bluegrassphile
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Well wouldn't you know it? It's been confirmed.....I'll give ya a hint..... I'm a chocoholic!! :congrats:I thought I already knew that. But, auditioning a certain amp just confirmed it.
After spending about 5-6 hours listening and listening and listening and listening and auditioning amps at Mike Bovaird's excellent high end audio store (Suncoast Audio)...and we have a winner! We started about 9:00 AM and finished around 3:30 PM. Can't remember the name of the restaurant, but for lunch, Mike took me to eat at a quaint little sea food place and fed me a blackened scallops salad. It was delicious +++++.
Back to the store for more auditions. After auditioning pretty much all the integrated amps in the store and making a final decision on my amp, Mike took me to the $500,000+ (maybe even $1,000,000) room and played a $200,000 Constellation/Magico M3 system and an awesome beyond description, $200,000+ MBL system.
So, can you tell which amp I decided on, based on my hint? This should be easy for most guys here. The first AudioShark to guess the amp gets lunch at the same restaurant Mike took me to. And the meal is on Mike B, Mike M, and Joe ("joeinid") LOL!!! The only catch is you have to go to the Florida audio show in order to collect your reward.
Yes, I got to meet the infamous Joe over Mike's cell phone. Great guy and a very bad influence on me.
Joe probably knew what amp I was going to decide on before I decided. Joe, it was sooooooo much fun meeting and talking to you on Mike's phone Saturday. One mistake I've made during my amp search is not talking with you more about how to make such decisions. But once I had a chance to thoroughly audition all the amps I wanted to listen to, one amp kept tugging on my "ear strings".
OK, so I was just kidding about having to wait until the Florida audio show to know my choice. Although you do have the opportunity to hit Mike or Joe up for a meal.
I know most of you probably couldn't care less about my choice. In that case you can move along, nothing to see here.
But for those who genuinely want to know.....drum roll please.....and the winner is................the Bose Lifestyle..............OK, OK, just joshin' ya. BTW, I used to own one of those in the '90s. Yes, the truth slips out! Don't tell anyone I said that. But that's a whole other thread.....that no one will want to read. Sort of like this one.
Oh, yeah, the audition.....and the winner is (another drum roll).....The Gryphon Diablo 300!!!!!!!! Cricket noise, cricket noise, cricket noise. Uh.....the Gryphon Diablo 300!!!!!!! Anybody out there?
Seriously, I am so grateful to both Mikes and to Joe for all their help. Mike Bovaird in particular. He was sooooooooo patient and helpful. I can't say enough great things about Mike. Such a good guy and dead honest. I'm so pumped about my choice.
Yes, it was incredibly fun. But it was not an easy task. The ice cream flavors analogy holds very true here. They were ALL delicious. But, chocoholic that I am, I kept coming back to that creamy, chocolate, sound of the Gryphon D300. I've seen that term used before to describe the D300. Mike even stated he's seen those terms used to describe the D300. But I would use those terms sparingly as the vocals, the mids, upper mids, and top end are actually very open sounding and somewhat air-y to my ears. Not what my ears would call dark or chocolate-y. Just very balanced.
And the bass/bottom end are just so nice and tight and clean and focused...also just the right amount of bass. To my ears the top end is perfect...not too rolled off, not too dark, not too bright.
There just are not enough superlatives to describe the D300. Mike will tell you I came back to the D300 every time after auditioning each of the other amps. There is just something about the D300 that really pleases my ears. Great, huge, sound staging, big dynamic range, very accurate, reproduces everything you want to hear and nothing you don't. Did I say very balanced? I don't know what else to say about it.
We auditioned the following integrated amps using the same speakers I have at home (Harbeth Super HL 5+ 40th Anniversary Models):
Simaudio 340xi, Naim Supernait 3, VAC 170i, Luxman 509x, Hegel H390, Pass Labs int 60, and Gryphon D300. Pretty impressive line up. I now understand what an audiophile is saying when after he auditions several amps, he says he could be totally satisfied with any one of them. That was my situation last Saturday. I can, with complete confidence, say I could be very, very, happy with any one of the amps that I listened to. It was extremely difficult to narrow my choice down to just one amp after auditioning all those incredible sounding precision instruments. We were careful to match volume levels and we used the same room for all amps.
We also auditioned some of the finest DACs and streaming gear money can buy. I'm looking at MSB and Lumin T2 DAC/streamers for the D300. My ears like the MSB slightly, and I mean slightly, better than the D300 internal DAC. The difference between the MSB and Gryphon's internal DAC are very subtle but they are there.
Well, there ya have it. My personal pick of some extremely great sounding integrated amps. But this was not a runaway pick. As you might expect there was another amp, in particular, that really surprised me and made my choice that much more difficult. It sort of sneaked up on me because I didn't think I'd be that interested in it. I was much more interested in it's big brother.
But, was I in for a surprise? The int 60 blew my socks off. Not sure what I was expecting but that amp just really surprised me. Very smooth and, like the D300, very well balanced. Like the D300, it had superb sound staging, dynamics, and balance. I was simply caught off guard with the int 60 and how good it sounded. Like the D300, it was all these things but in a different way...a different flavor. So, if for what ever reason you can't have a D300...maybe because your budget won't allow it, maybe it's just not your flavor. Whatever your reason. Check out the int 60. It will make you smile...big. I highly recommend it. And then there was the NAIM Supernait 3. Huge, open sound. Forget it's "only 80 watts." It's irrelevant. And, there's the VAC. Extremely clean and very discrete across the entire sound stage. I would like to audition the VAC after 30 to 45 minutes of tube warm up. Same with all the amps really. The Simaudio 340ix was surprisingly similar to the VAC even though it was a SS vs tubes comparison. The Luxman 509x is a very "safe" amp. It has just about the right amount of everything. It's an amp that might appeal to the widest population of listeners. Wonderfully built and great sounding. If you're concerned about resale this might be the amp to consider.
The Gryphon Diablo 300. It just checked ALL the boxes and it elicited the most consistent, most positive response to my ears. So sweet sounding all across the frequency spectrum with just the right amount of everything for my ears. I just couldn't be happier with my choice. Thanks once again, Mike. This whole experience will be a lifetime memory. And I don't want to wish my life away, but come on January, LOL!!
Tom
After spending about 5-6 hours listening and listening and listening and listening and auditioning amps at Mike Bovaird's excellent high end audio store (Suncoast Audio)...and we have a winner! We started about 9:00 AM and finished around 3:30 PM. Can't remember the name of the restaurant, but for lunch, Mike took me to eat at a quaint little sea food place and fed me a blackened scallops salad. It was delicious +++++.
Back to the store for more auditions. After auditioning pretty much all the integrated amps in the store and making a final decision on my amp, Mike took me to the $500,000+ (maybe even $1,000,000) room and played a $200,000 Constellation/Magico M3 system and an awesome beyond description, $200,000+ MBL system.
So, can you tell which amp I decided on, based on my hint? This should be easy for most guys here. The first AudioShark to guess the amp gets lunch at the same restaurant Mike took me to. And the meal is on Mike B, Mike M, and Joe ("joeinid") LOL!!! The only catch is you have to go to the Florida audio show in order to collect your reward.
Yes, I got to meet the infamous Joe over Mike's cell phone. Great guy and a very bad influence on me.
Joe probably knew what amp I was going to decide on before I decided. Joe, it was sooooooo much fun meeting and talking to you on Mike's phone Saturday. One mistake I've made during my amp search is not talking with you more about how to make such decisions. But once I had a chance to thoroughly audition all the amps I wanted to listen to, one amp kept tugging on my "ear strings".OK, so I was just kidding about having to wait until the Florida audio show to know my choice. Although you do have the opportunity to hit Mike or Joe up for a meal.
I know most of you probably couldn't care less about my choice. In that case you can move along, nothing to see here.
But for those who genuinely want to know.....drum roll please.....and the winner is................the Bose Lifestyle..............OK, OK, just joshin' ya. BTW, I used to own one of those in the '90s. Yes, the truth slips out! Don't tell anyone I said that. But that's a whole other thread.....that no one will want to read. Sort of like this one.
Oh, yeah, the audition.....and the winner is (another drum roll).....The Gryphon Diablo 300!!!!!!!! Cricket noise, cricket noise, cricket noise. Uh.....the Gryphon Diablo 300!!!!!!! Anybody out there?
Seriously, I am so grateful to both Mikes and to Joe for all their help. Mike Bovaird in particular. He was sooooooooo patient and helpful. I can't say enough great things about Mike. Such a good guy and dead honest. I'm so pumped about my choice.
Yes, it was incredibly fun. But it was not an easy task. The ice cream flavors analogy holds very true here. They were ALL delicious. But, chocoholic that I am, I kept coming back to that creamy, chocolate, sound of the Gryphon D300. I've seen that term used before to describe the D300. Mike even stated he's seen those terms used to describe the D300. But I would use those terms sparingly as the vocals, the mids, upper mids, and top end are actually very open sounding and somewhat air-y to my ears. Not what my ears would call dark or chocolate-y. Just very balanced.
And the bass/bottom end are just so nice and tight and clean and focused...also just the right amount of bass. To my ears the top end is perfect...not too rolled off, not too dark, not too bright.
There just are not enough superlatives to describe the D300. Mike will tell you I came back to the D300 every time after auditioning each of the other amps. There is just something about the D300 that really pleases my ears. Great, huge, sound staging, big dynamic range, very accurate, reproduces everything you want to hear and nothing you don't. Did I say very balanced? I don't know what else to say about it.
We auditioned the following integrated amps using the same speakers I have at home (Harbeth Super HL 5+ 40th Anniversary Models):
Simaudio 340xi, Naim Supernait 3, VAC 170i, Luxman 509x, Hegel H390, Pass Labs int 60, and Gryphon D300. Pretty impressive line up. I now understand what an audiophile is saying when after he auditions several amps, he says he could be totally satisfied with any one of them. That was my situation last Saturday. I can, with complete confidence, say I could be very, very, happy with any one of the amps that I listened to. It was extremely difficult to narrow my choice down to just one amp after auditioning all those incredible sounding precision instruments. We were careful to match volume levels and we used the same room for all amps.
We also auditioned some of the finest DACs and streaming gear money can buy. I'm looking at MSB and Lumin T2 DAC/streamers for the D300. My ears like the MSB slightly, and I mean slightly, better than the D300 internal DAC. The difference between the MSB and Gryphon's internal DAC are very subtle but they are there.
Well, there ya have it. My personal pick of some extremely great sounding integrated amps. But this was not a runaway pick. As you might expect there was another amp, in particular, that really surprised me and made my choice that much more difficult. It sort of sneaked up on me because I didn't think I'd be that interested in it. I was much more interested in it's big brother.
But, was I in for a surprise? The int 60 blew my socks off. Not sure what I was expecting but that amp just really surprised me. Very smooth and, like the D300, very well balanced. Like the D300, it had superb sound staging, dynamics, and balance. I was simply caught off guard with the int 60 and how good it sounded. Like the D300, it was all these things but in a different way...a different flavor. So, if for what ever reason you can't have a D300...maybe because your budget won't allow it, maybe it's just not your flavor. Whatever your reason. Check out the int 60. It will make you smile...big. I highly recommend it. And then there was the NAIM Supernait 3. Huge, open sound. Forget it's "only 80 watts." It's irrelevant. And, there's the VAC. Extremely clean and very discrete across the entire sound stage. I would like to audition the VAC after 30 to 45 minutes of tube warm up. Same with all the amps really. The Simaudio 340ix was surprisingly similar to the VAC even though it was a SS vs tubes comparison. The Luxman 509x is a very "safe" amp. It has just about the right amount of everything. It's an amp that might appeal to the widest population of listeners. Wonderfully built and great sounding. If you're concerned about resale this might be the amp to consider.
The Gryphon Diablo 300. It just checked ALL the boxes and it elicited the most consistent, most positive response to my ears. So sweet sounding all across the frequency spectrum with just the right amount of everything for my ears. I just couldn't be happier with my choice. Thanks once again, Mike. This whole experience will be a lifetime memory. And I don't want to wish my life away, but come on January, LOL!!
Tom
I think you made an excellent choice.
