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Note that this is a discontinued product. You may want to visit the brand's page here to browse their newer products.
What reviewers think
Bloggers and YouTubers have tried this product—so we've summarized their strongest opinions below. Links to full reviews follow.
Product Strengths
- Huge, open, and relaxed sound, with a touch of sweetness in the upper registers
- Focuses on the deeper meanings of the music
- Might be a turntable for the ages
Product Considerations
- MSRP of $150K
- Demos were sometimes interrupted by the room next door
Takeaway: The Gryphon Apollo turntable offers a stunning sound that is huge, open, and relaxed. It is worth checking out if someone wants something that can really dig into the music.
What are hifi reviews useful for? (1) Identifying products you should demo in person at a dealer. (2) Learning which products reviewers unanimously praise as the best they've heard (this means they probably are legitimately great). (3) Identifying a product's attributes that satisfy your idiosyncratic needs and tastes. Beyond that, we often discount what reviewers say because they heap praise on most products—and are often apprehensive about publishing strong criticism or comparisons between products. Further, they seldom have more than a few products on-hand, often relying on their memories to compare past products. Always listen for yourself.
All
Apollo
reviews
[{"title":"The Gryphon Apollo Turntable | Munich 2024","link":"https://pt.audio/2024/05/24/the-gryphon-apollo-turntable-munich-2024","source":"Part-Time Audiophile","datePublished":""}]
An excellent review of a great product
/
Publisher
/
3/1/2022
An excellent review of a great product
Publisher
/
3/1/2022
Video Review
Manufacturer details
Features
Specifications
- Motors: Two Brinkmann proprietary Sinus™ Belt Drive Motors
- Motor Placement: 180-degrees apart
- Power Supply: Based on Brinkmann's third-generation RöNt technology
- Construction: Laminated sandwich of anodized aluminum, Kerrock, and Smart Stack
- Support: 4 solid, adjustable spikes
Description
Never before has so much intellectual horsepower been devoted to the service of Analog Playback. The culmination of a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between Soren Slebo of The Gryphon Design Team, Turntable Legend Helmut Brinkmann, Cartridge Master Ortofon and the Aarhus Technical Institute, Apollo by Gryphon is more than a turntable: it is a seminal event in the history of High End Audio.
Release Timeline
Manufacturer Site
Brand highlights
Taking a step back to look at reviewers' thoughts of the brand's entire lineup—not just this product—what stands out most is the following:
- Gryphon amplifiers use a distinctively robust power supply featuring custom-made toroidal transformers and substantial filter capacitance, contributing to exceptional dynamic headroom and speaker control.
- The brand's industrial design, originally led by Flemming Rasmussen, combines bold aesthetics with practical functionality, creating visually striking components with user-friendly interfaces.
- Gryphon prioritizes short, direct signal paths and minimal internal wiring to maintain signal purity and transparency, enhancing sonic performance by reducing potential noise and interference.
- They offer modular designs with optional phono stage and DAC modules, allowing customers to tailor their components to their specific system needs and upgrade in the future.
Select products
Select product comparisons
Diablo 333
- Positioning: Gryphon's top integrated amplifier, succeeding the Diablo 300.
- Description: Integrates advanced technologies from Gryphon's flagship models, offering enhanced musicality and power. Features a dual mono configuration and optional phono and DAC modules, providing flexibility and high compatibility with various audio systems. This amplifier is ideal for users with a higher budget who desire a compact yet powerful system for larger rooms.
Essence
- Positioning: The entry-level high-end power amplifier in Gryphon's lineup.
- Description: Offers pure Class A operation with a focus on sonic neutrality and dynamic ease, making it ideal for small to medium-sized rooms. Features a dual mono design with separate power supplies for the output and driver stages, which is a step up from integrated designs like the Diablo 333.
Antileon Evo
- Positioning: A mid-tier power amplifier known for its high current capability.
- Description: Excels in delivering high instantaneous current, ensuring compatibility with demanding loudspeakers, which is a significant advantage over the Essence. Uses pure Class A bias and features a dual mono configuration, offering superior control and speed.
Mephisto
- Positioning: A high-end power amplifier designed for the most demanding audiophiles.
- Description: Offers exceptional current delivery and stereo separation, making it ideal for large rooms and high-end audio setups. Features a dual mono design with separate power supplies, providing superior channel separation and control compared to the Antileon Evo.
Apex
- Positioning: Gryphon's flagship power amplifier, representing the pinnacle of their design and engineering.
- Description: Delivers immense power and refinement, capable of driving any loudspeaker with ease. Features pure Class A operation with a massive power reserve, surpassing the capabilities of the Mephisto. This amplifier is for those with an unlimited budget who demand the absolute best in audio performance and are willing to invest in a statement piece for their audio system.
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Avg. Product Price
$100,001+
Used For Sale
15
Available (Scroll Down)
Brand Popularity
115
of 900+
Badges
Top 50 Brand
Top 250 Brand
Products Listed
27
Founding Year
1985
Our take on the brand
Gryphon is one of the most respected high-end amplifier brands in the world. Its bass grip is phenomenal, thanks to an unusually high level of capacitance, which keeps everything tight and controlled, even with demanding speakers. Gryphon is also known for its bold, brutalist design—a look that a lot of people love. You’ll find their gear all over Europe and Asia, and the Diablo 333 is often considered an ‘endgame’ amp by those chasing the very best sound and aesthetics.
Look inside the brand
Brand Page
Our interview with the brand
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What are your favorite tracks for showcasing the strength of your products?
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What if you spend more?
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What competes at this price?
Kronos
Discovery
120000
/
Released
Kronos developed a wholly new way to attach the chassis to the suspension system, using completely different soft clamping methods. This treats the chassis more like the soundbox of a guitar or a violin because in that case how it's held dictates to some degree how it sounds.
Kronos Audio's turntables feature a unique counter-rotating dual-platter system that cancels out rotational forces and minimizes vibrations, setting them apart in the industry. Their turntables also use supercapacitors to operate off-grid for reduced electrical noise, while their Discovery RS tonearm employs a proprietary bearing system for precise playback.
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Our Summary
Product Strengths
- The Chronos Discovery Turntable's performance completely resets the bar for what can be achieved sonically with the playback of LPs and is the new milestone in reference-level LP playback
- It presents an entirely fresh and previously unattainable level of musical experience, a new pinnacle of expressiveness and communication that is more than merely revelatory and bordered on transformative
- Discovery presents with an amazingly black, stark background, yielding a noise floor so decidedly defeated that it is all but imperceptible
- It exhibits this incredible ability to more finely differentiate and reveal the ever-so-specific size and locality, and with some recordings, even the shape, of each and every instrumental voice it regenerates
- The new model comes equipped with a massive custom hand-wound power transformer and uses a bank of super-capacitors on its output—optimising damping (towards back EMF), improving the microdynamic motor control, and increasing drive stability
Product Considerations
- The speed controllers on the front panel are not marked
- It is an intricate and complex piece of equipment to install, best left to experts
- Its size and Captain Nemo physicality may be a drawback
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- Compared to the Kronos Pro, the Discovery shares no components—it isn't the Pro writ large, but runs along common evolutionary design channels
- The Discovery goes a lot further and is significantly better
Takeaway: The Chronos Discovery Turntable offers a new and improved music listening experience. It is considered a top-of-the-line product that uncovers sounds you may have never noticed before.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Kronos Audio's turntables feature a unique counter-rotating dual-platter system that cancels out rotational forces and minimizes vibrations, setting them apart in the industry. Their turntables also use supercapacitors to operate off-grid for reduced electrical noise, while their Discovery RS tonearm employs a proprietary bearing system for precise playback.
Product Page
Product Page
NAGRA
Reference (Turntable)
128000
/
Released
2024
Following in the footsteps of Nagra's flagship Reference Anniversary turntable/tonearm system, Nagra's research and development team devoted an additional two years applying all that was learned in the preceding four years of Anniversary system development to expand our commitment to LP reproduction to a wider audience of vinyl lovers. The Reference turntable/tonearm maintains the same level of obsessive attention to detail embodied in the limited edition Reference Anniversary turntable/tonearm, including our insistence on technical achievement validated by extensive listening. Its concept, design and execution are befitting of its inclusion in Nagra's flagship Reference line of products.
Nagra Audio, a Swiss brand with roots in professional recording and film (including two Oscars for soundtracks), brings watchmaking-level precision to their hifi equipment through extensive in-house manufacturing of components like transformers. Their HD Preamp and Classic DAC showcase unique technologies, including virtual battery power supplies and PCM-to-DSD conversion, while their commitment to quality is demonstrated by rejecting over half of their tested valves to maintain exceptional standards.
Expand Details
Our Summary
Product Strengths
- Designed specifically for Nagra's 70th anniversary, with only 70 units produced, making it an exceptional and exclusive piece
- Provides a silent listening experience, with surface noise remaining at an almost inaudible level
- Offers precise sound reproduction, where all instruments are perfectly distinct with great definition
- Excellent instrument separation, allowing listeners to discern individual instruments within orchestral formations, creating a sense of depth and space
- Clean and well-defined low-frequency response without any muddiness
Product Considerations
- A complex piece of equipment, requiring 4 years of development and production
Comparisons (according to reviewers)
- The sound is closer to an analog master tape listening than to vinyl as we know it—rounder and softer
Takeaway: The Nagra REFERENCE ANNIVERSARY turntable is a technologically advanced and meticulously crafted product designed for exceptional vinyl playback. It is a premium option for audiophiles seeking the highest level of precision and clarity in their listening experience.
Video review
Our take on the brand
Nagra Audio, a Swiss brand with roots in professional recording and film (including two Oscars for soundtracks), brings watchmaking-level precision to their hifi equipment through extensive in-house manufacturing of components like transformers. Their HD Preamp and Classic DAC showcase unique technologies, including virtual battery power supplies and PCM-to-DSD conversion, while their commitment to quality is demonstrated by rejecting over half of their tested valves to maintain exceptional standards.
Product Page
Product Page
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