Meet My New Reference Preamplifier - Is This The Best One Yet?

[@jaysaudiolab]

Please Like & Subscribe to show your support of my efforts!

[@DrBroncanuus]

the gryphon is a mythical creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle with its talons on the front legs

[@Coneman3]

You ever tried valve preamps? I’ve recently bought my first - a vintage ARC SP 11 mk 2. Very pleased and impressed with the sound.

[@rw3915]

Jay has/had an AR Ref 6SE and a VAC two-chassis unit called the Master I think. Jay is not a tube sort of fella. I think the flavor he likes is neutral and perhaps even to the left, meaning less midrange bloom and warmth that tube gear brings. Your old AR, while good in its heyday, has a slightly warmish slant that Jay would not like. Plus, that old SP is a single ended only preamp; it does not have XLRs, which if you're in Jay's realm, using a better interconnect is the right play.

[@Mark-lq3sb]

WOW! Can't wait to see them in action Jay. Seems like I already have my winning lotto ticket spent before I even win, lol.

[@jonaikenja]

Congrats Jay on the Commander - Excellent choice

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks 👍

[@Breakinlife007]

As a huge Gryphon fan I am so excited and happy that you did these purchases... congratulations

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks so much 😊

[@douglasglanton4966]

One of the best preamps in the world can't wait to hear it wish I was in your home

[@jaysaudiolab]

Soon

[@DearSX]

I thought about getting a nice heavy expensive high end pre-amp like my current amp, but I found Topping and Benchmark make excellent transparent pre-amps and went with those.

[@davidcross890]

Those are interesting other choices for a nice mid fi experience

[@VideoArchiveGuy]

Everyone needs to make their own price/performance decisions.

[@davidcross890]

@@VideoArchiveGuy very true.... hopefully many more will choose much higher performance gear to attain far better results

[@adaboy4z]

If branded power cables come with the unit, is that still considered after market? It is a nice looking unit though. Doubles as dual coffee tables.

[@dota9280]

It is a Gryphon not a dragon

[@gregorydijoseph5873]

THANK YOU

[@rocketbrothers540]

😂

[@pennfootball71]

I like this preamp..I fell off my chair when I heard it has power cables and the amp has power cables as well.

[@roberthoffecker7223]

Congrats Jay on the Commander.Should be great synergy. Looking forward to your thoughts.

[@davidcross890]

Very Nice Components 😊

[@vpnogueira]

Jay, as best as your memory allow, how do you compare the commander with the Boulder 3010? Which one do you prefer and why?

[@jbsaudio]

Congratulations Jay! Great choice and the best match for your Apex.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks!

[@Romulus980]

Great choice but how long will the preamp last till you find a better one...?

[@jaysaudiolab]

Not sure yet

[@Random-kq4pz]

You and this preamp is like the movie "Master and Commander".

[@faysalriaz1312]

WOW. Sublime design and build. Very special. Must be far better in person in the room. The Commander and Apex certainly make a statement in a room. Must be some huge pride or ownership. Looking at what you get for 68k - two huge units for less than the Dartzeel - it's a very competitive package 😂. All three units will look amazing together - look forward to seeing how you do it. And how this beast performs vs the competition.

[@stephanem.2268]

Simply amazing! I guess that you are touching the pinnacle of pre-amplification, The Commander should be a real end game preamp and a natural perfect match for your Apex. An ultra solid base to assess any kind of speakers and / or source. We are lucky. Thanks for sharing this with us Jay 👍

[@phillip5077]

Beautiful looking units ! they match your speakers

[@jaysaudiolab]

Yes they do

[@davidcross890]

Agreed

[@steve6465]

Congratulations Jay, Stunning looking Pre amp 😍

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thank you kindly!

[@gadymarcus5297]

magnifico.💪💪💪💪💪💪

[@renebrunner1529]

Told you the commander is outstanding as I have it my demo since 6 month. Your next step will be apex monos 100% increase to the stereo

[@brodricj3023]

$68K MSRP did come as a surprise to me, I thought it would be more expensive. It's a sensible choice to match with the Gryphon Apex.

[@shangrilaladeda]

it's overpriced paperweights to be honest, the tech years ago was better

[@silviosarunic3234]

@@shangrilaladeda get a life!

[@davidcross890]

​@@shangrilaladedaPlease.... get Real

[@firelord675]

I would love to hear his system with Gryphon speakers.

[@silviosarunic3234]

@@firelord675 me too. Specially with Gryphon Kodo Speakers

[@andrewmacdonald3667]

Your enthusiasm for Gryphon has me curious about the Diablo 333.

[@1326relmiri]

I can understand that, that’s a real bargain product! I wonder how close it sound compare to Mephisto and Pandora…

[@robk5745]

Gryphon just makes amazing products, from top to bottom. I’d like to save for their entry level integrated!

[@garyb2507]

Fantastic build quality!

[@1326relmiri]

Hello Jay, I’m a new subscriber to your channel, but following you for a long time…I really enjoy. I guess you’re very close to the end game, isn’t it? Or maybe not…😊 As I’ve learned from about 35 years being an audiophile, the taste may be change…till you find out something new… And simply put, it's a never-ending game 😊

[@labgsm8185]

Nice preamp and PSU enjoy bro !

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks, will do!

[@KirkLazurus]

Better or different than the Boulder?

[@jaysaudiolab]

Different

[@firelord675]

It would be awesome to compare Dartzeel, Boulder, and Gryphon Amp Pre Amp combinations against each other. I’m thinking these ultra high end amps sound best with their matching Pre Amps?

[@avbozo]

Congrats on the new preamp ! I see a shootout upcoming in your future. What about a powercord comparison with stock , Absoluto , Shunyata , Transparent and Gryphon ...all through your Stromtank ? This would be a true illustration of what is capable with this preamp . After this ...the winner could go head to head with the Boulder 3010 .

[@jaysaudiolab]

Great suggestion!

[@davidcross890]

Would not be a TRUE ILLUSTRATION AS YOU STATED UNLESS YOU TOSSED IN DAVID CROSS'S NETWORKED POWER CORD TO THE FIELD OF ENTRANTS 😊

[@hansendy3708]

Congrats! I already knew for a while - you forgot to hide the remote control which was visible on your recent videos hehe. :D The Commander psu can power the existing Gryphon Legato Legacy phono preamp.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks for the tip!

[@josenebrus8183]

Congratulations caballero 🎶 I was pretty sure it was the commander 😊 what is the Apex without the Commander 💯👌🎶 enjoy every second Jay. Well done 👍

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks 👍

[@perfectsoundpursuit007]

Of course Jay! What is Apex with out Commander.. Congrats!! 👍👍👍

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks 👍

[@miked91101]

I love your videos Jay, my income would never allow me to get in your, and other audiophile league of 2 channel audio gear... that said i been pretty content with my separates since the 1990's, which has been for those years an Adcom preamplifier, and Onkyo Integra M504 (YES, i fell for those gorgeous meters lol...) what my question is if i was to go to an integrated amplifier now for my next system down the road would i get the same, or better audio quality say if i went with a brand like Luxman, Yamaha A-S3200, McIntosh MA8950, Accuphase E-380, or possibly the Gryphon Diablo 120 if made extra shelf space for it...

[@MrBonger88]

The Mytek Manhattan 2 Dac also has more capacitance than the Luxman amp at 140000 uF. If 80000 is enough for a robust amp like that why do these preamps and dacs need so much more?

[@brucering1190]

hi jay: enjoy the content, i think the price is quite reasonable. Hope to hear this combo live someday....

[@jaysaudiolab]

I hope so too!

[@allardvanderstarre5238]

certainlyit seems build to last, and of course have fun!

[@jeanlouispicard9501]

I have a killer preamp who killed my previous dartzeel mk2 …. Ayon conquistador you should test ! Soon with Tad ref1 will be crazy 🎉

[@davidcross890]

The idea that other than common power cords are included is definitely nice. I would like to see a direct test as you described then place the winner of that versus my invented networked power cords...that would be a very informative test. Respectfully....

[@AlbertKel]

Power cords…yeah Right…..

[@davidcross890]

@@AlbertKel You obviously own a Radio Shack level clock radio with the lamp cord power cord

[@davidcross890]

@DW11111 did you figure that out by searching?

[@davidcross890]

@DW11111 personal research that consistently has led to major $$$$$$$$$$.$$

[@AlbertKel]

@@davidcross890 I don’t mind that you go out and use 15000 $ on a power cable, but beware that the cable producers laugh of you behind your back.

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Buckup for Borresen M6's 😊

[@bencausey]

Your listening chair backs are too high. They should go up to around shoulder height. Sound is reflecting off those chairs close to your ears. 👍

[@1326relmiri]

Yes you right! And (imho) they are ugly

[@CarlVanDoren61]

Next Jay will be importing his power 😮

[@davidcross890]

From who DAVID CROSS?????😮😮😮😮😮

[@Michiel1972]

Jay, I am new to your channel. So haven't seen all your videos. So my question is with which Power Amplifier are using in this setup with the Gryphons and Wilsons? Or maybe another viewer of this channel can answer. Is it the APEX? Or another brand?

[@jaysaudiolab]

Apex

[@jakeross8533]

Please compare the Commander with your dartzeel and Boulder preamps

[@jaysaudiolab]

Dartzeel long gone

[@brown-eyedman4040]

Cool. I can see you going for a pair of the Gryphon Monos to match. Thanks for sharing your impressions of cool gear that most of us can only dream about.

[@jaysaudiolab]

You bet!

[@reasoned007]

mystery dac tbd?

[@jaysaudiolab]

Soon

[@hawkmoon369]

Cool.

[@henriksrensen3220]

I LOVE Gryphon

[@jaysaudiolab]

It's Great stuff

[@jbsaudio]

I believe those analog PSU outputs on the Commander power supply unit can be used to power the Gryphon Legato phono stage, instead of the PSU that comes with Legato. You should consider replacing your Boulder phono stage with the Legato and powering it with the Commander PSU.

[@benjaminanonsen1546]

Kalliope is getting Old, Ethos is also, shall we say limited. Might there be another DAC on the way... Seeing as there now is a "DAC3" module for the 333 revision of Diablo. That would be my guess... Apex, Commander and what would they call a new Unit?

[@jbsaudio]

@@benjaminanonsen1546 more likely that Gryphon would invest its tech in a new phono stage than a DAC.

[@benjaminanonsen1546]

Yes, that would make more sense. The legato used the ‘Pandora psu. And it will power the Pre and the phono, 3 boxes. The Commander psu has 50 times less noise and 5 times the current or more. The legato has Insane bass. The ethoes has not… I think however - a new top dac is more likely. Either way, exiting times for Gryphon 😀

[@HMKMusic]

Congratulations! It seems safe for you to buy top notch but soon you have to buy new top notch again and again 😅 never ending nightmare!

[@robertjermantowicz-uw3iw]

Here in the USA we spell it "griffin"!

[@shangrilaladeda]

j river is a great player for pc it beats everything i ever heard

[@robertjermantowicz-uw3iw]

A winged lion with the head of an eagle and eagle talons on the front paws.

[@jeanlouispicard9501]

EMMLabs also include power chord ….. for such price it’s a minimum

[@davidcross890]

Nice Reveal

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks 😁

[@davidcross890]

@@jaysaudiolab they are beautiful pieces

[@chanhluu6603]

You’re pro

[@friedmule5403]

LOL, You are in for a surprise!! As I understand it do you simply have to keep your amplifier system until their music source is getting out, if you really want to hear music that is so great that you start to cry. People do often talk about a sound so great they can hear the angels sing, but they forget one thing, and that is when the sound is so out of this world that you can hear the Gods start to sing! I know I sound a bit insane but as I understand, is your fantastic speakers, almost the weak link in your system at that moment!! :-)

[@jaysaudiolab]

Yep you sound insane

[@friedmule5403]

@@jaysaudiolab LOL the problem is that I do not think you can get much better speakers, it's just that the speaker technology has not moved in the same pace as the rest of the system. :-)

[@renebrunner1529]

Gryphon doenst need any stromtank or power conditioner will have less dynamics

[@ryanschipp8513]

Just hilarious that you're commending them for including power cords for you. 😅 they sure as hell better include some power cords for nearly $70,000. By the way. Probably costs them like $50 to make them.

[@topkho]

$50 to make them? That’s really an ignorant comment.

[@davidcross890]

From some people that can't gain entrance $50.00 is ALL THE MONEY IN THEIR VERY LIMITED WORLD

[@ryanschipp8513]

@@davidcross890 what you're saying doesn't make sense. All I'm saying is the cables that he got thrown in with the amplifier we're extremely cheap to make. They aren't worth like three or four thousand dollars like he's talking

[@yulaswift2439]

Next upgrade? Maybe a bigger house ‘cause, boy- your rig’s making your room look smaller by the week 😯

[@davybloggs1564]

For this amount of dosh, I would expect/demand balance buttons on the remote! And, again, Jay - for ChristSake man, get/use a camera with less wide angle lens! Your Wilsons look like they're made of rubber - all distorted and bent.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Nope. Your eyes are crooked.

[@davybloggs1564]

@@jaysaudiolab Maybe 'cause I'm usin a curved monitor Jay🤣

[@darrenbarugh9218]

Congratulations on getting the Commander. I’ve heard it with Mephisto mono’s and the new ES02, which is Gryphon’s new small floor-standing speaker. The dynamics and scale in a large room was unbelievable! I can only imagine how it will sound with the Apex and your Chronsonic XVX. Gryphon will be at the UK high end show at the end of the month so really hoping they will have the Apex on demo. Enjoy the Commander Jay. Looking forward to more content.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks for the info!

[@milkman100001]

im not as excited as you ,because you own them and i don't..ha

[@jaysaudiolab]

😂

[@VideoArchiveGuy]

Given how much time you've spent saying you should try to always go with amp and preamp from the same company, I guess that means your Boulder amp is going away soon too. 😄 It's great that Gryphon included their power cords, but if say you've got a full loom of cables by another manufacturer, you've just paid for expensive power cords you will never use.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Nope. Sell the other powercords

[@VideoArchiveGuy]

@@jaysaudiolab Don't be so quick; often the synergy that comes from having an entire loom by the same manufacturer outweighs the benefits of the power cord alone, not unlike having a preamp and amp from the same company.

[@jamesj9728]

Four rounds of DAC preference videos and we're skipping to a pre-amp? Nothing further on the DAC results? I have whiplash... :)

[@Bill.K]

I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be an Esoteric Grandioso DAC over Jay's right shoulder in a recent video, but he hasn't officially made the reveal. He did mention he planned to get it after being impressed by their N-01XD. Now he's mentioned he has two new DACs, to keep the mystery going.

[@guidoroemer81]

For all that money there is no volume control on the amp itself? Nor a input switch?

[@davidcross890]

It's a preamplifier not an amplifier

[@12P14D22C]

its a power cord. theres literally nothing it does to sound. it looks nice. thats a plus. if you wanna pay that much for it. fine. but it does absolutely zero for the machine working as it should. its just a ... standard ... nice looking cable. nothing more but also nothing less.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Yawn 🥱🥱🥱

[@12P14D22C]

​@@jaysaudiolab lulz. exactly the response i thought u would give. the problem here is that people chase some stupid stuff like a power cord or speaker cable and not think in fundamentals what sound is, and how they are reproduced by speakers and give a nice foundation for their system.

[@davidcross890]

​@@12P14D22Cno the problem for you appears to be that you lack gnosis

[@renebrunner1529]

12 you got no clue

[@12P14D22C]

@@renebrunner1529 then please, enlighten me. What does a 50€/$ power cord do that a 5€/$ doesnt do? I say they are essentially then same. One indicator for it would be that my Sound System with random cables plays beautifull and i use whatever Power cord i had avaiable at the time as well as standard ofc speaker cable. But the Truth is. I overspent on speaker cable. Its one thiccer then needed. Well at 1.20€/ Meter or 40cents the foot its something i can manage to overspend at.

[@nasdkhan254]

Out the Wilsons

[@jaysaudiolab]

Why? They are my best speaker

[@nasdkhan254]

@@jaysaudiolab If you keep those speakers it's going to limit what applications you use. You already found out with the McIntosh. Are they too big for your garage? At the end of the day if you enjoy them happy days but whenever I heard them , they always sound analytical

[@jaysullivan9545]

Never heard them together, but MF wrote it was the best pre and amplifier combo he's heard. Even outdoing his Dartz pre and the big Dartz amps he owns.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Yep

[@olejohnnyprestbakken1145]

if this is the best, what about all the other brands that tells they are the best. You see it is a endless battle.....Yeah we have all kind of taste, but there cannot be only one champion, since in this ridiculous price range there are a lot to choose from. You have touched 3 brands here lately, let`s say there are 50 other brands that can be potentially as good. When are you going to try other brands than last 5 to 10 brands you have already tested? Sorry to say that it gets a bit boring that you circle back to Gryphon.

[@henriksrensen3220]

He's going back to Gryphon, bacause Gryphon is King

[@jaysaudiolab]

Anytime you want to chip in to buy the brand you want to see here let me know

[@davidcross890]

He's at least bringing forward the effort and work to show some of the best out there...

[@dota9280]

And again I was right

[@kevtn8]

Why do you do for a living to play around with these crazy expensive components and speakers?

[@Coneman3]

Need to biamp dude. Go active even. Need new speakers though.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Don't have any speakers like that coming anytime soon

[@donbon9995]

You get what you pay for, Like A380 first class 🤭

[@igaldins]

Hi Jay. Don’t you think that your channel is just an excuse to by all this crazy expensive gear? Maybe you went to far with the prices? Respectfully

[@jaysaudiolab]

Not at all

[@igaldins]

@@jaysaudiolab Enjoy the journey 😎

[@mdjak3686]

No one deserves it more. Use it in good health. Until you replace them. lol.

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thanks

[@kman9387]

Hate to keep harassing you 😊 When are you going to do an in depth review and demo of your Sony Projector? 🤷 You could be the first to do a review and talk about your picture settings. There have only been a couple of real world reviews from some who have bought the new Sony. I know you do a lot of audio, but you know that you love that Sony just as much 😁👍

[@ericshutter5305]

when a person spends too much money on audio 😂😂😂

[@peterbess9243]

I don't understand this dude. With all due respect!

[@davidcross890]

What's not understood?...rather straight forward

[@jaysaudiolab]

Exactly...

[@peterbess9243]

@@davidcross890 kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqmsi6Njft-IppY

[@silviosarunic3234]

two boxes = Gryphon commander

[@dangoh2237]

I like the look but at $68k! Forget it!!

[@Yeybeth]

Jay’s hi you have Instagram?

[@jaysaudiolab]

Nope

[@Yeybeth]

@@jaysaudiolab hey Jay I follow in Spanish a people that like the audio and they talk abouth you !! In a special way !! They watch all the systems you have and they say they wish they have the money 💴 for have the speakers you have and amps you have !!! 👍 and the room you did THEY LOVE AND THEY AEE IMPRESS HOW YOU DID THAT

[@jaysaudiolab]

Thank you 😊