Owner´s Manual
The Gryphon Mojo
Speaker System
Version 1.1 July 1 2009
Pronunciation [moh-joh]
–noun, plural -jos, -joes.
1. the art or practice of casting magic spells;
magic; voodoo.
2. an object, as an amulet or charm, that is
believed to carry a magic spell.
Mojo set-up, top view
RW = Room width
This is only a suggestion to a
starting point for experiments,
it is not a mandatory set-up.
“If it sounds good - it is good”
The Gryphon
Mojo monitor
system
Welcome to our world
Words by Flemming E. Rasmussen, CEO and
Founder of Gryphon Audio Designs
Two decades have passed
since the first Gryphon saw
the light of day. It wasn't a
case of planned parenthood,
more an inevitable love child the fruit of a long-standing
love affair with music and
audio.
Gryphon embarked on a long
journey back then, made long
not by detours, but simply
because our destination is so
far away. I have always believed that we experience
music with our hearts as much
as with our ears. For me, the
ultimate test is very simple the music must reach out and
touch the heart. Looking back
over the years, I must confess
that Gryphon has always
developed the audio products
that I personally needed and
wanted. Nothing was ever
built to meet a demand defined by market research.
Some might find that arrogant
and perhaps it is, but I prefer
to see it as an honest approach, while accepting that
not everyone shares my point
of view.
Fortunately, the passing years
have proven that there is a
sufficiently large group of likeminded individuals around the
world who have come together in this common quest.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank all
of you who have shared this
journey with me.
Down through the years,
Gryphon has expanded from a
single Head Amplifier to
encompass the full audio
spectrum with the definitive
music playback system. This
didn't happen because we can
do everything ourselves, but
because we recognize quality
when we encounter it and
have the ability to assemble a
team of dedicated specialists
for each new project. The
Gryphon company - like its
products - is greater than the
sum of its parts.
There is certainly a family
resemblance across the
Gryphon range and by that we
mean more than mere technology. We like to think that
Gryphon is not perceived as
Class A amplifiers, upsampling
CD players or silver cables,
but more as a degree of quality, a sense of "rightness" that
brings it all home for you. And
you don't reach that place by
following your ears, only by
following your heart.
In responding to queries as to
why Gryphon took the major
step of expanding into the
field of loudspeaker design,
the temptation is to take the
easy way out with a flippant
reply like "Because it's there."
But the simple fact is that,
having earned a global reputation for unsurpassed excellence in amplification, it was a
natural evolutionary move to
broaden our scope and turn
our attention to the other links
in the audio chain.
Flemming E. Rasmussen
Gryphon founder and CEO
Beginning with source components, Gryphon designed the
world's first single-chassis CD
player with onboard upsampling. The third generation of
this innovative technology, the
Gryphon Mikado, has won
numerous awards around the
world. The next logical step
was to apply the uncompromising Gryphon take-no-prisoners approach to the final link
in the chain. But this decision
was by no means made on the
spur of the moment.
In fact, the Gryphon speaker
adventure began nearly 18
years ago with a chance
encounter between Gryphon
founder Flemming E.
Rasmussen and Steen
Duelund, a Danish mathematician who has dedicated his
professional life to loudspeaker theory.
Duelund's theories on constant phase in crossover networks can be summed up in a
single statement: "All drivers
must be in phase at all times
at all frequencies." Following
this theoretical "Eureka," the
hard part then becomes
making that happen in a real
room with a real loudspeaker.
Initially on a strictly informal
basis, an in-depth exploration
was undertaken that would
take full advantage of
Gryphon's assembled expertise and extensive experience
in design and manufacturing
to transform Duelund's theories into real-world products
with scant regard for such
minor details as pricing, parts
availability, prevailing attitudes
and preconceived notions.
Steen Duelund passed away
in 2005 but the rest of the original design team implement
his ideas and spirit, as much
as possible, in every Gryphon
speaker project. Duelund left
a unique library of reference
recordings to Gryphon CEO
Flemming E. Rasmussen.
These recordings are still
used in all projects, allowing
us to imagine what the old
master would had said.
Mojo design observations
As with all things known to
man, loudspeakers are subject to the laws of physics and
to the limitations of human
perception. We may bend,
manipulate or mask or exploit
these laws and limitations, but
we cannot ignore them.
In the quest for the finest
speaker, music lovers audition
numerous models and finally
settle on what they believe to
be the “best” speaker. What
else can you do? But is the
“best speaker” truly the best
speaker? If you are lucky, you
will end up with a speaker that
is the best match for a particular room, a speaker that
might be a complete disaster
when set up in a different
room. This explains the differences in opinion about speaker performance. The performance/quality of any given
speaker changes radically,
depending on its environment.
Steen Duelund 1943 -2005
Lars Matthisen, Chief Acoustic
adviser at Gryphon, carrier of the
Duelund flame.
In general, a loudspeaker
can be no better than the
listening room allows it to
be.
Therefore, the listening room
is the most important element
in a high performance sound
system and for this reason is
often referred to as the final
frontier. Few people have the
luxury of a dedicated, purpose-built listening room.
Most of us listen to music in a
room that also serves as the
living room. There are several
ways to address this challenge.
Here are the most common
“solutions”…
A.
The room can be treated in
several ways by using passive
and/or active absorbents,
bass traps, diffusers and other
devices. Unfortunately, these
methods are usually expensive, an eyesore in the living
room and of limited success.
In most cases, they simply
change the flavor of the problem.
B.
In recent years, sophisticated
“room correction systems”
have been introduced. The
term Room Correction is quite
misleading insofar as none of
these systems actually correct
the room in any real sense.
They electronically manipulate
the sound of the audio system
in order to obtain a better
measured match to the room,
much like previous generations of equalizers that merely
changed the tonal balance of
the sound. Unfortunately, they
typically introduced a whole
new set of problems and are
not usually used in high end
sound systems. Lastly, a number of correction systems are
basically computers that digitally manipulate the sound for
the same reasons. These systems are more sophisticated
and can address the task with
great precision. However,
many critical listeners agree
that the digital conversions
and extensive signal manipulation involved have a high
price, and not just the one on
the price tag.
C.
The most popular solution is
to experiment and mix products with different flavors
and especially to seek out a
speaker that has a complementary sonic signature to
that of the listening room. At
best, “neutral” performance is
obtained by forces reacting in
different directions, hoping for
tonal equilibrium. This is an
art approaching alchemy and
the proud owner’s fragile
house of cards collapses if any
of the components, especially
the listening room, is changed.
For many audiophiles, this
ongoing quest to find the
sonic Holy Grail through constant experimentation is what
it is all about.
Most music lovers simply want
to listen to great music with
great sound without needless
hassle.
Bass performance
The most severe problems
usually occur in the bass
region, typically due to
designers’ over-imaginative
attempts to circumvent the
laws of physics. Most people
prefer a speaker with full frequency response from the delicate high-frequency shimmer
of a triangle to the lowest
notes of a church organ. All
speakers should ideally provide superior high frequency
performance, but speakers
with full output at low frequencies require large drivers
and consequently large cabinets with huge internal volume. Low frequencies also
require movement of large
amounts of air in the room.
There is little to be done
about these physical facts, as
long as we look at the loudspeakers in isolation.
Another often overlooked fact
is that, although a speaker
may be capable of extended
deep bass performance, its
performance can be easily
compromised by adverse
room conditions.
This is a fact that cannot be
changed, and when a large
speaker is used in a room that
is too small, room overload
occurs and the compressed air
expands like waves in water.
This is caused/supported by
an acoustic phenomenon
called “room gain”, the room’s
automatic amplification of
lower frequencies by 12 dB
per octave.
The result is what is generally
termed “standing waves”.
This acoustic amplification of
bass is heard as an overwhelming emphasis on the
lower frequencies. In audio
lingo it is referred to as a
“boomy” bass.
This type of bass may impress
some friends and annoy
neighbors but it can hardly be
described as high end sound
and is certainly not acceptable
to the educated listener.
Smaller Speakers
Many people prefer compact
speakers because they usually
do not suffer from these problems, but only because their
small enclosure and drivers
cannot generate enough energy to provide deep bass and
consequently excite the room.
The smaller speaker often has
superior midrange and high
frequency response simply
because the smaller enclosure
provides ideal working conditions. Smaller speakers also
often offer a superior soundstage, allowing the speaker to
disappear as the soundstage
extends well beyond the physical positions of the speakers.
The generally smaller drivers
are faster and reproduce transients and details without the
delay and “overhang” often
found in larger drivers.
Again, there are no free
lunches and the trade-offs
with the small speaker are
reduced bass and lower maximum output than larger
speakers.
Critical listeners with vast
experience in listening to different speakers often comment that they wish that they
could combine the soundstage, disappearing act and
speed of the small speaker
with the bass response of the
larger speaker.
At Gryphon we have over the
years made similar observations and faced the challenge
of small rooms at shows and
elsewhere. We are often
asked what speakers we use
and which speakers we recommend. Our answer has
always been that we recommend the speaker that sounds
best in the room in which it
will be used. When we use the
term “best” we mean correct
and realistic in musical terms,
essentially neutral, but with all
the dynamics and excitement
of listening to live music. We
find headroom, ambience and
tonal coherency to be key elements in the live music experience.
The Gryphon Mojo
monitors
The Cabinet
In order to live up to the
uncompromising design goal
of perfect phase all the time at
all frequencies, the enclosure
incorporates a concave curved
front to form a direct angled,
time-aligned system with
identical distance from the listener to the acoustic center of
each driver. This is the only
way of ensuring true time
alignment while maintaining
direct on-axis sound from the
drivers. It is not seen as often
as the usual sloped front that
is much less complicated and
expensive to make.
The Bass Driver
We decided to use two 6 inch
drivers rather than one large
driver. This provides greater
surface area while maintaing
high driver speed with minimum lag and overhang.
This also allows a narrower
front, minimising baffle diffraction.
The drivers employ pulp
paper cones, chosen for excel-
lent linearity and controlled
behaviour outside its operating
range, eliminating invasive
correction to reduce the
negative effects of cone
break-up.
The die-cast basket is a very
rigid, but open, structure
preventing compression of the
air mass behind the cone.
Even the area behind the
spider is ventilated, allowing
the spider to work freely.
These qualities are basics in
the Duelund/Gryphon design
philosophy of designing and
building the “correct” drivers
rather than “fixing it in the
mix,” as is often the case. - for
obvious economical reasons.
The Tweeter
By unfair tradition, the tweeter is always the star of the
show. To much focus is often
placed on an exotic tweeter
that may be outstanding, but
being the star, often fails to
play along with the rest of the
band. At Gryphon we believe
in an “all star” approach. To
qualify, each driver must be
able and willing to join the
team to create a complete,
seamless speaker with uniform performance across the
band, not only in terms of frequency but just as much in its
subjective nature and approach to the task.
In this case, we do use a truly
exotic tweeter that was the
natural star without being
“forced” into the concept. The
Tweeter is an Air Motion
Transformer unit with a
extremely light metal diaphragm, providing lightning
fast response combined with
flat frequency response up and
beyond 38kHz with extremely
The speaker terminals are
Gryphon's proprietary 5 way
terminals used on Gryphon
products such as the Poseidon
and Colloseum products.
The Mojo basic stand
The mojo stand places the
speaker at the correct height
for most people. We recommend
filling the stand with sand for
added mass and damping. A
set of adjustable spikes with
coasters are also provided, ensuring an effective evacuation
path for vibration.
low distortion and with a total
absence of compression.
A categegory of tweeter rarely found in monitor-sized speaker systems.
The Crossover
The Mojo crossover is a showcase of carefully chosen or purpose manufactured components. The extreme Graphite
resistors from Duelund Coherent
Audio, hand-made inductors
from the famous Danish
Jensen company and excellent
low-memory, precision capacitors from Germany are all
hardwired with special Teflon
hard-insulated silver solder.
Parts such as the entirely
hand-made Duleund resistors
and the Jensen inductors are
components rarely found in
commercial speakers because
of their
pro-
hibiti-
ve cost,
but they
are well known
and used in the
hardcore DIY communi-
ty. Due to the intrinsic
high pass roll off of the rib-
bon tweeter, the filter is
fourth order for the tweeter
and the bass units to ensure
phase continuity at all
frequencies.
Jensen paper/oil inductor
Duelund graphite resistor
Mojo crossover / back plate
Owner's Manual
When you purchase the Mojo
system, your authorized
Gryphon dealer delivers and
installs it. His staff has been
meticulously schooled in the
proper unpacking and set-up
of the system. Your dealer will
return after a two-week
break-in period for final
adjustment.
This service is included in the
price of the Mojo system and
is crucial to optimizing system
performance.
The Listening Room
This section outlines ideal
room dimensions and speaker
placement. Specific acoustic
conditions may permit some
deviation from these recommendations. The Mojo´s curved baffle is designed so that
the sound from all drivers
integrates at a point 5 m in
front of the high frequency
driver. (Think of the drivers as
rows of spotlights all angled to
illuminate the same spot.)
The cabinerts should be at
least 1 m from any side wall.
We recommend as much distance from the back wall as
possible.
Imagine a circle on the floor
at a diameter of 10 meters
with the listener in the middle.
The Mojo should be set up
along the edge of this circle,
forcing all the drivers to point
directly at the listener at a distance of 5 meters. This is the
basic design formula and not
all locations will allow this. We
have tested Mojo in a number
of different room sizes from
very small rooms to halls.
What is important in all cases
is to set the speakers up
toed-in pointing directly at the
listener.
Note: plush furnishings provide high acoustic damping,
requiring greater system output.
Mojo was developed in a 50
sq.m. room with typical
acoustic damping corresponding to most modern residential spaces.
We do NOT recommend room
treatments for added damping
behind the loudspeakers.
Some damping behind the listening position is recommended, especially if it is close to
the rear wall.
Diffusion is generally a far
better acoustic solution in that
it removes unwanted reflections without restricting dynamics or exerting excessive
influence on tonal balance.
Because Mojo design requires
angling the cabinets in
towards the listener, the influence of side walls is minimal.
The curved baffles also reduce
reflections from floor and ceiling. If the ceiling is low, a diffuser placed at the point of
the first reflection may be
useful. A rug on the floor between listener and speakers
will help. The conventional
coffee table in front of the listener is typically the source of
most problems with unwanted
reflections.
We strongly suggest that all
effort are made to optimize
the acoustic properties of the
room before any electronic
manipulation (room correction)
is considered. - (electronics
cannot correct a room, they
can only manipulate the
sound to compensate for poor
acoustics).
We consider this to be the last
resort.
Because of its design and
comprehensive adaptability,
Mojo is nowhere near as
demanding as other speakers.
However, because of Mojo´s
extreme phase linearity, you
will discover that it is more
revealing than any other loudspeaker this size.
Be prepared for a radical revision of everything you had
previously learned about loudspeakers or heard from them.
Set-Up
Mojo is designed to form two
hemispheres - one horizontal
and one vertical. The vertical
hemisphere is defined
by the curvature of the front
baffle.
The cabinets must be angled
in so that they are aimed at
the same point (ear level for a
centrally placed listener), forming a curve in front of the
listener.
PROPER PLACEMENT IS
CENTRAL TO THE Duelund CONCEPT AND REQUIRES PATIENCE
AND ATTENTION. TRADITIONAL
WISDOM IS NOT THE ANSWER
HERE.
The difference between the
merely outstanding and the
ultimate is a fine line.
Break-in
The Mojo requires at least 100
hours of break-in. Do NOT use
special break-in discs. Often,
they tend to result in breakdown instead. Choose dynamic music instead. Heavy
metal is a popular choice for
burn-in purposes, ...
Tweeter tuning
Sometimes, room acoustics
may require a slight adjustment of HF levels to obtain
seamless presentation. WE
would not consider a potentiometer - ruining the fantastic
performance of the tweeter.
Instead, the Mojo is fitted
with a set of Duelund Graphite
resistors on the back of the
speaker, protected under a
steel bar. The extra resistors
are in the box with accessories.
The resistors are placed in the
clips and the leads connected
to the black terminals. Be
careful not to break the resistors and make sure that the
leads are not short circuited to the back plate or
the other resistor.
Default setting/neutral:
R1 = 10 Ohm
R2 = 22 Ohm
Low setting: (-0.5 dB)
R1 = 22 Ohm
R2 = 10 Ohm
High setting:
R1 = 5.6 Ohm
R2 = Empty
Tweak alert
Mojo is the fruit of an extremely protracted, very openminded development process.
We assure you that it is not
possible to improve this system by replacing a few
lengths of wire or a capacitor.
The Mojo stand
The Mojo stand assembly is
very easy. We recomend the
use of the enclosed spikes and
coasters to ensure optimal
coupling to the floor even on
carpets. The stand should be
assembled with the hole in the
column facing up. This
alows filling of sand to add
weight to the stand (IMPOR-
TANT).
The enclosed silicone micro
feet should be attached on top
of the stand, to protect the
speaker cabinet from scratches
and sliding.
Maintenance:
Mojo is available in two
distinctive painted finishes:
1. Standard finish in the revolutionary new soft feel urethane, developed for Mercedes
Benz dashboards and other
interior finishes in their luxury
cars. The paint is mat with a
extremely soft feel to the
touch. In contrast to normal
matt paint the soft-feel is very
strong and only requires occasional dusting or wiping with a
moist cloth. Do not use any
chemicals or solvents. Do not
place any object permanently
on top of the speaker cabinet.
NEVER wax or polish soft feel.
2. Custom paint in semigloss
two-pack automotive paint
with a very hard surface. Use
same cleaning method as the
soft feel surface.
Mojo Speaker system performance:
Frequency response:
37 Hz -40,000 Hz
Room dependent
X-over freq: 2000 Hz
4th order
Sensitivity:
89 db /2.8V
Nominal impedance:
4 Ohm
Power handling:
200 Watts
Dimensions:
W: 20 cm D: 42 cm H: 52 cm
Shipping weight:
Cabinet: 22.5 kg
Stand: 17.7 kg
Enjoy
Flemming E. Rasmussen and
the Mojo design crew take
immense satisfaction in this
new addition to the history of
the company.
When the privileged owner of
the Mojo sits back and experiences how music rises above
technology as walls fade away
and a direct connection is
made to the very souls of the
performers, we know that our
work is done and we take
great pride in it.
We have made the loudspeakers disappear, leaving in their
place the only thing that really
matters... Music.
Warranty
The Gryphon Mojo is warranted against failures arising
through faulty workmanship and materials for a period of 3
years from date of purchase. The warranty is not transferable.
This warranty is only valid in the country where the product
was purchased. All claims under this warranty must be made
to the distributor in the buyer`s country by returning the unit
securely packed in the original box with all accessories, posta-
ge/freight prepaid and insured. The unit will be repaired or
replaced at no charge for parts and labor.
This warranty remains valid only if the serial number of the
unit has not been defaced or removed and if repairs are per-
formed only by authorized Gryphon dealers or distributors. It
does not cover damage due to misuse, accident or neglect.
The distributor or manufacturer, Gryphon Audio Designs,
Denmark, retains the exclusive right to make such judgement
on the basis of inspection.
The retailer, distributor or manufacturer of the Gryphon shall
not be liable for consequential damage arising from the use,
misuse or failure of this product, including injuries to persons
or property.
To qualify, the enclosed warranty registration card must be fil-
led out and returned to the manufacturer within 10 days of
purchase.
Alternatively, you may choose to register your Gryphon on our
website:
www.gryphon-audio.com
Notes:
Serial number:
Purchase date:
Color:
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