Gryphon Diablo 120 exudes timeless elegance and beauty, informed by the unique vision of Gryphon founder and CEO Flemming E. Rasmussen. I ran the amp for three days prior to serious auditioning and continued to run it overnight during the first phase of the evaluation period.It’s a rare occurrence where a product makes a significant mark from the get-go. That first track was so powerfully presented, so strongly communicated, that I found myself smiling in blissful stupor as I listened. Please refresh the page and try again.What Hi-Fi? The entire presentation across the important midrange and high frequency spectrum was one of refinement, resolution and superb microdynamic detail retrieval.Ergo the classic “Take Five” as interpreted by percussion virtuoso Joe Morello in his Morello Standard Time CD. The original Diablo was considered by many to be the high-end integrated amplifier.The new model has been cosmetically revised in-keeping with the Gryphon look (it bears some stylistic resemblance to the company’s Mephisto power amplifier) while substantial circuit upgrades and refinements have resulted in operational efficiencies and potential sonic improvements.As the model name states, the Diablo 300 is a 300-watt per side Class-A/B DC-coupled amplifier (doubling to 600 watts into 4 ohms and providing 950 watts into 2 ohms). The Diablo 300’s resolving power allowed clear discernment of the minutest of details but all is presented in a natural manner. That midrange kinship with the very best of valve amplification is something rather extraordinary for a solid-state amplifier – an integrated no less.Roger Water’s Amused to Death release is a Q-Sound extravaganza and features dense mixes filled with low-level information, both musical and in spoken word (even distant barking dogs). In updating the Diablo, the Gryphon engineering team faced a considerable challenge. A row of small green-lit touch-buttons on either side provide visuals for standby mode, volume up/down, input selection, system status monitoring and menu access. And all this is offered in a soundscape of massive dimensions both laterally and in the depth perspective.The Diablo 300 is attractively styled with mucho macho Gryphon panache; it is well-featured, beautifully constructed and thoroughly engineered by skilled personnel in Gryphon’s native Denmark. Everything about it is pure class, from the black anodised heavy gauge metal work to the beautifully-polished and machined black acrylic, to the overall Gryphon-esque aesthetic – a stunningly arresting design the brainchild of Gryphon’s talented founder and industrial designer Flemming E. Rasmussen.The unit provided for review was part of an early Australian shipment and did not feature the optional phono stage and DAC modules. A superbly-designed remote control ‘stick’, for lack of a better descriptor, provides standby on/off, input access, muteand, of course, volume control while a neat triangular stand allows table-top operation.Packaging is also a reflection of a company’s attention to detail. In the case of the Diablo 300, Gryphon offers high quality MM/MC phono and multi-input digital stage (DAC) modules which can be ordered in situ or purchased at a later date, as funds allow. Unlike the vast majority of solid state volume controls that typically introduce dozens of resistors in the signal path, the Diablo 300 employs no more than two for any given level setting.The extreme wideband frequency response of the Diablo 300 extends from 0.5 Hz to 350 kHz and its prodigious 300 Watt (8 Ohms) power output capability represents a significant increase over the original Diablo. Combine that with a low 0.019-ohm output impedance and, on paper, you’re looking at good speaker control potential. Further duties have been allotted in order to simplify the signal chain and minimise the box count with a growing number of models now sporting built-in digital-to-analogue converters and high quality phono stages.
It’s exemplary from the lowest depths to the instrument’s highest notes in terms of control, weight, tonal rendition and transient attack.The cinematic soundscapes of In a Time Lapse from Ludovico Einaudi’s CD release illustrated the Gryphon’s valve-like handling of tonal colours. Its uninhibited dynamic expressiveness, its superb resolution in conjunction with its midrange beauty and treble sweetness, and its overall musical adeptness make the Diablo 300, even at its price, a high-end integrated that should sell like oven-warm bread to ravenous audiophile hordes.Please allow me to further personalise this conclusion – a somewhat rare thing for this writer who seldom risks sounding over-enthused… so far, the Gryphon Diablo 300 is unequivocally, and by a wide margin, the best integrated amplifier ever to grace our audio testing and music-listening environment.Sign up below to get the latest from What Hi-Fi?, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!Thank you for signing up to What Hi-Fi?. USB can process PCM up to 32-bit/384 kHz as well as DSD (Windows OS up to DSD512, Mac OS up to DSD128, Linux OS up to DSD128 DoP).This future-proof digital module is ready for any current or foreseeable high resolution digital format.And, in the finest Gryphon tradition, the Diablo 300 offers the option of an exceptional MM/MC phonostage for the dedicated enthusiasts who continue to enjoy the musical treasures etched in the grooves of the long-playing, black vinyl disc.Despite its substantial size and heft, the satin black, brushed aluminium chassis and gleaming black acrylic faceplate of the Gryphon Diablo 300 exude luxurious elegance that will enhance any interior. A centrally-placed IEC socket rounds out the connections complement.The front panel is a mix of metal and black acrylic – another Gryphon style trademark – and features a cross panel that houses the large vacuum fluorescent display. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Physically too it is an imposing object. The wire-wound emitter diodes in the original Diablo output stage have been upgraded to non-inductive types.The power supplies for various amplification stages employ only polypropylene coupling capacitors in parallel with high-grade electrolytic capacitors.To dissipate heat generated by the increased power of the Diablo 300, the unit is fitted with twice as much heatsink area as its predecessor.