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$63K, 150lbs Gryphon Commander Preamp Reviewed by Stereophile

Robin L

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The reason the fable of the old woman and the snake is near the top of my mind is this:

View attachment 217116

This is my mother in law with a bear she befriended after recent wildfires in the area. o_O
WOW!

I remember a very purrry, very friendly 1/2 Bobcat back when I lived in the hills of LaVerne [CA] along with the nightly choruses of coyotes and the morning rattlesnakes lying in wait.
 

AdamG

Proving your point makes it “Science”.
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It does something magical regarding placebo.
Creates it’s own gravity well, witch has a magical effect on creating a deeper weight to the music, and the Manufacturer’s bank account. ‘Is it Heavy? Then it is expensive.” One of my favorite lines from a movie…
 

Vacceo

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How well can you speculate with a piece of gear like this? Does it rise in price over the years?
 

Robin L

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Creates it’s own gravity well, witch has a magical effect on creating a deeper weight to the music, and the Manufacturer’s bank account. ‘Is it Heavy? Then it is expensive.” One of my favorite lines from a movie…
Resolves ALL grounding issues.
 

phoenixdogfan

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It was the right thing to do.
Kal I understand you are looking to combine more than one of the Toppings together for your multichannel rig. It would be much appreciated if when you figure out how to create master volume control across those units to share a "how to" on these pages. I might want to add gain for my multi channel computer based set up using Dirac as well.
 

Kal Rubinson

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Kal I understand you are looking to combine more than one of the Toppings together for your multichannel rig. It would be much appreciated if when you figure out how to create master volume control across those units to share a "how to" on these pages. I might want to add gain for my multi channel computer based set up using Dirac as well.
I have in various places and parts. Basically, I have two ways to do this.

One is to use a USB-connected volume control (https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Lossless-Computer-Controller-Adjuster/dp/B01MV411BR?th=1) which operates the VC in Jriver or a Microsoft Surface Dial, connected by BluTooth. The USB knob is easier to use and more precise but it is wired. The Dial sits on the coffee table for tweaking/muting. The other is that both of my DACs, an exaSound s88 and an Okto DAC8PRO have volume controls.

(FWIW, it is kinda off-topic in this thread and will probably be buried.)
 
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changster

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I sold my Rockport Technologies speakers, Gryphon preamp, Gryphon monoblocks, expensive cables, expensive SACD player etc and it paid for my active Linkwitz 521.4 system with 2 Linkwitz Hypex Ncore based 5 channel amps and two car audio systems. I couldn't be happier.

I will bet the new crazy $$ Gryphon is not much better than my old flagship preamp and amps from a decade+ ago (Mirage, Colosseum).

I really believe objectivity is moving the game forward in HiFi, and people don't need to pay what I did to get audio nirvana. I didn't even reach audio nirvana with the Rockport/Gryphon setup to be frank. What I'm happy about is I was still easily able to sell the Rockport/Gryphon setup to dumb traditional audio HiFI people who are still wow'd by the traditional big heavy monoblocks and passive speaker setups.

So yeah, I think objectivity and a fully active setup is the way.
 

FrantzM

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How many analogue inputs does your ADI-2 DAC have? That's right, exactly: none. It's a DAC- this is a line level preamplifier. Completely different beasts.
John

Utter respect for your deep knowledge of things electronics, and Hi-Fi in general ,but I hope, you are not defending this item whose only purpose is to cost money, lot of it...

Worth the price ? in your opinion? Compared to ? ...

Peace
 

Purité Audio

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You would need the RME ADI ‘pro’ for analogue inputs.
The Gryphon is a ‘pride of ownership’ product although hardly my idea of pride.
Keith
 

sprellemannen

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I understand those who feel pride of ownership with the RME DAC: It is made by a non-BS company (*) (which products are popular in pro audio as well), its performance is great, its price is fair, it is practical to have in a rack or on a desk, and it feels good to support non-snake-oil audio companies.

(*) at least I am unaware of BS from RME.
 

sprellemannen

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Rune Skov (sales director at Gryphon) is cited in an article in Stereophile where he obiously want you to buy Nordost Valhalla cables (interconnet at $ 9799 and power cord for $ 6000 for 2 meters):
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1657365898283.png
 

changster

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DHT 845

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So stupid. Trust me I owned Nordost Valhalla’s. I also owned expensive Transparent power cables too. Didn’t do shit.
I also owned original Valhalla years ago, now I own Odin replica ;) These are my favourite IC's but I am not proud of it.
 

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mhardy6647

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Hmmm, that comes to $420 per pound…coincidence? I think not.
duuuuuuude...

So you believe in "burn in" you subjectivist ;)
I believe that people say all sorts of incorrect things.
I hope this isn't an Epimenides Paradox in the making...
;)

I have in various places and parts. Basically, I have two ways to do this.
One is to use a USB-connected volume control (https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Lossless-Computer-Controller-Adjuster/dp/B01MV411BR?th=1)
...
(FWIW, it is kinda off-topic in this thread and will probably be buried.)


au contraire... off-topic, I suppose so; but a very useful & informative one-stop-shopping post for the kind of info that eludes tyros like me whenever I we get to thinkin' about stuff like this.
 
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