Some would call it a tease; others would call it sheer torture. That's how I, who fell in love with the sound of Stereophile's 2021 Amplification Component of the Year, Gryphon's Essence monoblock power amplifier, felt seeing a static display in place of hearing the new, humongous Gryphon Apex power amplifier ($99,000/chassis).
"It's the most impressive amplifier made," said Gryphon's Rune Skov about a silent, 450lb component that outputs 210Wpc in pure class-A into 8 ohms, doubles its power down to a startling 0.5 ohm, and boasts 1F (farad) power supply capacity. Then he tortured me even more by telling me that Michael Fremer was set to review a single Apex along with the new Commander two-chassis preamplifier ($63,000), Mikey's review of the two-chassis preamplifier review—which John Atkinson told me after he measured it weighs a back-breaking 151lb—is slated for the July issue of Stereophile. The Apex review is scheduled for a later issue.
The Gryphon's Tale!
The Gryphon's Tale!
