GRYPHON Antileon Revelation
Power amplifiers
The power of the Lion with the grace of the Eagle, the Antileon Revelation transcends the conventional amplifier/speaker relationship. It does not interact with the loudspeaker—it dominates it. Reactive loads, impedance dips, and back-EMF are rendered irrelevant, leaving only the music: uncolored, uncompressed, and uncompromised. Unlike other amplifiers that combine brute force with audible harshness or sterility, the Revelation offers both power and grace—a seamless fusion of muscularity and nuance that preserves the finest textures of a performance.
Funkce a forma
I borrowed the first paragraph from Gryphon’s literature. As described, the Antileon Revelation seems to be the one amplifier to rule them all, doesn’t it? It is not the first Antileon in Gryphon’s discography – we had seen Antileon and its Signature and Evo versions before. The Revelation continues the legacy and raises the bar.
For a stereo amplifier this Gryphon is massive, measuring 570×260×600 mm and weighing 90kg. It is also a powerful one: the Antileon Revelation Stereo delivers 2 x 160W @ 8Ω, 2 x 320W @ 4Ω, and 2 x 620W @ 2Ω respectively, all this rated as continuous power. According to Gryphon, the ability to drive any speaker with total control is not just theoretical proposition with the Revelation – it is a fact. The stereo version (monoblocks are available too) provides 31dB of gain and 81dB minimum of S/N ratio which I find rather average value. But again, Gryphon is very honest in specifications, and you can take the numbers as guaranteed, without any conditionals or ifs.
The machine is strictly dual-mono, and it is built around high-current bipolar devices with zero-negative global feedback, with 335,000μF of filtering capacity per channel, and two 1,500VA toroidal transformers. The dual-monoism permeates the powering architecture too – each half of the amplifier has its own power switch and C19 16A inlet, thus two power cables are needed. Symmetry is also required in how phase is connected; in case one of the AC cables has reversed phase, the AC phase indicator stays on. Other than that, there are two pairs of very solid proprietary speaker posts, one pair of XLR inputs, and a grounding post around the back. No RCA inputs.
The Antileon Revelation (comparing to its Antileon Evo predecessor) has totally new amplifier double-sided copper PCBs, new high current gain input buffer with bipolar junction transistors (BJT) instead of JFET buffers used in the Evo, lower capacitance transistors, solid core silver internal wiring, and some mechanical decoupling improvements, including shielded and epoxy-damped transformers. I do not even mention the dark and menacing Darth-Vaderish looks.
Nízké frekvence
On powering up, the Gryphon behaves exceptionally well. There are soft-start circuits that prevent any power grid surges. There is no loud ‘pop’ sent into the speakers either. It surprises me how many hi-power high-end amps neglect this aspect and try tripping breakers or try destroying loudspekaers upon being turned on. There are several switchable modes of operation: Bias L keeps the circuitry warmed up for casual listening; Bias M provides 100W of Class A and then switches to Class A/B; Bias H fully opens amp to Class A for maximum performance (that how I listened to the Antileon Revelation during the critical listening). Of course, the more you bias the amplifier into Class A, the higher bill you can expect from electricity provider, as in the H, even without signal, the amp draws 500 watts from the wall socket. I did not use a Gryphon preamplifier to control the Antileon Revelation; if you do, then you can connect the two via a “Green Bias” link that automatically adjusts the bias setting depending on the preprogrammed positions of the volume control, not to waste the power if it is not needed. A smart feature, isn’t it?
Interestingly, Gryphon argues that there is no need to use filters with their amps, it can be detrimental to their performance. They also warn against using coaxial speaker cables and actively shielded cables, as they may represent too high capacitive load and may drive the amp into oscillations. Throughout the listening sessions, the full loom of Gryphon Vanta cables was used. The Antileon Revelation was factory-tuned with these cables so they should deliver the optimum performance. I used the Vanta cables on other occasions and they are excellent in non-Gryphon set-ups too.
Čistota rozlišení
In its fully open Class A operation, the thermal losses are huge, and you can definitely feel it with your hand: the heatsinks as well as the whole metal enclosure become very hot, despite the generously dimensioned chassis. By experience, I would expect unbeatable midrange, smooth highs, and voluminous yet rather loose bass from a Class A amplifier. The Antileon Revelation ticks the first two boxes, but the bass is firm, dynamic, fast, and deep. The composure of the amplifier does not change with lower or higher volume levels. I’m a big Accuphase fan, but I must acknowledge that these amplifiers have always their comfort zone in terms of how loud they can play. Play louder and the sound starts to be stressed and compressed, despite Accuphase is declaring high continuous power too. The Revelation is completely inert to how low/high the listening levels are, the character remains unchanged. It does not mean that the Revelation is characterless - there is family resemblance to the integrated Diablo 333 that I reviewed last year. It is a sort of vibe, as if the amp wanted embrace the listener in a warm hug. Hugging amplifiers often come with blurred transients and muffled sound, but here you can be hugged with very defined and textured sound which is as pleasant as it is authoritative.
Tonální věrnost
Omar Hakim, who played drums and percussion on the Brothers in Arms album (Dire Straits), provided the tambourine on the song So Far Away. With the Antileon Revelation, the metal pieces of the tambourine, the zills, are rendered with tonal and spatial perfection. The metallic rattle is fluidly locked in space as the tambourine moves in hand, amazingly delineated and very lifelike. It is a virtual reality event, not less. I cannot remember hearing this sound (and the song) that good. The drums have power and punch, the bass has deep growl, and both successfully counterbalance otherwise brighter sound of the album. The electric guitar that opens Money for Nothing is brilliant through the Gryphon. It sounds electric and distorted, yet smooth, full, and colourful without ear-piercing harshness. The louder I play it, the better it gets. Unlike many, I am not a worshipper of Brothers in Arms. Yet, I must admit, I savour each track of the album in completely new perspective through the Antileon Revelation. It is a lot of fun and no listening fatigue.
Prostorovost
The midrange of the Revelation is enticing and lush. Voices and vocals have the to-die-for quality, they emerge from the amplifier’s thick background with godlike articulation, with perfectly managed s, f, p, and b’s, there is no haze or electric hash riding on top of them. Soloists are there just for the listener, vocal bands and choirs are rendered with realism of individual bodies. All this happens in holographic soundstage. One of my go-to recordings, Natalie Merchant and Peppery Man, provides plentiful space relations of voices and instruments laterally, vertically, diagonally, and in the depth of the soundfield. Once you hear this track correct, it is difficult to adapt to anything else. The Gryphon gets it correct, and it is one of the state-of-the-art playbacks ever. I know, this sentence has been used many times since 1950, but I believe that the Antileon Revelation is one of the best amplifiers to the date of this review. We will yet see and hear what the future brings, but I am sure that Gryphon will play its part in it.
Připojené komponenty
- Sources: Audionet ART G3 CD transport, Grimm Audio MU2 streamer/DAC/preamp
- Amplifier: Gryphon Antileon Revelation stereo power amplifier
- Loudspeakers: Marten Mingus Quintet 2 Statement Edition
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Gryphon Audio Vanta speaker, Audionet IC
- Power conditioning: Gryphon Audio Powerzone 3, Gryphon Audio Vanta
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