Integrated Amp Reviews

What's in a name? Denmark-based Gryphon Audio Designs laid down a marker when company founder Flemming Rasmussen chose that name in 1985. Browsing through the current Stereophile Recommended Components list, I only found one other manufacturer that utilizes an animal moniker. The imagery summoned by the use of the mythical treasure-guarding Gryphon seems appropriate; a hybrid creature combining features of the eagle and the lion, creatures of strength and speed—this choice underlines some of the aesthetics and performance Gryphon Audio has become known for. The handsome hardcover user's manual for the Diablo 333 simply states in gold "The Gryphon," along with a side-on profile of that winged lion-tailed creature, as a logo.

The Gryphon Diablo 333, a solid state, stereo integrated amplifier ($24,900 without optional DAC and phono stage modules), replaces the Gryphon Diablo 300, which was in production since 2016. The number "333" actually refers to the stated output power of the new amp into an 8 ohm load, of 333Wpc. This output doubles to 666Wpc into 4 ohms, but Anthony Chiarella, director of sales and marketing for Gryphon in the USA, sensibly pointed out to me that using the number 666 for model designation would have perhaps tied things too closely to the occult.

Gryphon Audio is known for state-of-the-art, no-holds-barred amplification, with a particular emphasis on amplifiers with class-A output stages. (More on this in a moment.) That is how Gryphon began, and how the company continues 40 years on. Gryphon's first integrated amplifier, the Tabu, was introduced in 1996. There are now two integrated models currently available that are designated with the Diablo name; in addition to the Diablo 333, there is a sibling, the Diablo 120, which as the name implies puts out 120Wpc into 8 ohms. In recent years, in addition to amps and preamps, Gryphon has expanded its product line to include turntables, loudspeakers, D/A processors, phono stages, power supplies, and even stands. If you have the will and the wallet, you can now put together an entire system from Gryphon Audio Designs.

When Editor Jim Austin first called the Diablo 333 to my attention, he mentioned that some of the best sound he had heard at the most recent Munich audio show was in the Gryphon room. That was enough to get me hooked. When a review sample was offered, I requested that this integrated amp come to me "fully loaded," including the optional phono stage and DAC modules. I wanted to hear the full variety of what this high-quality piece of gear is capable of—a lot to describe and to listen to.

The Full Monty
The Gryphon Diablo 333 is an imposing satin black–finished, 112lb amplifier, with elegantly designed heatsinks fanning out on the sides. Measuring approximately 18.5" square and a little over 9.5" high, it will fit on a standard audio rack—but just barely. Make sure that your rack is sturdy, and you have enough room behind to access the proprietary binding posts and the DAC and phono modules (if so equipped). Power to the unit is supplied via a cord with a 20A IEC connector; if you don't have your own on hand (I did not), you will need to use the one supplied. The power switch is located underneath the unit near the front panel; when engaged, the unit is in standby mode (0.5W). I just left this switched on, and powered off and on with my AudioQuest Niagara 7000.

With Gryphon Audio it's all about power, almost in the Nietzschean sense; the will for it, attaining it, deploying it. Space does not permit listing all of the Diablo 333's specifications, but I need to highlight a few. Starting with the power supply: The capacitance is specified at 2 × 68,000µF. That's a lot of capacitance; don't stick your finger in the amplifier! I asked the Gryphon design team to comment on this, and they responded: "Having heavily over-specified power supplies reassures that the amplifier is having enough current to handle all the dynamics that goes into music. It increases the level of detail at all frequencies and at all volumes. It is not all about watts, but torque (current delivery) is equally important." I asked about transformer construction, and it was described to me as a "massive 2200VA, 17.5kg, varnished dual-mono Holmgren toroidal transformer, with a peripheral magnetic mu-metal shield."

On the operational side, the supplied chunky aluminum remote covers most of the daily use functions and includes choices for the front-panel displays and the optional DAC, as well as offering settings for the optional phono stage. The 4.3" front-panel touchscreen gets at the Menu when you want to go further. I was happy with various default settings—like the front panel display autodimming after a short period. The default startup volume was set at 12, out of 43 discrete volume steps; this microprocessor-controlled, balanced attenuator places just one or two resistors in the signal path. Front-panel controls access a pair of balanced inputs and pairs of single-ended inputs and outputs. (Input levels for different sources can be matched.) There is a fixed-level input for AV. Also noteworthy are the Gryphon custom-built output binding posts—really nice solid gold-plated hardware. There is no headphone output.

Options
The Gryphon Diablo 333 is offered as a standalone preamplifier/ amplifier integrated combo. This will be of interest for customers who already own DACs and phono stages they wish to use, as a budget-saving alternative. Others have the option of purchasing dealer-installed Gryphon modules for these purposes. Prioritizing what is sonically essential, and focusing on achieving that, is the Gryphon way. As the Diablo 333's manual firmly states: "In the interest of ultimate fidelity and signal purity, tone controls, balance controls and other superfluous circuitry have been banished from the signal paths of all Gryphon components."

My sample came with the Gryphon DAC3 module installed ($7600). This unit offers five digital inputs: USB, AES, TosLink, and two coaxial S/PDIF. Circuitry is based around the new ESS Technology Sabre ES9039PRO converter, which provides a choice of seven reconstruction filters. The DAC3 is a dual-mono design, running in a class-A configuration. The analog output stages feature ultralow-noise regulated voltage supplies. Six-layer printed circuit boards are connected by short signal paths. The Super-Capacitor (12.5 Farad!) power supply for the USB input acts like a battery supply. All current digital formats are accepted, though wireless streaming and Ethernet networking are not. When I asked about this choice, the design team commented: "We decided not to include wireless streaming and/or network function mainly due to limited space available inside the Diablo 333 and [the] optional DAC3 module."

The Gryphon Audio PS3 Phono Stage module ($6000), also included in my review unit, is the other option that many users will be interested in. The PS3 is based on Gryphon's prior standalone Legato Phono Stage. This MM/MC unit is a true balanced dual-mono design, with no negative feedback. Polypropylene capacitors are used in the RIAA correction stages, along with matched low-noise transistors. MC cartridge impedance loading options are accessed from a pair of DIP switches on the rear of the unit; 15 different impedances are available, ranging from 20 to 1600 ohms. The front-panel setup menu provides the choice between MM and MC use. Set in MC mode, the PS3 offers 64dB of gain, with a signal/noise ratio specified as >72dB. There is a grounding tap on the rear of the Diablo 333, for attaching directly to a turntable.

It should be noted that Gryphon has opted for the path less taken with their PS3 Phono Stage; only a single pair of balanced Neutrik XLR inputs is included—there are no single-ended RCA inputs. Robert Harley states in his Complete Guide to High-End Audio: "Balanced phono inputs are rare on a preamplifier; virtually all phono cables are terminated with unbalanced RCA plugs, not balanced XLR connectors." I have never owned a turntable set up with a balanced output. I checked with VPI President Mat Weisfeld, and indeed the tonearm of my VPI HW40 could be rewired—but then it would not work with my current reference preamp, which only accepts RCA inputs for the phono stage. To take full advantage of the PS3 Phono Stage module, in terms of signal/noise issues, customers would be advised to look into this possibility, depending on their own turntable design. For this review, I settled on a stereo cable terminated on one end with RCAs, and on the other with XLRs, figuring this would yield a better result than using cheap adapters.

Class distinctions
The four standalone amplifier models currently offered by Gryphon Audio all operate with class-A output stages. And they do this with Scandinavian heavy-metal panache. To give you one example of the ballpark that Gryphon is playing in, their Apex Stereo Amplifier, currently listed in the Class A (Solid State) category of Stereophile's Recommended Components list, weighs in at 445lb, with an equally hefty list price of $104,500. There is no getting around the physics of producing high current capability with class-A circuitry into low impedances; you are going to need a lot of hardware, and that is going to produce a lot of heat that needs to be managed.

With class consciousness on my mind, an interesting aspect of evaluating the Gryphon Diablo 333 became judging how close this integrated amplifier, with its output stages running in a high-bias class-AB mode, could get to the purist sonic virtues of its heavyweight class-A siblings; dynamics, liquidity, lack of crossover distortion, etc. There are 10 high-power output transistors for each channel, ultrafast, low-capacitance pre-driver transistors, and polypropylene capacitors for local power supply decoupling. The Diablo 333 does radiate some heat, but nothing on the order of its class-A relatives.