Menu
Since 2002 Valdemar Børsting has been a 90% + shareholder.
The minority shareholders are the employees.
The first Gryphon product was released in 1984. For more detailed Gryphon history, please see the company Profile.
As satisfied Gryphon owners are well aware, we are never in any great hurry to bring new products to the marketplace. Refinement of musical performance is not a process to be rushed or neatly scheduled to coincide with the new season or the next hi-fi show. Nor do we believe in the widespread practice of minor revisions which manufacturers use as an excuse to launch Mark II-III-IV versions, as if they were achievements worthy of the Nobel Prize.
Because we finish the job before introducing the product, for example the first Gryphon diablo integrated amplifier was manufactured in almost 10 years dismissing all contenders to its crown.
We take pride in the fact that we have a very long model life. Historically, Gryphon models have a lifespan of 3-5 years. By not constantly introducing new “Spring and Autumn collections”, we allow ourselves all the time it takes to develop new products. This also protects your investment in Gryphon, ensuring that your purchase will not be outdated any time soon.
Because we take our time developing a product, we can introduce products that are real improvements and are ahead of their time for years to come.
We do not have an official policy as such, but when we design new products or discover potential significant improvements to existing products, we always investigate the possibility of offering them as upgrades to current owners. But we always look critically at whether the cost of an upgrade represents a worthwhile investment for our customers.
Also, a lot of so-called upgrades are really just manufacturers making the customer pay again when they finally get around to correcting design errors or shortcomings that should never have been released in the first place. In the automobile industry these events are known as factory “recalls” and are, naturally, paid for by the auto maker. In audio, they call it an “upgrade” and let the customer foot the bill.
The Gryphon policy of taking the necessary time to get it right the first time ensures long product life. We refuse to release inferior work and then charge the customer for “upgrades” to the level of performance which he should have had to begin with.
Gryphon do not sell direct to users, also in the situations where there is no dealer in the country.
Check out the dealer section on this web-site to find the closest Gryphon reseller. He will be able to provide you with advice before and support after your purchase.
Service under warranty is the sole responsibility of the distributor/dealer who supplies the product. Do not return the product to our factory with a warranty claim unless authorized in writing by the dealer.
The heart -or motor- of any amplifier is the power supply. The stiffness or “torque” of the power supply defines its ability to deliver power (voltage times current) into loads below 8 ohms, which is the standard static test load for power specifications. Unfortunately, speakers are never a simple 8 ohm load. (Life would be simpler, if they were.)
A stiff, high-current power supply means heavy transformers, large heatsinks, lots of heat, lots of electricity, expensive parts and costly assembly. This is why Gryphon products are larger and heavier than other products with comparable nominal power ratings.
Some consumers may be impressed by a manufacturer’s claim of high power ratings in 8 ohms, but in reality an amplifier with a somewhat lower 8 ohm rating, but designed with a high current power supply, will subjectively be experienced as much more powerful and give the user a wider choice of speakers.
Many times the “sound” of a speaker is really defined by the amplifier’s ability (or inability) to drive a real-world dynamic load. Seriously, the weight of an amplifier is probably a more useful guide to its performance than its nominal power rating, assuming that it is well designed and not filled with bricks.
Gryphon’s Class A power specifications are conservative, real-world Class A ratings. We have also seen manufacturers claim as much as 16,000 Watts “pure class A,” or amplifiers with almost no heatsinks claiming as much as 250 Watts “pure Class A.” This is simply not true and not even possible.
There is no getting around it: real class A means heavy products with very large, very hot heatsinks and high constant AC power consumption.
True Class A performance is a very expensive approach to making amplifiers and many manufacturers falsely claim Class A performance in order to add non-existent value to their product. Class A/B amplifiers can be very good, but in general they are less expensive to manufacture and lack the ultimate authority and resolution of true Class A designs.
Because Gryphon amplification is designed to be utterly neutral with no sonic character of its own, any high quality equally neutral speaker that is agreeable to your room, musical tastes and general sonic preferences will be a good match. We cannot offer any opinion on other manufactures products.
Once again, Gryphon’s basic philosophy is one of sonic neutrality. We prefer to leave interpretation to the musicians and singers. Therefore, you should not need a cable with a particular “sound” of its own to balance or “equalize” your system. Unfortunately, in some circles cables have become an acceptable equalizer in the audio High End.
Take the advice of your authorized Gryphon dealer in selecting interconnects and loudspeaker cables for your Gryphon equipment.
Naturally, Gryphon’s own range of interconnects, loudspeaker cables and power cords is used in the development of Gryphon products. Gryphon cables are designed for ultimate neutrality and resolution. They are extremely revealing and will allow the ultimate quality of your Gryphon system or any fine audio components to come through clearly and undiminished.
In our experience, most external powerline conditioners do more harm than good. The sound may be very different, but not necessarily an improvement. Listen very critically and for an extended period of time, before making a final decision about purchasing a conditioner.
Gryphon products incorporate heavily regulated multi-stage power supplies which act as effective mains conditioning filters and will in most cases not be improved by the insertion of an outboard powerline conditioner in the signal path.
The massive Gryphon Class A power amplifiers are demanding so much AC current that very few, if any, powerline conditioners can handle such requirements without going into some kind of saturation and limiting performance of the amplifier
High End power cords are expensive and should be selected based on personal preference, specific electrical conditions in your area, etc. We do not believe that it is fair to force our clients to pay for a very expensive cable that we choose for them.
We do recommend the Gryphon Online AC power cord which can be purchased separately.
We could definitely write a long paper about the relevance, irrelevance, use and misuse of technical data. More often than not, outrageous specifications are published in the hope that technically unsophisticated consumers will be unable to see through a smoke screen of numbers and jargon.
Generally, audio specifications tell you as much about performance as the number of pages in a book tell you about the quality of its contents. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the serious audiophile is a willingness to trust his own personal judgement, even when it flies in the face of audio orthodoxy or is at odds with what reams of published specifications tell him he should be hearing.
It is our belief that the discerning individual who buys a Gryphon product is more concerned with how it performs, rather than why it performs. The fact is that in analog technology, new circuits are very, very rare. That is why most brochures and white papers are little more than new creative ways of describing very well known technology. Usually, there is more creativity in the marketing materials than in the actual product.
In digital technology, there is certainly room for more groundbreaking developments, but given the nature of the technology race and competition, serious designers like Gryphon are simply not willing to share our findings. Please understand our reluctance to give away for free the detailed “recipe” for a successful design which may have been years in the making and cost a small fortune to implement.
As a general rule, you will find that anything really interesting is never published in detail.
No. Our products are built specificly to the mains voltage stated on the serial number label. It cannot be changed.
Gryphon warranty is granted the first owner of the product, by the dealer that sold the unit. The dealer is supported by the factory.
A fuse is actually a quite complex component, which has to both protect the device against overvoltage, spikes and intermittent dropouts – and to protect the device against consequential damage if an internal fault occurs.
If replacing a fuse, it is very important to replace with a quality fuse of same rated current, characteristics, rated voltage, breaking capacity and a suitable safety classification. It is unfortunately our impression that not all special “Hi-End” fuses comply to these parameters and have the required safety classifications.
You will not automatically loose warranty if using other fuses, but we might reject a warranty claim if the unit fails or is damaged due to use of wrong – or questionable quality – fuse types.
Hum/buzz – not from the speakers
The quality of the AC-mains electricity in most countries are degrading due to higher pressure. This results in contamination of the amount and purity of power. Air conditioning units, computers, low voltage lighting and industrial equipment are responsible for this, often the AC ground serve as a common sewer for noise.
Amplifiers with large transformers, such as Gryphon amplifiers, can respond to this by generating a hum from the transformers, the amount of this depends on location and often on the time of day, depending of numbers and kind of devices connected to the AC-mains grid. Audiophiles often agree that systems sound better in the night – less users – cleaner power.
REAL class A amplifiers loads and stresses the house AC capacity higher than traditional class A/B amplifiers (99.9% of all amplifiers).
Traditional amplifiers also hum when they are working (playing loud) – but then you won’t hear it.
REAL Class A amplifiers are working all the time (also when not playing at all).
This kind of noise is normal and is not indicating that anything is wrong.
Mechanical, short mechanical “clank og ding” noises – not from the speakers
Gryphon amplifiers are either pure class A or very high biased towards class A. Consequently, they run hot and are designed to do that.
However, physics tell us that metal expands or shrinks depending on temperature. The amplifier may shortly make these noises when it warms up and do the same when it cools down. It is perfectly normal, it may sound alarming, but nothing is wrong and nothing is breaking.
If you after driving your car, is sitting it in while it cools down, the same phenomenon is often heard.
Our website section; Technical is answering the most common questions, if it is not covered, please contact your Gryphon dealer or national Gryphon distributor.
Power Amplifiers:
We recommend setting your power amplifier in standby mode when not using it. Optimum performance in full class A mode will be reached after 30 min to two hours after power up.
Please consider powering fully off when not using the amplifier(s) for longer time (main switches on rear panel or on bottom side near front).
Preamplifiers, CD-Players, DAC’s etc.:
You can consider leaving these devices powered on if planning a listening session soon, but we recommend setting your preamp and sources in standby mode when not using it.
Optimum performance is usually reached within one to two hours.
Please consider powering fully off when not using the unit(s) for longer time (main switches on bottom side near front).
– Please remember always to power up and – down in the correct sequence:
Power up sequence: Sources and preamplifier first, power amplifiers last
Power down sequence: Power amplifiers first, Sources and preamplifier last
Integrated Amplifiers:
We recommend setting your integrated amplifier in standby mode when not using it. Optimum performance is usually reached within 45 min to two hours.
Please consider powering fully off when not using the amplifier for longer time (main switches on bottom side near front).