Gryphon Sonata Allegro Owner's Manual

Sonata-Allegro

Owner´s Manual

Table of Contents:

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

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

Sonata-Allegro.................... 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

Balanced Connections....... 9

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

Care and Maintenance....... 9

Unpacking........................... 10

Installation........................... 10

Powersupply........................ 10

Front Panel & Remote Functions 11

Menu functions................... 12

AC Fuses............................ 15

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

Introduction

Welcome to the global family of
proud owners of fine audio com­ponents from Gryphon Audio
Designs of Denmark. Your new
Gryphon unit has been painstak ­ingly 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.

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

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 excep­tional speed and agility along
with seamless coherence in the
time domain.

Since 1985, Gryphon Audio
Designs has quietly gone about
the business of creating fine
home audio components. We

know that you will appreci­ate and enjoy the benefits
of our accumulated expe­rience and share our abid­ing passion for music.

The Gryphon

In Greek mythology: A fabled
creature, half-lion and half­eagle, 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
cup of infinite wealth.
In the real world: An acclaimed
Danish audio engineering com­pany employing cutting edge
technology and common sense
in the pursuit of the purest musi ­cal experience. We feel that the
gryphon is an appropriate sym­bol for our high sonic goals.

3

Made In Denmark

Flemming E. Rasmussen painting 1967

The Gryphon Head Amp 1985

Sonata-Allegro

Sonata Allegro form was a
development of the classical era.
It represents a more open form
than many of the earlier Baroque
forms such as fugues, rondeau
form ect.

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.

Following the immediate suc­cess of the Gryphon brand, all
import business was phased out
in 1993, so that Rasmussen
could dedicate his efforts entire­ly to Gryphon.

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 tech­nology, beautiful craftsmanship,
pride in one’s craft and a keen
eye for attractive design are
some of the long-standing
Danish traditions which are dis­tilled to their finest essence in
every unit that bears the
Gryphon name.

4

Musical

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 convinc ­ing 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

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

With state of the art technical
equipment and some of the
finest minds in the audio engi­neering field at our disposal, the
Gryphon brand name continues
to define the highest audiophile
standards of subjective and
technical performance.
The dual mono configuration
radically eliminates any possibil­ity of crosstalk or other interfer­ence between channels and pro ­vides infinite channel separation
which contributes to the ability to
create space, focus, depth and
transparency.

Gryphon is located in beautiful tranquil sur­roundings.

Master Tape
Collection

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

Because the electrical power
coming out of your wall fluctu­ates wildly in terms of voltage
and distortion, Gryphon incorpo­rates heavily regulated multi-

5

Typical Gryphon module

stage power supplies that act as
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.

The implementation of circuits
with wideband frequency
response is a painstaking
endeavor in which the actual lay ­out 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.

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 ampli­fiers apply negative feedback
judiciously for improved linearity
and bandwidth.

Gryphon research into the detri­mental effects of magnetically
induced distorted (MID) has led
to the elimination of magnetiz­able materials wherever possi­ble. To eliminate the effects of
stray magnetic fields, non-mag­netic materials are employed
throughout, with the unavoidable
exception of the transformer
shield box.

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. Vibration­sensitive components, capaci-

6

tors in particular, are thus guar­anteed a non-resonant environ­ment.

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 con­tribution to the relaxing, open
and transparent Gryphon sound.

Unique, non-invasive protection
circuitry offers reliable, fuss-free
protection without compromising
signal purity and signal path sim­plicity, with no conventional
relays in the signal path to
degrade or compress sound.

The ground path has been care­fully laid out in order to achieve
superior sonic performance with
no loss of stability. Component
layout has been designed to
ensure the shortest conceivable
signal path.

goes in, an absolute minimum of
internal wiring is included.

By lavishing attention on each
aspect of the circuit and fully
understanding the purpose and
behavior of every single part of
the whole, our designers can
optimize performance in each
section, before moving on to the
next step. This ensures simplici ­ty, a short signal path and a unity
of purpose with a single, well­defined objective: musical purity.

In the interest of ultimate fidelity,
tone controls, balance controls
and other unnecessary compo­nents have been banished from
the signal path.

Exterior Design

From the very beginning, every
Gryphon product has offered
stunning audio performance,
sumptuous styling and superb
user-friendliness, catering to the
needs of the discerning audio­phile who demands musicality,
convenience and aesthetics, all
without compromise.

Gryphon Audio Designs in the
outskirts of the small town of Ry

Exhaustive investigation under­lies the selection of every com­ponent part and many original,
proprietary components are cus ­tom-built exclusively for
Gryphon. Because what is left
out is just as important as what

In every Gryphon product, form
follows function in a unique syn­thesis of aesthetics and practi­cality. Gryphon stands for
sophisticated technology with a
high standard of industrial finish
that also incorporates the best of
handcraftsmanship.

7

The peerless finish, build quality,
ergonomics and pride of owner­ship that contribute to the totality
of the Gryphon concept can only
be fully understood and appreci ­ated up close and in person.

Rasmussen’s background in fine
arts and industrial design gives
every Gryphon product a distinc­tive, luxuriant finish which arises
organically out of the audio cir­cuit design and the user inter­face for a truly unique integration
of form and function.

Manufacture and
Assembly

At our laboratories and manufac ­turing facilities in Denmark, we
maintain full control over every
aspect of development and pro­duction, and the members of our
conscientious staff diligently fol­low each Gryphon model from
initial concept to early prototype,
through to final quality control.

Printed circuit boards are
assembled by a supplier of pre­cision military and medical
equipment with strict standards
of quality control and pre-inspec ­tion of components. Chassis
parts are manufactured by a
specialist chosen solely for the
outstanding quality of workman-

ship. In every aspect of every
Gryphon product, the same
stringent standards of excel­lence apply.

Following a 48-hour burn-in,
each product is tested again,
before being subjected to
Gryphon’s custom-developed
transport simulator which simu­lates the inevitable shaking that
a product will encounter in tran­sit. The product is placed on top
of a very large loudspeaker
which plays a special CD with
low frequencies which simulate
the vibrations of an airplane.
Each unit “travels” the equivalent
of 40 round trips from Denmark
to Australia before leaving the
factory.

AC Voltage

Your Gryphon unit is especially
made for the AC voltage of the
country to which it has been
shipped. If the voltage has been
changed, the warranty is void
and the product may be unsafe
or malfunction.

Correct AC polarity contributes
greatly to optimum performance.
If you are not using a three-pin,
non-reversible power plug,
please experiment with the ori­entation of the plug for optimum
performance.

8

Burn-In and
Warm-Up

Your Gryphon unit has been
thoroughly tested and burned in
before shipping. Performance
will continue to improve during
the first 40 – 50 hours of normal
use. After this period optimum
performance will be reached
approximately 45 minutes after
turn-on. With the exception of
Class A power amplifiers, we
recommend leaving your
Gryphon components powered
up at all times.

Balanced

teristics and possible limitations
of the other components in your
system, as well as those of the
interconnects and loudspeaker
cables used to connect your sys­tem.
Wiring should never be utilized
as "equalizers" to correct errors
elsewhere in the system.
Instead, any error should be cor­rected at the source, so that
interconnects and loudspeaker
cables can be selected solely on
the basis of sonic neutrality. For
this reason, we employ
Gryphon's own range of inter­connects and cables in every
stage of the design of every
Gryphon product.

Connections

All Gryphon products uses the
AES standard for balanced con­nections.

1. Ground

2. Positive

3. Negative
We recommend the use of dedi­cated balanced cables. Avoid the
use of adaptors as they degrade
performanc

Choice of Cables

Because your Callisto integrated
amplifier is a high-resolution
Gryphon audio device, it will
immediately reveal the charac-

Care and
Maintenance

Gryphon products are handcraft ­ed by individuals who take great
pride in the high level of fit and
finish which we achieve. To
maintain your Gryphon compo­nents in pristine condition,
please follow these simple
instructions.

Metal surfaces may be cleaned
with a damp cloth. Some product
made for treatment of vinyl inte­riors in cars may be useful. Test
the product on a non-visible sur­face, before using any fluids.

9

Unpacking

During unpacking and installa­tion, please take care to avoid
scratching the Gryphon Sonata­Allegro. Hard, sharp objects
such as tools should not be
nearby during this process. You
might want to remove your
wristwatch, rings or other jew ­ellery before handling the pre­amplifier. Please keep the car ­ton and all packing materials in
a dry place for safe future trans ­portation.

Installation

In order to minimize any possi ­ble risk of electrical interfer­ence, do not place the preampli­fier directly above or below the
power supply. The power supply
connector allows you to place
them some distance apart. If
you wish to place them side by
side, please place the power
supply to the left of the pream­plifier as seen from the front.

The following items are
enclosed:

1 Gryphon Sonata-Allegro pre
amplifier
1 Gryphon Sonata-Allegro
power supply
2 AC power cables
2 DC power supply con-

nectors
1 pair of white gloves
1 acrylic polish
1 packing list
1 purchase registration-

card
1 Green Bias control link
(use with Gryphon Antileon or
Antileon Solo power amplifiers)

If anything is missing or dam­aged, please contact your
Gryphon dealer immediately.

Power supply

For each channel, connect a
DC connector cable to the sock­et marked DC OUTPUT on the
supply and to the socket
marked DC INPUT on the pre ­amplifier. Turn the locking con­nector clockwise to lock firmly to
prevent accidental disconnec ­tion.

Each channel has its own
On/Off switch. For optimum per ­formance, we recommend that
you leave the Sonata powered
up at all times. If you choose to
turn the Sonata on and off,
please remember:

ALWAYS turn the preamplifier
on, BEFORE turning on the
power amplifier.

10

ALWAYS turn the power amplifi­er off, BEFORE turning off the
preamplifier.

Rear panel con ­nections

Make sure that the power sup­ply is turned off, before making
any connections.

Front panel and
remote functions

The level selected using VOL ­UME Up and Down is shown
numerically in the left side of the
display.

MUTE turns sound off without
using the volume controls.

Three balanced XLR inputs
marked INPUT 1, INPUT 2 and
INPUT 3 are provided. INPUT 4,
TAPE IN and TAPE OUT use
single-ended RCA connectors.
Connect your signal sources to
the appropriate sockets.
Your Sonata-Allegro does also
have a RIAA board ( Legato )
option. When you get a Legato
installed you will have an input
more to choose from.

Two sets of balanced XLR out ­puts marked OUTPUT 1 and
OUTPUT 2 are provided. These
outputs allow easy bi-amping or
multi-room operation.

If you are using a Gryphon
Antileon or Antileon Solo power
amplifier, you may choose to
connect the Green Bias control
link for automatic regulation of
Class A bias to the socket
marked BIAS CONTROL on the
preamplifier and on the power
amplifier. (See menu functions.)

ON/STANDBY turns the pream ­plifier on or activates Standby
mode, keeping the preamplifier
circuits fully powered up for
optimum performance for your
next listening session. The red
Gryphon logo in the display
remains illuminated when the
preamplifier is in standby.

MONITOR is used to listen to a
tape recorder. If the recorder
has a source/monitor function,
this switch may be used to lis­ten to the tape as it is being
recorded.

Use INPUT Up or Down to
select the source which you
wish to hear. The source select­ed will be shown in the right
side of the display.

Menu activated functions
The Gryphon Sonata incorpo­rates several functions which
are activated via a Menu sys-

11

tem. The Menu may be activat-

C H 1 # 00

C H 2 # 00

C H 3 # 00

C H 4 # 00

T A # 00

ed either via the remote control
or via the front panel controls.
To access the Menu, press both
Volume controls (Up and Down)
at the same time. MENU will
appear in the display.

After a few seconds, the pream ­plifier will exit the Menu. No
changes will be stored in mem ­ory. Your personalized, custom
settings may be recorded below
for future reference.

Press Input Up or Down to go to
any of the menu-controlled
functions listed in the chart.
NOTE: If you go to Save for
more than a few second, all
new settings will be stored in
memory and the preamplifier
will exit the Menu. If you are not
finished, activate the Menu
again and continue. If you go to
QUIT for more than one sec ­ond, the preamplifier will exit the
Menu with no new settings
stored in memory. If you acci­dentally Quit the Menu, activate
the Menu again and start over.

When you have made the nec­essary changes for a function,
press Input Up or Down to go to
the next function which you
wish to change. When all func­tions have been correctly
adjusted, press Input Up or
Down until Save appears in the
display. After a few seconds, all
new Menu settings will be
stored in memory and the
Gryphon Sonata will exit the
Menu. If you decide that you do
not wish to make any changes
while in the Menu, go to Quit.

Menu Function

Default Setting Custom
Setting

1. Channel Balance

B A L 00

2. Maximum Level

L m a x 44

3. Start-up Level

L o n 10

4. Level Match Input 1

5. Level Match Input 2

6. Level Match Input 3

7. Level Match Input 4

8. Level Match Tape In

9.Level match Riaa in

RIA# 00

10. Green Bias

G R . B Low

11. Display On/Off

D I S P ON

12. Save changes, Exit Menu

S A V E

12

13. Exit Menu, no changes

Q U I T

Channel Balance If there is a
channel imbalance in your sys ­tem, this function allows you to
compensate in order to obtain
correct balance. If you do not
have a balance problem, the
display should show the default
setting 00, indicating equal level
in both channels.
In Menu mode, press Input Up
or Down until “BAL” is shown in
the display. If you wish to
increase output from the left
channel (max. 6 volume steps),
press Volume Down until the
desired balance is achieved. If
you wish to increase output
from the right channel (max. 6
volume steps), press Volume
Up until the desired balance is
achieved.

Maximum Level

In Menu mode, press Input Up
or Down until “Lmax” is shown
in the display. You may now
select and store in memory a
maximum volume level
(between 20 and 44) which can­not be exceeded, manually or
by remote, until you re-set this
function. This effectively pro ­tects your power amplifier and
loudspeakers from expensive
accidents.

3. Start-Up Level
In Menu mode, press Input Up
or Down until “Lon” is shown in
the display. You may now select
and store in memory a default
volume level which will automat­ically be set by the preamplifier
every time you turn it on.

4.-9.
Level Matching - Because
sources can have widely vary­ing output levels, it is often nec­essary to adjust the volume
control when switching sources
in order to maintain the same
level. The Gryphon Sonata can
be pre-set to automatically
match the levels of your low­output sources (typically
MM/MC or tuner) and high-out ­put sources (typically digital
sources such as CD). The
Gryphon Sonata executes level
matching via the volume attenu­ator, with no additional compo ­nents in the signal path.
To determine whether you need
level matching, choose a nor­mal listening level using any
source. Then switch to other
sources. If the difference in
level is so great that you need
to adjust volume, then you
should create a permanent
compensation using the Menu.
In Menu mode, press Input Up
or Down to select the source
which plays loudest at a given

13

volume setting. Set the level
setting for this source at refer ­ence 00. Switch to another
source. If necessary, use the
volume controls to turn up the
level (max. 10 volume steps),
so that it matches your loudest
source. Repeat for all other
sources.

Note: The level match for RIAA
input is ignored if you do not
have a RIAA (Legato) board
installed.

Green Bias

(Active only when the Gryphon
Sonata-Allegro is used with
Gryphon Antileon or Antileon
Solo power amplifiers.) Attach
the Green Bias control link to
the connectors on the Gryphon
Sonata and your Gryphon
Antileon or Antileon Solo power
amplifier to control the amplifi­er’s Green Bias setting.
In Menu mode, press Input Up
or Down until “GR.B” is shown

in the display. Select High or
Low by pressing Volume Up or
Down to determine at which vol­ume settings (between 0 and

44) bias will automatically
switch to 50%, 75% or 100%
Class A. Bias setting depends
on volume level and whether
you select High or Low as
shown in the following table:

Bias Low High

50% 0 - 10 0 - 16
75% 11 - 20 17 - 26
100% 21 - 44 27 - 44

10. Display On/Off
In Menu mode, press Input Up
or Down until “DISP” is shown
in the display. Press Volume Up
or Down until ON appears in the
display, if you want the display
to always be on. Select OFF, if
you want the display to only
turn on for approximately 10
seconds each time the remote
or front panel controls are used.
When you select OFF, the dis­play will not turn off until after
you press Save to exit the
Menu.

Save In Menu mode, press
Input Up or Down until “Save” is
shown in the display. After a few
seconds your personalized, cus­tom settings will be stored in
memory and the preamplifier
will exit the Menu.

Quit In Menu mode, press Input
Up or Down until “Quit” is
shown in the display. After a few
seconds, the preamplifier will
exit the Menu. No changes will
be stored in memory.

14

AC Fuses

The Sonata/Allegro powersup­ply has an AC fuse holder for
each channel.
100-120v. countries: 800m AT
200 -240v. countries:400m AT

DO NOT REPLACE WITH ANY
OTHER FUSE VALUE.

Warranty

The Gryphon Sonata-Allegro is
warranted against failures aris­ing through faulty workmanship
and materials for a period of 5
year 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, postage/freight pre ­paid 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 per­formed only by authorized
Gryphon dealers or distributors.
It does not cover damage due to
misuse, accident or neglect. This
warranty is not valid if the oper-

ation voltage of the product has
been changed. 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 filled
out and returned to the manufac­turer within 10 days of purchase.

15

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