Vitus integrated amp v 552/500

Well today is the day, should be here around 12 ish and looking forward to it.
I will report back later today with my first findings

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Enjoy!

We make bread by hand sometimes, but that Panasonic machine is incredible.

Off topic a bit Iā€™m afraid, but the suggestion has been made that other Danish amplifiers should come into the equation. Some 10 to 12 years ago I was looking for a new CD player, and went to what was at the time a nearby ultra high-end Hi-Fi Retailer to listen to something at the bottom end of their scale - the Shanling CDT-1000. The shop had some astonishing looking and hugely expensive pieces of hi-fi kit, but my demo went ahead in a system that appeared to be at the lower end of the items he stocked (with the massive Sugden Masterclass pre/power amps and a pair of top of the range Proac speakers). When the demo finished and he left me to have a look round his showroom drooling at what was on display. While I was looking round the showroom, he received a phone call from a fellow dealer and proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes enthusing over a new product range he had just taken on, and in particular the Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated amplifier he had just been evaluating. His words to his fellow dealer were ā€œitā€™s absolutely bloody amazing! Itā€™s better than anything else Iā€™ve got at 2 or 3 times the price!ā€

I bought the Shanling, but unfortunately didnā€™t didnā€™t get to hear the Diablo, or any of the other items in his more up-market demo room, but his enthusiasm about the brand stuck with me. I have never heard a salesman so enthusiastic about a product. He wasnā€™t trying to impress me, because he knew I was not in the market at the time for anything in that price range.
Later on when (about 5 or 6 years ago) I was looking to purchase new amplification to replace my now rather elderly Primare 928 amps (another very fine Danish amplifier), I would have liked to have considered Gryphon but couldnā€™t find one to audition anywhere near me. I ended up with Lindemann pre/power amps with which I am delighted, but thereā€™s always that nagging doubt that perhaps I should have gone for a Gryphon.

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Not sure if you have Fraim etc. I know my dealer has found amps like Mark Levinson, Accuphase, Chord seem to respond better on Quadraspire or wood rather than glass?

Wow, that Diablo looks amazing, though its physical appearance is somewhat brutalist. You can add a dac for digital inputs and a phono stage too. If you went the Naim way it would be six boxes at least.

Last year I thought very seriously about getting a Linn KDS and some ATC 20 active towers and got as far as speaking to ATC. But in the end I did nothing as I just love my speakers.

These top end integrated amps have a huge appeal. My only concern is that with all the eggs in one basket itā€™s harder if you want to change later. They are sometimes seen as the cure for Naim ladder climbing, but I wonder if it really works.

Iā€™ll be very interested to read how @Dunc gets on with the Vitus trial. Will there be leaping dolphins, or sleeping seals?

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Yes - it is an amazing looking beast, and Iā€™m pretty sure it would sound fantastic too. Itā€™s also fully dual mono which I find hugely important. When I compared power amplifiers for myself 5 or 6 years ago, I very quickly eliminated each of the ā€˜stereoā€™ amplifiers on my short list. My choice ultimately came down to the Lindemann 858 dual mono amplifier I purchased or a pair of mono-blocks from another manufacturer.

I would be very interested to know how the Gryphon integrated amps compare with those from Vitus. They share a National heritage, but do they share a ā€˜musical presentationā€™ heritage?

Have a look at an albeit dated (2008) review by Chris Thomas in HiFi+ (plus), which is accessible on-line.

A pretty mixed review by Chris Thomas which is at odds with virtually every other review I have read.
There are 3 versions of the Diablo (120, 250 & 300) and I donā€™t think that Chris Thomas stated which one he was reviewing.

Just read another review on 6moons audio where the reviewer states that the Diablo is the best amplifier (at any price) he has heard in his own house.

I guess itā€™s the same with all hi-fi. Ancillary components are important and it always pays to audition at home in your own setting. When I purchased my Lindemann amplifiers I had the luxury of being allowed to take my favourite 3 amp combos home to my house and system for over a week to make up my mind which one I preferred.

In a few pictures, I thought, it looks a bit like a floating spaceship that is about to take off. Definitely, a big beast! :sunglasses:

Gryphon Diablo 300 Has Arrived: First Impressions.

After a very long and drawn out search for a new amplifier for my B&W 803 D2ā€™s, which included in-home demos of McIntosh (452/C2600), Bryston (4B3), SimAudio Integratedā€™s, and others that I tested in-store, I finally landed on the Gryphon Diablo 300. With the optional DAC module and phono board.

I feel lucky to a short trip away from one of the seven Gryphon dealers in North America, or I would not have found my amp. Some who are familiar with the Diablo may see my list of other amps I tested and think, those brands are not in the same league as Gryphon. And, after having painstakingly scrutinizing every demo component, I would have to agree they would be right. Those other brands cannot even come within striking distance. But hereā€™s the thing: from a pricepoint perspective, Iā€™d be spending the equivalent amount of cash with those lower end brands once you factor in a pre/power amp, power cables, and interconnects - and it wouldnā€™t sound as good as the Diablo. So, while expensive - the value is tremendous with the Gryphon Diablo 300. Others on this board have confirmed their opinion that Iā€™d need to spend double on seperates before I could better the Diabloā€™s performance. Including Whitecamaross, OP of the well known and ongoing ā€œlong list of amplifiersā€¦ā€ thread. I recognize that my search did not include uber-integrates from T+A, Dartzeel, etc. No way to consider these were I live. But I think that the Diablo is likely better suited than these alternatives for my use-case, with the power, current, and ability to drive my speakers in a large open space with a vaulted ceiling.

So I picked up the Diablo and it came in a great wooden crate that is smaller than youā€™d think, and has very handy clips that allow each panel of the crate to come off one panel at a time. The DAC was not pre-installed, and came in a seperate box. The phono board was also seperate, and was sold to me at a discount as it was a pulled from the shopā€™s demo Diablo 300. I had expressed interest in installing these modules myself, so the shop said theyā€™d let me have the experience of opening the brand new Diablo. Having installed the module and board (without incident), it was a little tricky. I would not suggest others try this unless you have some experience working with electronic components, PCBā€™s etc (I do). And for safety you definitely want to ensure the Gryphonā€™s massive and many capacitors have fully discharged prior to working inside.

On to the sound, out of the box with 0 hours run-time. The Diablo was a bit of a gamble for two reasons: 1) The dealer does not do in-home demos, and 2) The closest speakers I could test with to my 803ā€™s were the B&W 802 D3ā€™s, and 3) No returns or exchanges. Having fired up the amp and connecting to my digital source, right off the bat the music was thoroughly engaging. And hereā€™s the thing: When purchasing new gear over the course of 20 years or so, Iā€™ve not once purchased any equipment that Iā€™ve loved in the first month. This is the first. On my 803 D2ā€™s (or Diamond, whatever B&W calls this generation), I found that for the first time in all my amp-testing I was not listening for things like ā€œdynamicsā€,ā€œtimingā€, ā€œlinear responseā€, ā€œimagingā€, but rather listening to people playing music. All instruments and voices have this solid and real quality to them. An example: with the tambourine at the start of Reckoner by Radiohead, you can sense the impact of each strike of the tambourine against the musicianā€™s hand. The same effect is there for vocals, with backing harmonies having a texture to them Iā€™ve never heard. Another way to describe this effect is that rather than simply hearing the instruments, you are aware the sound is caused by something physical happening. Like with snare drums, it is more tangible than with any other gear Iā€™ve heard. Iā€™ve always thought that trailing notes or chords at the very ends of songs are just there as musicians need to signify that the song is over. But now, there is a presence and drama and texture to these endings Iā€™ve never heard before. Just as I said earlier, Iā€™m no longer listening for things like ā€œdynamicsā€ and ā€œtimingā€, but rather hearing the musical manifestation of these things. The midrange is absolutely beguiling, as one pro-reviewer put it. I think this may be partially due to the DAC based on my in-store testing I did. So far Iā€™ve only tried the USB input at home. I am quite sensitive to harsh mids and highs, especially on poorly recorded hard rock, and can find this type of music very grating on hifi equipment. But not on the Diablo. The mids and highs are smooth. There is no sign of any harshness at all. But counter-intuitively, at the same time, there is so, so much detail to the music. Everything is revealed, in a presentation that is paradoxically smooth and engaging. Is this an analytical amp, or a musical amp? Itā€™s both. Donā€™t know how they pulled it off. The bass is one of the Diabloā€™s most striking qualities. Just as with the other instruments, the base is tangible, highly detailed and deeply textured - it creates a groove in the music that is so satisfying. I didnā€™t know my speakers could do this.

This amp absolutely has a voice to it - it is not a ā€œjust the factsā€ amp. So those who are looking for that sort of amp may not like the Gryphon. But for me, this is exactly the sound I was looking for. Some have said there is a slight ā€œdarkā€ quality to the presentation, and I thought that sounded negative. But I understand now and have come to realize that this dense, detailed, and rich smooth voice is exactly what I was looking for.

In terms of how it performs on my speakers vs with the 802 D3ā€™s in the store - there is quite a bit of detail, and soundstaging, that is not present now. But on the flip-side, I actually like the overall presentation at home even more, and the detail that is there is still incredible. And, Iā€™d expect more detail to emerge through the burn-in period. Even now, Iā€™d be totally happy if this is the best it gets. In the store, I found the high level of precision of the 802 D3ā€™s just a tad distracting. For example, in the store, if I turned my head slightly, I could hear the entire soundstage shift quite dramatically. My 803ā€™s at home donā€™t have this issue.

I have not finished upgrading accessories yet: I am running this amp on inadequate sub $1K Van-den-hul D352 speaker wire, and my source is a Mac Mini with Audirvana/Tidal Hifi. I do have it running with a brand new AQ Hurricane power cord. My Mac will be replaced by an Innuous Zenith MKIII but itā€™s on backorder. Might be a month or two wait. Donā€™t know what Iā€™m going to do about speaker wire quite yet. Iā€™d like to try Valhalla 2 just to see if it is worth it!

Overall, extremely happy. Expect things to get even better with the dedicated music player, upgraded speaker wire, and some more hours of burn-in. One more thing - I donā€™t think that Flemming Rasmussen designed this amp. Batman did. And just look at the remote - case closed.

Here is a privateers rather well phrased review of the Diablo 300. Sorry for the Vitus digression Dunc, you just take your time nowā€¦ :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: ATB Peter

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Sounds like a very successful move for you. I wish you many happy hours listening.

No no Michael, itā€™s not me. I just copied an owner writing his impressions of the Gryphon from the Web, like somebody might have done on the Naim Forum. ATB Peter

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:joy:

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Some of us were in cars on our way round for a listenā€¦2m distancing of coursešŸ˜‰

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You shall be most welcome Gazza :+1:t3: ATB Peter

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Peter, to avoid any confusion Iā€™ve made a small edit and italicised the text to show itā€™s a quote from somebody else rather than your own words.

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No word from Dunc then, I think this means he likes it and must have found the Vitus Forum! :thinking:

You have no more the Cd555 ?

Hi FR. Indeed I still have my normal 500 system, however as the system has been going off for a while, I have sent both 552 boxes and my 2x555PSs running the 555CDP to Naim for service. I am of course hoping it will deliver on return, but cannot help finding the idea of a high level single box integrated amp somewhat intriguing. ATB Peter

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