Gryphon Encore Owner's Manual

Encore

Owner´s Manual

Encore: A demand by an audience for an additional per-

formance, usually expressed by applause.

Table of Contents:

Introduction....................... 3

The Gryphon....................... 3

The Man.............................. 4

Made in Denmark............... 4

Musical Objectives.............. 5

The Gryphon Master Tape

Collection............................ 5

Design Principles................ 5

Exterior Design................... 7

Manufacture and Assembly. 8

Using Your Gryphon......... 8

AC Voltage.......................... 8

Burn-In and Warm-Up.......... 8

Placement............................ 9

Input Connections........ 9

Choice of Cables................. 9

Care and Maintenance........ 9

Encore............................ 10

Sonic Excellence................. 10

Circuit Topology.................... 11

Protection............................. 11

Exterior................................. 11

Installation............................ 12

AC Power, Placement.......... 12

Power Cords, AC Polarity..... 13

Front Panel Functions............ 13

Rear Panel Functions............ 14

Balanced and RCA Inputs..... 14

Protection system.................. 14

Fuses, .................................. 15

Troubleshooting ................... 16

Tweak alert............................ 17

Warranty................................ 18

Specifications........................ 19

Introduction

and concert hall dimensions are

necessary components.

Dynamics and an unambiguous

sense of instrument location

even in the loudest passages

are also high priorities. To

achieve these objectives,

Gryphon products offer excep

-

tional speed and agility along

with seamless coherence in the

Since 1985, Gryphon Audio

Designs has quietly gone about

the business of creating fine

home audio components. We

know that you will appreci

-

ate and enjoy the benefits

of our accumulated expe

-

rience and share our abid

-

In Greek mythology: A fabled

creature, half-lion and half-

eagle, combining the power of

the “King of Beasts” with the

grace of the “King of Birds”. The

guardian of the source of gold

and protector of the Dionysian

In the real world: An acclaimed

Danish audio engineering com

-

pany employing cutting edge

technology and common sense

in the pursuit of the purest musi

-

cal experience. We feel that the

gryphon is an appropriate sym

-

Welcome to the global family of
proud owners of fine audio com­ponents from Gryphon Audio
Designs of Denmark. Your new
Gryphon unit has been painstak­ingly designed to re-create the
sound of live music taking place
in its original recorded space.
Every Gryphon product is
designed to cater to the needs of
the most discerning music
enthusiast with sumptuous
styling and superb user-friendli­ness which elevate it above the
mundane world of con­ventional audio compo­nents.

time domain.

As audiophiles, the
members of the
Gryphon design team are con­stantly reminded to keep their
priorities straight. We are not
involved in “hi-fi” for its own
sake, but strictly as a means to
an end, in the service of our life­long love of the live music expe­rience in all its sonic and emo­tional glory.

Our higher goal is to bring to the
listener a “You-Are-There” sen­sation. In taking up this chal­lenge, the Gryphon designers go
back to basics to analyze the
essential nature of the live music
experience. For us, an aware­ness of soundstaging, ambience

ing passion for music.

The Gryphon

cup of infinite wealth.

bol for our high sonic goals.

3

Following the immediate suc

-

cess of the Gryphon brand, all

import business was phased out

in 1993, so that Rasmussen

could dedicate his efforts entire

-

Every product from Gryphon

Audio Designs is designed and

built in Denmark. This is much

more than just a geographical

fact. It is also a seal of approval,

a stamp of quality. Living in a

region with no natural resources

(no oil, coal, precious metals,

etc.), the Danes have learned to

rely on their quick wits and

skilled hands. Innovative tech

-

nology, beautiful craftsmanship,

pride in one’s craft and a keen

eye for attractive design are

some of the long-standing

Danish traditions which are dis

-

tilled to their finest essence in

every unit that bears the

While scientific method and

sophisticated technology play an

important role in our electronics

design work, at Gryphon we

never lose sight of the fact that

the keen ears of an experienced

listener are the most crucial “cal

-

ibration tools.” Therefore, every

Flemming E. Rasmussen painting 1967

The Gryphon Head Amp 1985

The Man

Gryphon Audio Designs is the
brainchild of Flemming E.
Rasmussen and the fulfillment of
a lifelong dream to allow the
purest essence of the live music
experience to be recreated in the
home environment.

Rasmussen holds a degree in
painting and graphic arts from
the Aarhus Art Academy,
Denmark. During his studies,
Rasmussen developed close
relationships with the local music
community and designed many
LP covers and concert posters.
After graduation, he taught pho­tography and painting and
designed textiles, before found­ing 2R Marketing, which quickly
became Denmark’s leading High
End audio import company.

Gryphon Audio Designs was
founded in 1985 as an offshoot
of 2R Marketing, The first prod­uct, the now legendary Gryphon
Head Amp, grew from a one-off
spare time project developed
only for the designers’ own home
systems. Although the Gryphon
project was initially strictly a
hobby, not an actively pursued
commercial venture, demand
generated by reviews and word­of-mouth led to the formal estab­lishment of Gryphon Audio
Designs as a separate corporate
entity.

ly to Gryphon.

Made In Denmark

Gryphon name.

Musical Objectives

4

With state of the art technical

equipment and some of the

finest minds in the audio engi

-

neering field at our disposal, the

Gryphon brand name continues

to define the highest audiophile

standards of subjective and

The dual mono configuration

radically eliminates any possibil

-

ity of crosstalk or other interfer

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ence between channels and pro

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vides infinite channel separation

which contributes to the ability to

create space, focus, depth and

Because the electrical power

coming out of your wall fluctu

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ates wildly in terms of voltage

and distortion, Gryphon incorpo

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rates heavily regulated multi-

stage power supplies that act as

effective mains conditioning fil

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ters. Displays and control circuits

are fed by a separate power sup

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ply to isolate any digital noise

artifacts and effectively prevent

them from contaminating the sig

-

While the printed circuit boards

in more conventional audio prod

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ucts utilize conductor tracks a

mere 35 micron thick, Gryphon

employs at least 70 micron

Gryphon is located in beautiful tranquil sur­roundings.

Gryphon product exists for one
simple purpose: to bring the user
closer in the never-ending quest
for a more natural and convinc­ing musical illusion.

Every Gryphon design has been
built to cruise effortlessly through
even the most demanding musi­cal passages, regardless of vol­ume level, with a musical pres­entation defined by supreme
articulation and immediacy, sub­tle dynamic shading and razor­sharp focus. Refinement and
delicacy are combined with
power and authority for a natu­ral, involving listening experi­ence.

The Gryphon Master
Tape Collection

In the Gryphon listening rooms,
we are fortunate to possess a
unique library of more than
1,000 original master tapes of
recordings made during the
Golden Age of studio engineer­ing from 1956-1976.

Unlike conventional commercial
releases, our master tapes cap­ture the dynamic contrasts and
subtle inner harmonic structure
of the musical event, forcing us
to work to a higher standard in
our efforts to maintain the integri­ty of the original musical per­formance.

Design Principles

technical performance.

transparency.

nal path.

traces of the highest purity.

5

Beginning with our very first

amplifier apply no global nega

-

Gryphon research into the detri

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mental effects of magnetically

induced distortion (MID) has led

to the elimination of magnetiz

-

able materials wherever possi

-

ble. To eliminate the effects of

stray magnetic fields, non-mag

-

netic materials are employed

whre possible without sacrificing

The mechanical design of the

cabinet and assembly methods

are all carefully calculated to

ensure minimal resonance,

either through the use of

mechanically grounded high

mass or decoupling. Vibration-

sensitive components, capaci

-

tors in particular, are thus guar

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anteed a non-resonant environ

-

The heavy, thick chassis offers a

vibration-proof environment for

the sensitive electronics inside

and provides crucial shielding

from a polluted world of low and

high-frequency radio waves,

power-line radiation and other

electrical interference.

Meticulous attention to such

issues makes a significant con

-

tribution to the relaxing, open

and transparent Gryphon sound.

Unique, non-invasive protection

circuitry offers reliable, fuss-free

protection without compromising

product, “The Head Amp” all
Gryphon products have featured
extremely wide frequency band­width, because the ability to
reproduce ultra-sonic frequen­cies with no difficulty ensures lin­ear phase across the audible fre­quency range.

The implementation of circuits
with wideband frequency
response is a painstaking
endeavor in which the actual lay­out and ground pattern of the PC
boards are crucial to the
achievement of superior sonic
performance with no loss of
inherent stability.

Wideband frequency response
ensures the high slew rate
essential to the realistic handling
of the ultra-fast transients which
routinely occur in live music and
is crucial in recreating the natu­ral decay of musical instruments.
Wide bandwidth also improves
phase characteristics, for more
correct soundstaging and imag­ing.

tive feedback.

structual stability and safety.

ment.

Encore detail

All Gryphon designs are realized
with an absolute minimum of
negative feedback, which when
present in large amounts can
actually increase TIM distortion.
All Gryphon preamplifiers are
designed with zero negative
feedback. The Encore power

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