New Gryphon Mirage amp brings ultra-hifi to the "people"
By Paul Miller 
posted Oct 14th 2006 12:15PM
posted Oct 14th 2006 12:15PM
While we must question the sanity of a manufacturer that bills their 16,900 Euro (21,188 US) amplifier as "more accessible and more flexible than ever before," we really can't argue with the end results. Gryphon's new Mirage Control Amplifier is being targeted at the custom home installation market, which is apparently fairly "consumer" for Gryphon's taste, and if they manage to pull this off without sullying their precious "audiophile cred," it looks like they've got a winner here. The main innovation present here is a wireless control section that can be mounted to the preamp box (as pictured) or can float freely, with the boxy preamp stashed away out of sight. Gryphon also has developed dedicated software that can be purchased separately to integrate the unit with AMX or Creston home automation systems for a close approximation of multi-room audio. There's also that fancy "magic wand" remote, which doesn't quite look like the Harry Potter variety, but happens to be built out of solid aluminum just like all the rest of these components, so we're not complaining. We're not exactly sure when this thing is available, but it looks like if you've got the Euro you should be able to finagle one this month or so.
21,188 USD? That's redic-damn-diculous.
Who pays that kind of money for a commodity item anymore?
It's not a question of luxury either, since this thing doesn't provide you with anything more that can't be had in a $1000 product. And before you point-out it's "unique features", they can easily be implemented in a *$200* amp.
Complete shite.
"Features" aren't what make an amplifier, my friend :)
That's like saying, who would pay over 200 bucks for a home theatre? You can buy a "Home Theatre in a Box" for 150 dollars.
Obviously this isn't targetted towards mainstream entry- or mid-level Home Theatre enthusiasts. This is for people who have a fair amount of disposable income and who care about sound. You won't find the build quality, power, and sound quality most likely delivered here from a 200 dollar amp.
So yes, it is precisely a question of luxury, and of powering equipment that requires relatively high wattage, without sacrificing sound quality.
That much for this? I had to build something similar (no remote, or display) for a school project (EE major) and it cost less than $50. You msut be paying a lot for the black case and front display, becuase the internals are not that expensive.
MarkZ doesn't get it. There's a point of diminishing returns, even a point of a total non-existence of returns, when considering the price of a product. This one reached the latter at, oh, $5-7000 MAXIMUM, to be vulgarly generous. Neither the sound, build quality, nor power improves ONE IOTA after a very low price point. Even very few people in the industry would purport to believe in that audiophile mumbojumbo BS anymore.
NO amplifier is worth 21,000 USD, because the only value after about 3000 bucks comes from unquantifiable and irrational variables like, "Hey, I paid 21,000 for this thing. Am I a COMPLETE FREAK, or what?!"
that is about the wierdest remote i have ever seen
Easy to understand. This is targeted for people who pay $10,000 for a Tad pool cue and own a plane.
See the link and scroll down.
http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/f23354e2552da6f3/5fcbc736b4ebff40?hl=en
Wow the price is outrageous, but hey it looks like a transformer so it must be good. :)
How many people paying this kind of money have spent a couple hundred dollars getting their hearing checked to determine if they could actually hear a difference? I'm betting its so small as to be no represented.