Gryphon Antileon Evo

I am trying to educate myself on preamp and power amp matching. I understand that this is one of the trickier areas and that it is difficult to find/match up preamps. Of course listening is the best method but for now I am interested in the technical side, and I would love to hear any thoughts on the following.

As mentioned, I am hoping that the volume control function on my MSB Premier will drive to a very high/decent standard the Antileon Evo. The relevant specs seem to be:

MSB Premier:
- XLR analogue outputs
- 3.57Vrms max
- 150 ohms balanced
- Galvanically isolated
- 1dB steps (0-106)
- Digital/Analogue hybrid
- I assume passive (?)

Gryphon Antileon Evo Stereo
- XLR balanced inputs
- Input sensitivity: 0.975v
- Gain: +31dB
- Input impedence: 20kOhm

I understand balanced inputs, voltage and impedence, but not enough to work out whether, on its face, these specs align/whether any conclusions can be drawn from them. Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Andrew
 
Based on the specs provided the MSB Premier should have no problem driving the Gryphon Antileon Evo directly, but as you said only listening will determine whether you prefer it to running with a similar level active preamp.
 
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Another photo taken today, this time with the AE next to the Diablo 300. Listened to them both with Wilson Benesch Resolution speakers. Was a quick listen and have never heard these particular WB speakers before (so am reluctant to draw conclusions - the real test will be the home demo) but my initial impression was that I was blown away by the huuuuge soundstage when the AE was fired up. The sound just seemed a lot more effortless and bigger. That’s all for now.
 

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not to de-rail this thread but has anyone compared the evo to the hegel h30. looking through specs and general comments the h30 and evo could make for a really great shoot out
 
Haven’t come across them before but after a quick look:
- they seem to be monoblocks (I am after stereo)
- are they pure class a?
 
[emoji106] If I were a betting man, I would wonder what the odds were of you ending up with the Evo. [emoji3]

Reminds me of the time that I first heard the previous iteration of the Evo - the Antileon Signature driving a pair of Bohlender Graebener line source hybrid speakers.

On the Proprius "Now the Green Blade Riseth" album, even from the lead in tape hiss, one was able to sense the size of the cathedral venue. As you said, the soundstage seemed endless and the physical walls of the listening room simply disappeared. Also astonishing for me was the level of detail rendered; sound of air escaping from the organ pipes, the sense of the choir standing at different levels / heights.

Having heard the Mephisto / Diablo 300 a number of times with Wilson Benesch Endeavour / Discovery II (they are very good but not inexpensive) and extrapolating (if at all accurate) from listening to the Antileon Signature, fwiw, I suspect that the Evo would have a warmer, more accessible, sound than the Mephisto, even it most of the customers of Ref A tend to go for the Mephisto.


AJR said:
Another photo taken today, this time with the AE next to the Diablo 300. Listened to them both with Wilson Benesch Resolution speakers. Was a quick listen and have never heard these particular WB speakers before (so am reluctant to draw conclusions - the real test will be the home demo) but my initial impression was that I was blown away by the huuuuge soundstage when the AE was fired up. The sound just seemed a lot more effortless and bigger. That’s all for now.
Click to expand...
 
Great description. Thanks!

My dealer is so confident it will pass my “Holy Shit” test he bought it and is currently burning it in with my power cables. Probably has the invoice prepared and has has already lined up a buyer for my Diablo 300!
 
AJR said:
Haven’t come across them before but after a quick look:
- they seem to be monoblocks (I am after stereo)
- are they pure class a?
Click to expand...
The Hegel H30 was developed as a mono block, but it can be configured as a stereo power amplifier (with lower output power of course.) While Hegel claims it sounds best running a pair in mono mode several reviewers found it sounds better running a single amp in stereo mode. It is not a pure Class A design, but Hegel has a patented feed forward technology they call "Sound Engine" which eliminates crossover distortion giving their Class A/B output stage the low distortion characteristics of a Class A design.
 
I guess everyone forgets my Hegel H30 experience. [emoji6]

[emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91][emoji91]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
AJR said:
Great description. Thanks!

My dealer is so confident it will pass my “Holy Shit” test he bought it and is currently burning it in with my power cables. Probably has the invoice prepared and has has already lined up a buyer for my Diablo 300!
Click to expand...

Was in the vicinity this afternoon but they had closed early. Guess they met their revenue target for the day [emoji38]

Are you working with Han or Ben?
 
I and a group of friends staying with me listened to the Antileon Evo stereo power amp and a 2nd hand Pandora preamp yesterday in my system at home. We were all completely blown away. They were all blown away by the Diablo 300 (which they heard for the first time a couple of days ago) and like me were wondering just how much better the pre and power combo could be. It was obvious after about 30 seconds, and from a cold start! After half an hour we were all just looking at each other in stunned silence, with huge smiles on our faces and shaking our heads in amazement.

Here is a quick summary of the general consensus when comparing to the Diablo 300:
- every single sound/note is just dripping in rich, detailed and layered texture
- wider and deeper soundstage
- richer/beefier and slammier bass, and even more detailed
- effortless and non-fatiguing
- attack, attack, attack!
- seemed to really bring the best out of the Magico S3 mk2s - I was delighted that they seemed to easily handle the AE even at very loud volume levels. The bass in particular went so much deeper and not even a hint of distortion

The combo is multiples (price-wise) of the Diablo 300 so this is an unfair comparison and us Diablo owners know that it competes even at price points far higher than the Diablo’s - but it was just astonishing to hear the step up in sound quality.

They aren’t going back to the dealer’s!

Now I need to work out why my MSB Premier and Innuos Zenith won’t work together. In the meantime, my trusted Lumin T1 is doing a great job!
 
An initial observation. The Pandora is fully burnt in (it is 2nd hand and about 2 years old) and the Antileon Evo has about 100 hours of burn in time (courtesy of my dealer).

I have noticed that, compared to the Diablo 300, classical, jazz and electronica sounds absolutely incredible. As in, a whole new post code (or codes). But rock/grunge/metal sounds only marginally better - especially at loud volumes.

Any thoughts that could explain this? Maybe after another 100+ hours the sound will change.

Andrew
 
I have worked out how to get the “crunch” and “bite” sound for crunchy guitar tracks like “The Grudge” by Tool. I just need to switch the Class A bias mode on the Antileon Evo from “full” (ie 300W p/c into my 4 ohm speaker load of pure Class A) to “medium” (200W p/c Class A and remaining 100W p/c Class A/B) or, even better, to “low” (100W p/c Class A and the remaining 200W p/c Class A/B).

Phew!

I find that all other genres sound best in “medium” or (when I crank it) “full” mode.

Am now very, very happy with the Pandora + Antileon Evo combination.

Still can’t get the MSB renderer to work. A new one is being sent out.
 
Interesting, since Class A/B has some additional crossover distortion compared to pure Class A biasing. I would theorize that the additional distortion is complementary to providing the 'crunch' or 'biting' sound characteristic in the guitar tracks that you perceive as being more realistic. Great that your amp allows you to easily switch to your preference! :audiophile:
 
Thanks Bill. I was thinking the same thing re your theory.

The 3 different bias modes are a fantastic feature. Gryphon manual says the amp needs about 5 mins to resettle after changing bias modes, so i just need to curate my playlists accordingly - starting with Tool or similar (nothing like a relaxing start to a music listening session!)
 
Another update:
- Still using my Lumin. Tried a firmware update to get the MSB renderer module working but no luck.
- The Gryphon combo is just sounding better and better. You know that feeling you have the day after a really good live concert when you can’t get the music/feeling out of your head? It is like that.
- I swapped out the XLR interconnects (from Pandora to AE) on loan from my dealer for some MIT SL Matrix XLR 36 interconnects to match my existing set (Lumin to Pandora). A noticeable step up in SQ even with no burn in, particularly LF and HF. I didn’t take note of what the the loaned set was but dealer said they are about half the price of the MITs.
- The 3 different Class A bias modes are an awesome feature. It is like having 3 amps in one, although I find I have no need for “medium”. The “low” bias is very much like the Diablo 300 but a touch better and as mentioned above is good for crunchy/distorted guitar music. Then as you move up to “medium” then “high” bias it just gets better and better for all other genres.

Am in music heaven.
 
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