Gryphon Prelude Owner's Manual

Prelude

Owner´s Manual

Table of Contents:

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

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

Prelude................................ 4

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.......... 9

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

Menu Activated

functions.............................. 9

Balanced Connections......... 14

Choice of Cables................ 14

Care and Maintenance....... 14

Warranty.............................. 15

Safety Instructions.............. 16

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

Prelude

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 word-

of-mouth led to the formal estab

-

lishment of Gryphon Audio

Designs as a separate corporate

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

-

Made In Denmark

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

A piece or movement that serves
as an introduction to another
section or composition and
establishes the key, such as one
that precedes a fugue, opens a
suite, or precedes a church serv­ice ( Websters )

Flemming E. Rasmussen painting 1967

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.

entity.

ly to Gryphon.

The Gryphon Head Amp 1985

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

Gryphon name.

4

Musical

unique library of more than

1,000 original master tapes of

recordings made during the

Golden Age of studio engineer

-

Unlike conventional commercial

releases, our master tapes cap

-

ture 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 integri

-

ty of the original musical per

-

Design Principles

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

-

ence between channels and pro

-

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

-

ates wildly in terms of voltage

and distortion, Gryphon incorpo

-

rates heavily regulated multi-

Objectives

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 “cal­ibration tools.” Therefore, every
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.

ing from 1956-1976.

formance.

technical performance.

Gryphon is located in beautiful tranquil sur­roundings.

The Gryphon
Master Tape
Collection

In the Gryphon listening rooms,
we are fortunate to possess a

transparency.

5

stage power supplies that act as

routinely occur in live music and

is crucial in recreating the natu

-

ral decay of musical instruments.

Wide bandwidth also improves

phase characteristics, for more

correct soundstaging and imag

-

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. Gryphon power ampli

-

fiers apply negative feedback

judiciously for improved linearity

Gryphon research into the detri

-

mental effects of magnetically

induced distorted (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

throughout, with the unavoidable

exception of the transformer

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

-

effective mains conditioning fil­ters. Displays and control circuits
are fed by a separate power sup­ply to isolate any digital noise
artifacts and effectively prevent
them from contaminating the sig­nal path.

While the printed circuit boards
in more conventional audio prod­ucts utilize conductor tracks a
mere 35 um thick, Gryphon
employs at least 70 um traces of
the highest purity.

Beginning with our very first
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.

ing.

and bandwidth.

Typical Gryphon module

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

shield box.

6