Gryphon Pandora and Memphisto

[TOGA]

On first night, with Memphisto bias set to maximum for many hours, amp is very hot.
I will not go into details as it is no use here. But the first impression for anyone who listen to it will be smoothness. tonality is very neutral. power is strong. but it is not tube. it is a very very good solid state sound, not a hint of tube sound. this smoothness is benefited to every kinds of music, except hard rock or heavy metal where electric guitar need some bite. One big problem is that when I removed Stage III power cords out. and put Audioquest WEL PCs in, I think 40% of magic is gone. What if I try Stage III with Moon , and sure I will try.
Trying to reduce the ultra smooth sound when listen to heavy metal music, I connect Pandora in. umbilical cords are too short to separate them horizontally so I have to stack them vertically. with many hours of warm up. Pandora is also a very very
smooth and ease to the ears, tonality is lighter than ARC tube. I think it is very neutral,
cranking up volume control up click by click and it never seem to running out of juice.
Also this preamp will not make me mistaken it as a tube, sound is very very solid state. very clean and transparent, a bit light in tonality. ARC will make that tube magic mid band glow, which Pandora not.
With different speakers used, this may not be very fair, but I believe Gryphon Pandora and Memphisto are the best solid state amplification I have auditioned at home. they combine smoothness and musicality with great power. But they will not replace tubes.
ARC ref40+Ref75 make much different sound. less transparent, less refined treble, less sharp attack, but richer and have tube glow across the spectrum.
one of the touch screen on Pandora just doesn't work, it's the " enter" so I cannot do anything in the menu, I cannot set Theater Bypass mode on because I cannot press
"enter" button on front panel touch screen.
I could live with Memphisto+ARC very happily, until I try to play Metallica.
I could live with Memphitto+Pandora very happily too, until I try to play Megadeth.
And this is what I have to think about seriously. Also that Stage III cables things.
Now listening to them at the moment and I can feel that the tube magic is not there, but a solid state magic instead.

Toga

[analog brother]

beautiful system!
maybe try some darker cables like purist audio, or synergistic with black tuning bullets.

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by TOGA

On first night, with Memphisto bias set to maximum for many hours, amp is very hot.
I will not go into details as it is no use here. But the first impression for anyone who listen to it will be smoothness. tonality is very neutral. power is strong. but it is not tube. it is a very very good solid state sound, not a hint of tube sound. this smoothness is benefited to every kinds of music, except hard rock or heavy metal where electric guitar need some bite. One big problem is that when I removed Stage III power cords out. and put Audioquest WEL PCs in, I think 40% of magic is gone. What if I try Stage III with Moon , and sure I will try.
Trying to reduce the ultra smooth sound when listen to heavy metal music, I connect Pandora in. umbilical cords are two short to separate them horizontally so I have to stack them vertically. with many hours of warm up. Pandora is also a very very
smooth and ease to the ears, tonality is lighter than ARC tube. I think it is very neutral,
cranking up volume control up click by click and it never seem to running out of juice.
Also this preamp will not make me mistaken it as a tube, sound is very very solid state. very clean and transparent, a bit light in tonality. ARC will make that tube magic mid band glow, which Pandora not.
With different speakers, this may be not fair, but I believe Gryphon Pandora and Memphisto are the best solid state amplification I have auditioned at home. they combine smoothness and musicality with great power. But they will not replace tubes.
ARC ref40+Ref75 make much different sound. less transparent, less refined treble, less sharp attack, but richer and have tube glow across the spectrum.
one of the touch screen on Pandora just doesn't work, it's the " enter" so I cannot do anything in the menu, I cannot set Theater Bypass mode on because I cannot press
"enter" button on front panel touch screen.
I could live with Memphisto+ARC very happily, until I try to play Metallica.
I could live with Memphitto+Pandora very happily too, until I try to play Megadeth.
And this is what I have to think about seriously. Also that Stage III cables things.
Now listening to them at the moment and I can feel that the tube magic is not there, but a solid state magic instead.

Toga

Nice review Toga,

Give it some more time. My system is still changing sound for the better. Notes are becoming better delineated and more smooth. I wish I could leave it run overnight but I might burn my house down!

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by Bodhisattva

Howie, how do you rate Vitus against comparatively priced Gryphon gear?

I like the vitus very much. I have not heard the Masterpiece line of Vitus but the 2nd line down is still very good. They match Marten very well actually. The 2nd line down should be cheaper according to MSRP than the Gryphon I think.

[howiebrou]

P.s if anyone is interested in a mint Masterpiece Series Vitus Preamp, there is an AAer with one for sale I believe.


Howie

[TOGA]

Your listening room is so nice Howie.
and Farewell to David.
Now I reconnect ARC Ref40 back today. Will see.
Toga

[TOGA]

I use Running Spring Audio Hz PC on both Pandora and ARC.
I noticed that on ARC which is 20A, the furutech plug is gold plated. The 15A cables used with Pandora is Rhodium plated.
This might be the cause of some lightness and solid-state feel I heard on Pandora. Pandora are also very light in both chassis.
I dont know what make it so expensive. I think it is lighter than Pass XP20.


I don't think Pandora is better than ARC Ref40. They make differently sound, both very good, but not better than other.
For Memphisto I think I will,take some more time with it, listening with as many kinds of musics as possible.

Toga

[TOGA]

Is there any explanation why I feel Memphisto set at medium bias sounds more punchy than at max bias?

Medium = pure class A up to 50 watt
Max= pure class A up to rated 175w.

Could it be that power supply work less in medium mode and have some more juice left for punch?

With Q7 I believe I still hear pure class A all the time even set in Medium bias.

Toga

[jazzhead]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

Nice review Toga,

Give it some more time. My system is still changing sound for the better. Notes are becoming better delineated and more smooth. I wish I could leave it run overnight but I might burn my house down!

Rooms looking great Howie . The C2's are crying out for the Ultra5's , huge move ... Try it , will be more for sure .

[jazzhead]

Toga , the S3 cords look like the Zyklops , got mine a few days back ... Super it is too ... Enjoy !