GRYPHON MIKADO

Pre owned. In excellent condition. Free from any obvious signs of wear. Supplied with remote control and accessory as shown in the photos.

Top-loading CD player built around a heavily modified Philips CD-Pro 2 transport, featuring a floating suspension and an all-metal structure. The disc is held in place by a magnetic clamp consisting of two magnets that secure it during rotation. The architecture adopts a dual-mono configuration and uses four toroidal transformers, with separate regulated power supplies for the different sections of the circuit.

The digital conversion section uses four 24-bit/96 kHz AKM D/A converters arranged in a dual-differential configuration, with permanent upsampling of the signals to 24-bit/96 kHz. The analogue circuit uses a Class A output stage without negative feedback, combined with a first-order analogue filter. The design is intended to reduce interference and keep the different power supply and signal paths separate.

The Mikado provides a presentation characterised by neutrality, transparency and control, with particular attention to low-frequency reproduction. The bass is described as fast, deep and well defined, while the midrange offers a smooth and natural presentation, with precise reproduction of instrumental textures. The frequency response remains even, allowing the characteristics of the recordings to be clearly revealed without introducing pronounced tonal coloration.

Transient reproduction benefits from fast response times and a good ability to follow dynamic variations in the signal. This behaviour can be particularly evident with rock and electronic music, while acoustic recordings place greater emphasis on the player's neutral and analytical character. The quality of the recording therefore plays an important role in the final result, as the Mikado tends to reveal the characteristics already present on the disc.

The player features both balanced and single-ended analogue outputs, as well as digital connections in the same configurations. The analogue output reaches 4.2 V in balanced mode and 2.1 V in single-ended mode, while the signal-to-noise ratio is 106 dB A-weighted. The design does not support HDCD, while software upgrade capability allows the digital operation of the unit to be updated.

The player is controlled through touch-sensitive controls integrated into the front panel and marked directly on the display, as well as through a dedicated metal remote control. The top lid and magnetic clamp are designed to facilitate disc placement, while the top-loading design requires sufficient clearance above the unit when opening, as the lid rises by approximately 12.7 cm.

The Mikado's construction follows Gryphon's design approach, with a machined-metal chassis and an internal architecture organised around separate sections and dedicated power supplies. The result is a CD player designed to prioritise a short signal path, reduced interference and control of the different conversion and output stages.

Technical specifications:

• D/A conversion: 4 AKM 24-bit/96 kHz converters in dual-differential configuration; separate regulated power supplies
• Digital section: modular architecture designed for future upgrades; 2 temperature-compensated crystal oscillators with accuracy better than 5 ppm
• Transport: modified Philips CD-Pro 2; top-loading; all-metal chassis
• Analogue circuitry: pure Class A; fully discrete; no negative feedback; first-order analogue filter; regulated ±20 V DC power supply
• Power supply: 4 toroidal transformers dedicated to the digital and analogue sections; fully isolated power supplies for the digital section, transport and display; 15,000 µF capacitor banks per channel
• Circuit configuration: Dual Mono; extremely short signal path; minimal internal wiring; four-layer printed circuit board with silver-plated surface
• Analogue outputs: balanced gold-plated Neutrik XLR; single-ended gold-plated Cinch
• Digital outputs: 110 Ω balanced AES/EBU on XLR; 75 Ω S/PDIF on BNC
• Compatibility: CD-DA; CD-R; CD-RW
• Controls: fully remote-controlled operation; front-panel standby; main power switch under the front panel
• Mains connection: detachable IEC power cord
• Dimensions: 481 × 100 × 374 mm (W × H × D)
• Weight: 10 kg