Предусилители — Gryphon Audio ESSENCE PREAMPLIFIER

The Essence Preamplifier is a pure Class A line preamplifier from the Danish company Gryphon Audio Designs. Its exterior was drawn by Flemming E. Rasmussen and its electronics by Tom Moller, and it shares the Essence name with a Gryphon stereo power amplifier. The chassis is finished in brushed anodised aluminium with black acrylic details.

Key specs that matter

As standard the Essence offers two XLR balanced inputs and three RCA single-ended inputs, feeding one XLR output and two RCA outputs. Gain is +18 dB. Input impedance is 50 kOhm balanced and 25 kOhm single-ended, while output impedance is 15 ohm on XLR and 22.5 ohm on RCA. Bandwidth runs from 0.1 Hz to 1 MHz at -3 dB, THD+N stays below 0.005%, and maximum balanced output reaches 23 Vrms. The power supply holds 2 x 26,000 uF of capacitance. The unit draws 0.5 W or less in standby and 50 W at idle, runs on 110-120 V or 220-240 V mains, measures 47 cm wide by 16.5 cm high by 38.5 cm deep, and it weighs a net 13.4 kg.

Engineering and use context

Gryphon uses a true dual mono layout with the shortest possible signal path and minimal internal wiring. Tone controls, balance controls, a headphone output and other circuitry Gryphon considers superfluous were left out of the signal path. Volume runs through a 43-step relay attenuator, and the input stage is a single-ended Class A buffer operating without global negative feedback. A vacuum fluorescent display shows the menu, which covers maximum and start volume, input level matching from 0 to 8 dB in 2 dB steps, a choice between Normal and -6 dB output, display intensity at 100, 75, 50 or 25 percent with auto dim and auto off, Green Bias setup, input names of up to eight characters, designation of one input as the AV input and a function that restores the factory settings. Two slots accept optional modules - an MM/MC phonostage or a digital-to-analogue converter, the latter adding USB, AES/EBU, TosLink and BNC S/PDIF inputs.

Pairing

The Green Bias link connects to Gryphon Class A power amplifiers and lets the preamplifier regulate their bias automatically, and the matching Essence stereo power amplifier is the model built around this pairing. An AV input set to fixed level lets a multichannel processor pass through for home cinema use.

Alternatives

The Gryphon Helios is a dual-chassis preamplifier from the same maker with its own separate PSU 5 power supply and a touchscreen display.