amps Gryphon Mephisto, Kondo Kagura and Robert Koda K70 II

amadeus

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I Believe all the three Amps are Special designs and deserves attention and adoration:

Gryphon Mephisto Stereo is a very very powerful amp can handle almost all speakers and very big rooms i have used the Gryphon whit the Robert Koda K10 preamp which i preferred above the Gryphon Pandora as pairing preamp.Very natural great macro details more than enough resolution (Some amps can have more resolution in a bad way) it is Build as a Tank and i wood not know which other Transistor Power amp i will prefer instead.Bass is powerful and fast midrange is just fine not to warm but also no electronic hardness at all treble is open can sound very big and very intimate depending on recording.

Kondo Kagura comes whit Chinees/Russian input rectifier and power tubes which i cant really understand at this price level...???
After some burnin time first thing to do is change this tubes to Nos or New production (Like Elrog 211) high quality Tubes.
Whit out hearing the Kagura your self in a big room whit relatively(!) not easy to drive speakers you cant believe that 2x50 watt can deliver this levels of sound bass and bass control it is amazing unbelievable it sounds like 2x500 Watt.
Great creme de la creme design and parts fast explosive and refined 3d sound not as warm as some will expect but organic, natural and warm enough.You have to work fine tune and make it sing it is not a plug and play amp but if you succeed to make them sing they fly...


Robert Koda K70 II this are up to date my favorite amps i have owned many many amps but this amps have all i ever wished to hear:
Transparent , Fast , Explosief , Organic , Warm but suddenly it can bite and have sharp edge when needed think on a Trombone solo or a great Trumpet improvisation where the musician Scours whit his instrument.. Bass as good as a bass can be not slow not to to fast not fat not thin just perfect a midrange better than any other tube power amp i know maybe a Zanden Choku or a Komuro 212E can compete whit the beauty of this midrange..??
When you listen to a Solo Acoustic Guitar and the guitar player has some silence and touches suddenly the strings the sound comes almost out of nothing very very dark/black background.
Its powerful enough to drive in a big listening room speakers around 89DB sensitivity and moderate difficult impedances.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Fantastic thread!!! Thanks for taking the time to post.

- I am quite seriously looking into Mephisto. How does it compare with Colosseum?
- I know a number of people who are big fans of Robert Koda. Congrats. (I very nearly bought their preamp myself when they were just starting their business...but ended up staying with CJ because Koda was too new at that time for me and despite having a great sense of how amazing they are did not wish to take the chance on reliability, etc...and I have always enjoyed being loyal to the amazing CJ dealer with whom I have worked for 20 years until they recently retired.)

- How do you think the Robert Koda K-70II differs from the Mephisto?

Also since you have 2 sets of speakers...how do you use your Gryphon...Rockports? Koda on Peak Consult Dragons (which are apparently amazing speakers).
 

morricab

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Apr 25, 2014
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I Believe all the three Amps are Special designs and deserves attention and adoration:

Gryphon Mephisto Stereo is a very very powerful amp can handle almost all speakers and very big rooms i have used the Gryphon whit the Robert Koda K10 preamp which i preferred above the Gryphon Pandora as pairing preamp.Very natural great macro details more than enough resolution (Some amps can have more resolution in a bad way) it is Build as a Tank and i wood not know which other Transistor Power amp i will prefer instead.Bass is powerful and fast midrange is just fine not to warm but also no electronic hardness at all treble is open can sound very big and very intimate depending on recording.

Kondo Kagura comes whit Chinees/Russian input rectifier and power tubes which i cant really understand at this price level...???
After some burnin time first thing to do is change this tubes to Nos or New production (Like Elrog 211) high quality Tubes.
Whit out hearing the Kagura your self in a big room whit relatively(!) not easy to drive speakers you cant believe that 2x50 watt can deliver this levels of sound bass and bass control it is amazing unbelievable it sounds like 2x500 Watt.
Great creme de la creme design and parts fast explosive and refined 3d sound not as warm as some will expect but organic, natural and warm enough.You have to work fine tune and make it sing it is not a plug and play amp but if you succeed to make them sing they fly...


Robert Koda K70 II this are up to date my favorite amps i have owned many many amps but this amps have all i ever wished to hear:
Transparent , Fast , Explosief , Organic , Warm but suddenly it can bite and have sharp edge when needed think on a Trombone solo or a great Trumpet improvisation where the musician Scours whit his instrument.. Bass as good as a bass can be not slow not to to fast not fat not thin just perfect a midrange better than any other tube power amp i know maybe a Zanden Choku or a Komuro 212E can compete whit the beauty of this midrange..??
When you listen to a Solo Acoustic Guitar and the guitar player has some silence and touches suddenly the strings the sound comes almost out of nothing very very dark/black background.
Its powerful enough to drive in a big listening room speakers around 89DB sensitivity and moderate difficult impedances.

I find the Robert Koda amp a very interesting design and would love to hear one someday. It reminds me a lot of the NAT Symbiosis SE that I used to have...at least in concept.
 

LL21

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amadeus

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I have listened to Colosseums in some systems but didn't owned them my self but as i know the line is like :

Antileon Evo Powerfull and warm.
Coloseum Powerfull more transparent more resolution less warmth.
Mephisto powerful transparent more resolution and warm.

I am sure in the right system whit right speakers and cables the Coloseum will sound fantastic too!

Robert Koda K70II is a very different Amp than Mephisto it is three parts power supply and two mono blocks it is a hybrid design using 2 input tubes each Chanel and one rectifier tube for the power supply.K70II is a very very special design more refined more black silence more timbre very sophisticate Mephisto is big powerful and Musical.

I use the Gryphons mostly on Rockports and the Koda mostly on Peak Consult.
 

amadeus

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LL21

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The New Robert Koda Poweramps will be completely different than K70II.

I have listened to Colosseums in some systems but didn't owned them my self but as i know the line is like :

Antileon Evo Powerfull and warm.
Coloseum Powerfull more transparent more resolution less warmth.
Mephisto powerful transparent more resolution and warm.

I am sure in the right system whit right speakers and cables the Coloseum will sound fantastic too!

Robert Koda K70II is a very different Amp than Mephisto it is three parts power supply and two mono blocks it is a hybrid design using 2 input tubes each Chanel and one rectifier tube for the power supply.K70II is a very very special design more refined more black silence more timbre very sophisticate Mephisto is big powerful and Musical.

I use the Gryphons mostly on Rockports and the Koda mostly on Peak Consult.

Fantastic...thank you. Very few have heard all the amps, even among some of the newer dealers in both Europe and the States, so it is good to hear from experienced audiophiles. Very interesting about Koda as well! Enjoy your fabulous systems.
 

Jazzhead

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The new Koda under development is to be born as the K100. Amadeus how hot does the Koda run? It's got a continuous draw of a 1000W !! Am a K15EX user and would love to hook the two up together.
Cheers and enjoy your toys in good health.
 

Tango

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The new Koda under development is to be born as the K100. Amadeus how hot does the Koda run? It's got a continuous draw of a 1000W !! Am a K15EX user and would love to hook the two up together.
Cheers and enjoy your toys in good health.

The Koda amps are so good you don’t need the Mooks, Jaz.

Tang:D
 

Jazzhead

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The Koda amps are so good you don’t need the Mooks, Jaz.

Tang:D
Sawadikap Tang , loll... We digital guys always need some black magic to help. Not blessed with a collection of fantastic TT's like your good self.
Regards
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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I Believe all the three Amps are Special designs and deserves attention and adoration:

Gryphon Mephisto Stereo is a very very powerful amp can handle almost all speakers and very big rooms i have used the Gryphon whit the Robert Koda K10 preamp which i preferred above the Gryphon Pandora as pairing preamp.Very natural great macro details more than enough resolution (Some amps can have more resolution in a bad way) it is Build as a Tank and i wood not know which other Transistor Power amp i will prefer instead.Bass is powerful and fast midrange is just fine not to warm but also no electronic hardness at all treble is open can sound very big and very intimate depending on recording.

I have to say, having the CJ GAT 2/Colosseum...I have never really felt any urge to consider the Pandora. While I could be missing out...I really like the combination which definitely feels to me to have a certain quality that 'draws me in' so i have left it. And it sounds very much the same with your fantastic Koda/Mephisto combination. Great to know that you have actually tried Pandora and preferred your existing combination.
 

amadeus

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Yes the New Robert Koda "Super Amp" will be the K100 this time a fully Transistor design no any tubes.
Robert is working for very long time on them and can't wait to hear them hopefully in 2019!
 

LL21

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Fantastic...any word on price? Still have an eye out to get a Mephisto stereo! Nevertheless, always interested to hear about Robert Koda.
 

LL21

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Well, I am blessed to say that, at the introduction of a gracious WBF member, I got in touch with an owner of a Gryphon Mephisto & Rockport system who has decided to change to super-high efficiency horns and SETs...and am now enjoying his mint condition Mephisto in the system which just arrived today...while the Colosseum remains on the market. The price was right, far less than a new one, and thus enables me to take my time on selling the Colosseum and finding it a new home.

What Philip O'Hanlon, Amadeus, and others here who know the Mephisto well have said is true:

- Relative to the Colosseum, the Mephisto is indeed delivering 'a country mile' more detail. Specifically in deep house tracks, where I have always passed over the background words of some tracks because i cannot hear them...i now know EXACTLY what they are saying in the background. A great (and for me, true) test.

- Its bass is significantly tighter than the Colosseum (which i was NOT expecting given how well the Colosseum performs in this regard). Upper bass details is noticeably greater and also tighter, more disciplined. It also appears to have greater power in the sub-bass region...not necessarily greater extension (thought it might)...but certainly the conviction the Gryphon generally has in the broader bass region carries through all the way into the sub-bass region very confidently and completely

- Overall, the voicing is very similar...i was expecting a 'darker' voice and so far have found it to be remarkably similar to the Colosseum. It also seems even more resolute than the Colosseum which I also did not expect...and because it has no fans (just massive heat sinks), the unit itself is silent.

- Of course, I need to spend more time with it...only been on for a few hours...literally in from the cold...so lets see how it settles in...
 

microstrip

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Congratulations Lloyd. The Mephisto is a great amplifier - a true dual mono in a single box and should be a great match with the GAT2. I am particularly envious as I see that you do not have to re-tune your Opus speaker cables!
 

LL21

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Thank you, Micro! Yes, it is an excellent match. And yes, while there is always a long list of criteria in making big decisions like these...i have to say it was nice (relative to tube amp options or even other SS amp options)...there was no recalibration necessary.

BTW, with 95db speakers in a room 12m long, 3.3 high, 4.5m-5.5m wide...how far do you think Middle Bias (50 watts Class A) gets me vs High Bias (175 watts)? My simple calculations show that at the listening distance 1 watt is probably 89db...which means with 60db of dynamic range in a massive (an well recorded) orchestral piece (i am not sure i even have such a recording)...i can play at a nominal volume of 75db and still have 60db of dynamic range within Class A at Middle Bias (105db short-term peaks).

Is this correct? I am currently playing the system on High Bias because i want to ensure it is fully working, etc...but my math seems to suggest 50 watts Class A vs 175 watts Class A equates to roughly another 6db or so...meaningful but not if my bass listening position starts at 75db.
 

morricab

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Thank you, Micro! Yes, it is an excellent match. And yes, while there is always a long list of criteria in making big decisions like these...i have to say it was nice (relative to tube amp options or even other SS amp options)...there was no recalibration necessary.

BTW, with 95db speakers in a room 12m long, 3.3 high, 4.5m-5.5m wide...how far do you think Middle Bias (50 watts Class A) gets me vs High Bias (175 watts)? My simple calculations show that at the listening distance 1 watt is probably 89db...which means with 60db of dynamic range in a massive (an well recorded) orchestral piece (i am not sure i even have such a recording)...i can play at a nominal volume of 75db and still have 60db of dynamic range within Class A at Middle Bias (105db short-term peaks).

Is this correct? I am currently playing the system on High Bias because i want to ensure it is fully working, etc...but my math seems to suggest 50 watts Class A vs 175 watts Class A equates to roughly another 6db or so...meaningful but not if my bass listening position starts at 75db.

The middle bias may get you 50 watt Class A but what about when it moves to AB? I would think there is more power available in middle bias but less Class A power. 50 to 175 watts would not be a full 6db. Every 3db requires double the power so 6db would be 200 watts. I am also not clear on your math for the volume level. Your speakers are 95db at 1 meter. But that is for one speaker, a second speaker will add approx. another 3db. So, a pair will be around 98db at 1 meter. If you sit 4 meters away you will lose maybe 3-4db (you can measure this with an SPL meter...start right at the speaker and then move to the listening position and see what you get). Let's say you lose 6db, that would give you about 92db for 1 watt. 95db for 2 watts, 98db for 4 watts, 101db for 8 watts, 104db for 16 watts, 107db for 32 watts, 110db for 64 watts, 113db for 128 watts and 116db for 256 watts. I don't know if even well recorded orchestra recordings have 60db. The best one I have is more like 40-45db. When you say 105db are you assuming that 30db of your dynamic range is below 75db and 30db is above? This would depend on what part of the music piece you set at 75db, no? If you set a quiet part at 75db then peaks will be REALLY loud. If you set it during a crescendo then the whole thing will sound very quiet or even large parts inaudible. I would be more inclined to set the peak level at a level that seems realistic but still comfortable for you and then see if the soft parts are still clearly audible.
 

LL21

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Thanks, Morricab! I thought at 5m i lose closer to 9db...thanks for correcting me. That helps the math obviously.

Yes, i was assuming if the 'middle volume of music' is 75db...then if the total peak to trough dynamic range is 60db...then we are talking 45db to 105db total range of music.

I was trying to keep in the Class A range the whole time. On Low Bias on the older Colosseum...i could definitely tell there was a slight edge/roughness that crept in...so was just wondering how the math might work here with the Mephisto.
 
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flyer

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All, please note that i know of a Robert Koda 15ex preamp and a pair of Koda k70II, all in excellent condition, for sale.
Send me a pm if you want more information.
Thanks
 

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