two of the best power amplifiers go toe to toe. You won't be able to hear this ANYWHERE ELSE online. If you are interested in a private consultation with me, email me jayaudiolab@gmail.com #boulder2110 #gryphonmephisto
All voices are much better served with Gryphon, all ambiance similar to the voices much better with Gryphon ... lateral width is much better with Gryphon ... vertical as well but not over my head. Tonality is better spot on with Gryphon. IMHO Gryphon is much better here. Boulder is some what lean and I cannot come to the grips with that, thanks for this precious demo.
The Gryphon seems to have better realism and a nicer overall tonal character to it. It also sounds to have more weight to in the bass and a bit more pleasant high end, and the midrange is dead on, IMO at least. I do think the Boulder is more than up to the task though, and that it’s a matter of different vs better in this case. Thanks for the vids and the live chat last night, Jay. It was nice to see the Wizard behind the curtain. Merry Christmas! ✌️🎶🎅✨
Great shoot out. Thanks again for this unique look into amazing gear. First, both sound very good. That said, to my ear the Gryphon is my clear preference in this shoot out. My sense is the Boulder sounds like it has higher global feedback. Sounds perfect but then you hear the Gryphon which sounds like more micro detail in the mix making a more palpable sound stage. More air around sound sources and more texture. The final guitar sequence on track two really shows it. I run a set of OTL triode monoblocks. There is a switch to dial in higher or lower feedback. Sounds like the same as the Boulders on the higher feedback. Perfect sound, but a little less engaging. You could argue the Gryphon does not control the bass as well, but at the same time it is very desirable. Again, both great, but surprising the extent to which they each have their own signature.
Gryphon sounded more neutral no colouration true to the source compare to Boulder- Boulder slightly more bodies- pending on preference- both are equally good sounding
Jay, just love your track/system presentation strategy, which makes it easier to compare both systems. To my surprise, I truly prefer the Gryphon setup which has more meat to the bones when compared to the Boulder setup. There is greater/truer tone color with the Gryphon tan with the Boulders. Male voice on the Gryphon has more chest than the Boulder. The Gryphon, to my surprise has better bottom end (greater slam/extension). Very clear winner with the Gryphon IMHO. However, at this level of equipment, it could be just a question of system integration with the choosen cable manufacturers. Looking forward with your second shootout with other cables. Congrats on organizing this and Merry Xmas.
Gryphon components deliver transparency, and a more delicate details with these tracks. However, with more dynamically challenging tracks, likely the Boulder trio would deliver a stronger result. This is choosing between A+ and A level components, in which it could swing one way or the other depending on the music track.
I enjoy the Gryphon more because of the quality sound and it seem more emotional to feel closer to the music or real live. For the Boulder seem good for analog since Jay mention that Boulder preamp seem to be more analog. Gryphon have more bigger soundstage and the singer just right front of your face lol but really you know. Thank you Jay for sharing all Hess high end equipment and awesome experiences. Merry Christmas everyone and happy holidays and happy new year!
Gryphon does it for me. Wanted to like the Boulder because I currently own some Gryphon gear and was looking for a change. Thanks for providing this video. Good stuff.
The base on the boulder grabed my attention first. Overall I like the Gryphon more, it feels like the music and voices are more live like. I wouldn't complain if I had the boulder either tough. Great video Jay. Have a merry Christmas and keep the videos coming.
I like the boulder for the first track and the gryphon for the second. Track number three is something I wouldn't listen to so can not really say. Good job jay. After listening to both more I find the boulder more ruthless to what is being fed into it and the gryphon seems a little more polite. gryphon more tube like,boulder very solidstate.
Both sound great! I flipped a coin and up came the "Gryphon" ----- really the G is easier on my ears with a clarity for long term listening using Grado 325e headphones. I liked the sound of the bass more on the Gryphon.
In the first go Boulder sounds impressive but carefully listening A/ B both . Gryphon wins easily.. more musical, more blacker background and instruments sound more natural ...
I love the way of Boulder performed. I own both items of Boulder. The company cannot please the whole world. I auditioned both Gryphon at my friend's Gryphon leader in Taiwan. It sounded as it should sound like. If I can afford both I will be the ownership of these fantastic products. By using the kharma exquisite extreme grand speakers both Gryphon and Boulder 2000 series will bring the concert hall at home. Happy holidays everyone.
Well Jay what a shoot out , they are both really really good , and i will have a really hard time to decide which is better. I think i am toward the Gryphon because of its tonality and to me it also sounds like there is more substance to the Gryphon. With Boulder it seems like the soundstage is wider , and the overall sound is more airy. So my vote goes to Gryphon.
Boulder extracs more details an is more dynamic. Gryphon is more coherent. I go for Gryphon. Merry Christmas Jay, to you and to to all this beautiful hi-end community
I listened twice and both times I found myself more connected to the Gryphon setup. One isn't better, it's just which connects best overall with your emotions.
Mephisto and Boulder are about the same level, I am for Mephisto, which is 40k cheaper)) it is very difficult to understand through RU-vid. Cool presentation. Merry Christmas
Great video Jay, thanks for you effort. Both were great, I'll take either if I could... but I think in the end I liked the Gryphon a little more. Seemed more relaxed to me, less in your face energy. The Boulder , I thought had more bass energy "which I like".
First Comparison: The second demo sound more lively and quicker attack, the first demo sounds heavier and the instruments sounded more blended. Second Comparison: The forth demo came across lighter and more spacious, the third demo sound was nice but the decay on the notes seemed sluggish. Third Comparison: The fifth and sixth demos both sounded good, both moving along nice dynamically, however I liked the fifth demo over the sixth one because it had better white to black and soft to loud. Both of the anplifier setups represent excellent engineering- WORKS OF ART. This comes down to a matter of personal perception which is better, in this case my preference is the one you labeled “Gryphon”, 2 out of the 3 comparisons.Thanks for the privilege of listening to these fine hifidelty products which possibly would have heard any other time.
some songs I like the gryphon with more of a darker background, the Boulder seemed a Tad more articulate but on some of the songs it seemed muddled guess it depends on the recording on which amp is better I would say it's a tie because both depending on song were airy... My 2 cents....extra. MERRY Christmas and God bless.
It is interesting to see that the Boulder sections are more brightly lit and the Gryphon sections the lighting is turned down some. The Boulder, for me, has more resolution, air, ambience, digs deeper, whereas the Gryphon is darker/warmer and seems to have less ambience and overall resolution; it seems to close down some from the giant image the Boulder throws. It will be very interesting to find out if the Gryphon is using the stock PCs or the AQ PCs. My guess is that it is on the stock PCs. Regardless, I'd have to live with both these systems for a while to definitively decide which one to keep because I don't think one system completely does better than the other. I do lean toward the Boulder for its bass control and bigger soundstage ambience and air and this is to be expected because of the mono blocks and significantly more available power. Jay, gotta say, this is by far for me your best ever video - excellent thought process in editing and putting the video together along with the direction and the descriptive text to let the viewer know exactly what is going on. BTW, I used a good set of ear buds and could easily hear all I described above - I listed multiple times and had fun doing so. Merry Christmas.
Musically, the G have an edge on the B, even though they may be a bit behind in terms of holography, etc. My guess, however, is that the combination of B preamp with G power amp might yield an even better result. Thank you very much, Jay, for this experience! You are settling the new standard in your field. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Boulder has more bass slam and energy in the treble. Gryphon is more coherent and focus on the total musical experience. Gryphon would be my choice. Merry christmas Jay🎄
To each his own. I love the Gryphon. Tight bass, lovely warm mids and just the right highs. You just feel the very large headroom and the delivery is effortless. The Boulder is amazing but a bit electric / crispy for my ears. Thanks for the comparison.
For me there is no better here. It is difficult to make a choice. They are different but this difference is not a question of quality. For example I feel the Gryphon is more erealistic, but I feel more confortable with the Boulder. The Gryphon reminds strongly give of the old Cardas Golden Cross cables. Everything is very good but there is a slight lack of breath. Like there is a tickening of things in a buttery way. boulder is free of this but it pays from this freedom with some kind of electronic feeling. I say that for my earing confort I prefer the Boulder because I know I cannot live long time with that kind of more natural but more chocked feeling of the Gryphon.
Gryphon sounds less bleached out in the midrange a fuller deeper midrange the Class A circuitry operates vastly different in the Gryphon- the Boulder reacts to the signal which in turn creates the bias current To generate full on total current The Gryphon once the appropriate bias setting is chosen does not have to react - the full on current in class A is ready not reacting as in the Boulder-
Lights on: Gryphon. Sounds more lifelike, more detached from speakers. I hear more of the room in the recording. Images seems to have more body, density of guitar image. Hear more "emotion" from vocals. Boulder is very fine sounding, too! Additionally, "Gryph" seems to project image forward of the plane of the speakers. (Monoprice ear speakers-planar model (586) used to "evaluate." Thanks for sharing, Happy Holidays to you & your family! Shalom. Al R. Temple Hills, Md.
I prefer the Dynamic range, bottom end control and 3-D like sound of the Mephisto. I did enjoy the Boulder’s musicality which to your point contradict the reviews of the past. it reminds me a bit of the Momentum house sound , but maybe better.
Listened thru my main system. The Boulder started out with a larger soundstage on the first two tracks. Is this what the 1000 watts is doing? The vocals did seem to be a bit lean, though. But the Gryphon was more focused within a smaller space. There was better delineation between instruments, and more inner detail and microdynamics that the Boulder seemed to gloss over. I was prepared to say that the Boulder did the best Man on the Moon in any of these videos by quite a bit. Details on the guitar were excellent. But the Gryphon had warmer vocals, which seem to be more correct IHMO, although with a bit less guitar detail. Thanks for for the demos, and the chat last night.
Very enjoyable! Boulder is probably more neutral but I preferred Gryphon & found it to be more musical. Gryphon is an awesome amp & goes well with the Alexx. I think I might like the Boulder preamp with the Gryphon amp though.
BOULDER- more neutral (clean) cannot tell if cold or if dynamics are good over youtube in comparison to gryphon. The gryphon sounds like a very neutral tube pre amp was added or just slightly more body or warmth cant tell. again dynamics and timbre cannot be easily heard over youtube. if the boulders give more detail and tone than its better but if its the same tone quality and just more bass and warmth than the gryphon is my choice but im sure they both sound insane and also if the gryphon is underpowered than its out. i like loud music and movies.
I like the resolution and slightly forward sound of the Boulders. Apples to apples though. Get the Gryphon monos to compare mono to mono. The Mephisto does have a nice smoother sound, so it's really down to what you're going for and the gear you're pairing with it.
This is an excellent comparison, very easy to hear the differences Both are very good, but totally different personalities The Boulder seems to be more focused in upper midrange, the gryphon in the chest This is obviously appealing for the male voice tacks which is focused in their lower mid, upper bass region It does show on the second track, although gryphon has more holographic instrument placement it make the bass rather fat verging on muddled This could relate to how they both handle the impedance dip in the Alexx with 1.5 ohm at 2.85khz, and 3ohm around 55hz, my hypothesis being they both react to these differently creating the sonic differences which are very noticeable in the vid well done Jay !
First off it was nice to put a face to the voice last night. Also nice to see I’m not the only weirdo who loves training and audio out there lol It does feel like the Boulder imparts a warmer signature to the sound esp vocals. Gryphon leading edges seem crisper. I like both but find the Boulder drawing me in a bit more. Awesome video jay. Stay safe
Good stuff from super quality products ,Boulder is NASCAR , Gryphon is Formula 1 both amazing and one can appreciate what each brings ,in the end its a matter of what taste is preferred .
I would enjoy the tracks more with Boulder. On my earbuds, the Gryphon gives me slight ear pain on "trebly" vocal parts. The Boulder sound does not do that.
I would love to hear these systems playing Stormy Monday by Lee Michaels. Lee plays a Hammond organ and the bass pedals thru a Leslie cabinet accompanied by just a drummer. The Hammond organ in all its unfettered glory. Would definitely shake things. Music with a little meat on the bones.
yeah fascinating comparison. both are so top of tree when it comes to resolution etc. only one of them is playing music if you ask me. the other is an amazing audio projector that would impress the crap out of you for a while but also give you a bit of audio nervosa. WC could get a Technics SL1200GR and a radioshack phono stage and with gryphon he'd be ready to roll.
I thought I was going to go with the Boulder before this vid, but no, it has to be the Gryphon, it makes the Boulder sound a little 'sterile' especially on the 2nd track My headphones are not really good enough to get anything like the top and bottom frequencies you will be hearing so my comment has to be taken in context Good luck with your up and coming videos and thanks for posting
Listening thru totl shure earphones I was not expecting to hear a big difference. However I clearly preferred the Gryphon. More transparent more natural. Must be a huge difference live, right?
Base on gryphon better control, The gryphon sounds more realistic. The bulder got a smidge of grain in the upper mid lower highs more pronounced but only on certain tracks . Gryphon is very transparent. Well I guess I liked the gryphon.
This comparison shows how good the Gryphon really is. It sounds more intimate, natural and easily delivers the mood of a recording/musician. What I hear with Boulders is that they just have more power and grip. Dear Jay, I have been watching your journey since the very beginning. It's like a never ending movie. Many thanks for your efforts and enthusiastic experience that you bring to the audience.
The detail retrieval and separation with the Boulder is outrageously good, better than the gryphon, the gryphon ties the music together slightly better though. From that first test while I preferred the gryphon for track two and the Boulder for track one, track 3 felt like such a difference that I don’t think I could live without the boulders clarity if I’d had it in my system. Currently for me the Boulder is ahead, looking forward to the second test.
Interesting comparison. Where are those fools that claim all amps sounds the same and cables make no difference? Perhaps they should visit your room. I imagine the line buildup from NYC to Florida... Anyhow, my impression listening to your system not with headphones but my downstairs HT setup. Gryphon digs deeper or has elevated bass comparing to Boulder, man these babies surprised me. They make Wilson Alex sound like if they had Yamaha NS1000M berillium midrange. Incredible speed and resolution. These guys are on steroids dynamically as well. The upper midrange is perhaps slightly elevated but it doesn't distract me. What would be really cool is to try biamping your Alex (if it supports it), with Gryphon running the low end and Boulders driving the rest. Boulders have this easiness that goes with them and provide incredible resolution at the same time. I want to listen to the music and not analyzing the sounds. Switching back to Gryphon sounds like someone removed the midrange driver or put back Wilson driver. :) Though in the real life it is possible Gryphon is better and closer to what it should be. Judging by youtube videos using my HT setup is not fair. I promise to listen to it again in headphones or at least in my 2 channel setup. Congrats on opportunity to compare these bad boys. I don't think anyone in the states had a chance to do that. Now I know why most Europeans have been talking about these brands. I wish you still had Parasound JC1+ to compare with. Happy Holidays and thanks for sharing.
All in gryphon is a little bit better but approximately same I suppose cable is not same if same gryphon is better Many advantages of bird less place less cables less price and a little more quality of sound
@@jaysaudiolab That is true. I already listened more and my first Impression stayed. I prefer the Gryphon. I own an Antileon Signature and Gryphon are the best sounding amps in my mind.
Gryphon. Boulder is almost too perfect, too sterile. The Gryphon makes space for emotion. It’s RU-vid on my KEF phones so impossible to really say. Great demo.
I prefer boulder on track 1 and 3 I like the fat bottom of the gryphon on track 2 but I prefer the boulder just a more transparent and less restrained in the vocals, guitars etc. amazing system either way
The Gryphon is the one I feel is more natural but it needs a touch of the Boulder to bring out what the Gryphon is struggling with , to me it sounds like its muffled and needs that little bit more open on the top end, but Gryphon is the one out of the two I perfer.
I like the crisper presentation of Boulder. Jay fantastic job... The only question that comes to mind is what was the reason to go for the 2150s whereas the Boulder engineer themselves confess the power components inside of 3060 is on another level? they roughly cost the same amount...
Boulder kicks Gryphon's ass easily. More control, less effort with Wilson's, more dynamic. Yes, Gryphon is more neutral, which might favoured classical music or chamber music. But when it comes to rock, Boulder really rocks. These are anything more than opinions and musical preferences. So, for my musical taste, I'm much more fonded with Boulder's musical presentation. Congratulations for your videos and system. Thank you and Merry Christmas
forgive me. I typed wrong. These are nothing more than opinions and tastes. And, for my preferences, I like Boulder's much more than Gryphon. Keep posting, Jay. Thank you
The Boulder reproduce the ambience in the room better, and has more reality in the body of the music. The Gryphon seems actually to be somehow more attractive to listen to, but if you listen more carefully the Boulder is more realistic and gives more body.
Gryphon is a better match with alex and sound more real and the bass is more extended in gryphon there is no edge better tonality , in the other hand boulder doesn’t sound right for me with alex , its too much colored and in ur face gryphon is winner ✌🏻
Hi Jay. The Gryphon set up is much faster than the Boulder power amplifiers and preamplifiers. Looking forward to your comments my friend. All the very best Albert
Both superb but different. My notes on Boulder v Gryphon, respectively: Full v. Detailed. Smoky bar v. studio. Better bottom v better upper. Real, power, brawn v precision, articulate, nuance.Rook v Knight. Enjoy v think. Clear difference. As Jay says, pick your poison (flavor).
During the first 5 seconds of every song the Gryphon seems like the clear winner but then I notice the presentation is a bit stiff compared to the Boulder.. The Gryphon seems to have more potential though. It just need an even better source, or perhaps something as simple as a different power cord for the DAC to win.
They're both superlative. The Gryphon is a bit less controled, more lively with all the pros and cons. The Boulder is spot on. I guess it's a matter of taste, both are very near of endgame.
Gryphon was more real... Like my ayre is... But boulder make the hair stands up on my arms and neck😁😁👍.. This is porn for audiofils.... When the hair stands on your body then the sound is what you should go for🕺thanks for this high qualitee shoot out...its pure gold..
