Gryphon Mephisto Solo - Manual (Page 11)

Circuit Topology
Power is the name of the game
and the Mephisto is equipped to
take on even the most vicius and
nightmarish of speaker loads.
The output section uses Sanken
bipolar output devices which
have demonstrated extreme reli-
ability in addition to outstanding
sonic performance. These tran-
sistors can be called upon to
deliver momentary peak power
of 4,000 watts per channel with-
out overload. Each of the 40
transistors is bypassed with indi-
vidual film capacitors. The sepa-
rate driver section has its own
supply from individual windings
on the custom-made toroidal
transformers. Unique mechani-
cal design ensures optimal ther-
mal tracking between drivers
and output devices. The driver
section features its own gener-
ous bank of 50.000 uF of ultra-
fast capacitance.
The power capacitor bank is an
astounding 500,000 uF array of
capacitors.
No negative feedback is
employed and DC coupling
employs DC servo circuitry.
Internal wiring in the signal path
is kept to an absolute minimum.
The input wiring is Gryphon
Guideline Reference gold-
embedded silver cable. Only bal-
anced inputs are provided.
Unique even in this price range,
The Gryphon Mephisto utilizes a
completely independent trans-
former and power supply for
control circuits, effectively pre-
venting digital noise generated
by these circuits from reaching
the amplifier circuits.
Gryphon proprietary speaker ter-
minals accept bare wire, spade
lugs, banana connectors or any
combination.
Class A
True Class A operation has
always been a Gryphon bench-
mark, simply because nothing in
our experience can match the
sonic glories of pure Class A.
Unfortunately, true Class A is
even rarer today than when we
introduced the DM100. Rising
consumer awareness has forced
some manufacturers to stop
making outrageous unsubstanti-
ated claims of Class A power rat-
ings that only exist in the fevered
imagination of some marketing
"expert".
Still, there is a growing number
of so-called "new" Class A
topologies based on automatic
biasing which, simply explained,
somehow allow the amplifier to
sense when the bias should
increase to ensure constant
Class A performance!
If such thing were to actually
work as claimed, it would be tan-
tamount to a re-writing of the
laws of physics. In order for an
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