Gryphon Audio Pendragon

PKN

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Aug 22, 2016
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For those interested,

Here is something you won't find very often. A complete delivery and setup of a pair of Pendragon speakers.

These were recently bought new, from overseas. and were installed by myself and my father (though unloaded from the truck by a small army of hired hands)

Enjoy.
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more to come in next post due to a post limit of 5 photos per post
 

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PKN

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Aug 22, 2016
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And this is how it ended up, these are positioned with the help of a laser. re-positioning them on a hard granite floor isn't that hard, and although there are no pictures of it, erecting the speakers took no more than two people.

Total time including unloading crates: approximately 4 hours


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My appologies for the bloom in of some of these photos, they were shot on my handphone and backlight isn't an easy thing to shoot against.

For those curious, the equipment as it stands is:

Gryphon Pendragon
Gryphon Mephisto stereo amp
Gryphon Pandora pre amp
Gryphon Legato legacy phono amp
CH Precision C1 DAC
CH Precision D1
A few different brands for the interlinks are used, but this will change to Gryphon interlinks
Speaker cable is currently 2x 3m Kharma (Siltech)

Custom bass traps are employed in the corners, more of those in other room corners. the room has received further acoustic treatment.

The system has its own, completely separate power section. no cables are shared with the rest of the house. (In fact, all power cables run through the garden to the main breaker box)
 
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marty

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YOWZA!! Now that's a system I would travel to in order to hear it! Congratulations. How long do you expect before it is sounding reasonable good?
 

PKN

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Aug 22, 2016
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YOWZA!! Now that's a system I would travel to in order to hear it! Congratulations. How long do you expect before it is sounding reasonable good?

Frankly, It was astonishing from the get go. We were merely warming up the equipment and not even actively listening when I knew this was special. I've heard a lot, I'm used to a lot. This, this is something else.

Give this a few weeks and it will only get better. But we sat down that day and basically listened for hours straight. It is incredibly airy, so fast, perfect placement and enormous soundstage. I have picky ears, but this, this is the best I've ever heard. This was last Sunday by the way ;)
 

Folsom

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Hey now, this ought to make Ron gain a bit of longing...
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
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Thank you very much for starting this thread, Patrick!

Do you know the exact dimensions of the room, and the distance between the front wall and the speakers?

Now that you have set the speakers up, what do you wish you would have known before you began the unboxing and assembly process?

Was any aspect of the unboxing or assembly surprising or difficult?
 

PKN

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Aug 22, 2016
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Thank you very much for starting this thread, Patrick!

Do you know the exact dimensions of the room, and the distance between the front wall and the speakers?

Now that you have set the speakers up, what do you wish you would have known before you began the unboxing and assembly process?

Was any aspect of the unboxing or assembly surprising or difficult?

Hi Ron,

I'm going to have to get back to you about the exact dimensions of the room. you can expect that post somewhere today.

-EDIT: the room is 20 by 23 foot, but its also 23 foot high (we do have dampening around the upper walls as well)
The speakers are 6.5 foot away from the back wall.

As for unboxing and setting up, well, the speakers are extremely heavy, that wasn't much of a surprise, but getting them off the truck at over 800lbs for the bass towers was a chore. We had an additional 6 people and needed them. A crane or forklift would be the way to go...but yeah, lacking either one of those put it down to good old manpower.

The crates themselves come with all the tools necessary to open them, a special type of clamp system I've personally never seen before. not a single nail or screw was used. it's completely modular in way of assembly and disassembly.

we rolled the bass towers into the studio room on a set of carts built for that purpose. It helps that the studio was on the first floor. Good lord I don't even want to imagine the idea of taking those crates to the second floor. It's likely not possible with just manpower.

But other than that, it was smooth sailing, we removed the bass towers from the carts and put them on foam blocks with the crate foot still attached on one end for balance, and we assembled the aluminum feet on the other end, when done we removed the crate foot, and using some grunt we got the speaker upright. and pulled it into place with the large handles on the rear of the speaker.

The other two panels aren't -that- heavy, it takes two people to erect them, but really, that's just a safety measure.

It took two people to get them within a few millimeters of perfect placement. he handled the laser while I moved the speakers around.

Nothing we couldn't overcome, we discussed each move before doing it so we had things well coordinated.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Magnificent! Great system as a big fan of Gryphon. Congrats and enjoy...look forward to reading more when you get the time!
 

kkfan

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2016
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Wow!!
Stunning!
Congratulations!

I was under the impression that the Pendragon was discontinued. Is that not the case?
 

PKN

New Member
Aug 22, 2016
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Wow!!
Stunning!
Congratulations!

I was under the impression that the Pendragon was discontinued. Is that not the case?

It is discontinued, but not all dealers have gotten rid of what they have. This was this particular dealer's last pair.
 

kkfan

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2016
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It is discontinued, but not all dealers have gotten rid of what they have. This was this particular dealer's last pair.

Thanks for the clarification.
Once again, congratulations on a magnificent system!
 

PKN

New Member
Aug 22, 2016
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How is the system sounding now?

I'd love to come up with some audiophile gibberish (I love that colorful language with barely any meaning, its like reading a wine review)

But really, they were fantastic from the start. Ribbon speakers do not change much if at all in terms of coloration, placement or speed. As for the bass section, I can't tell the difference between now and when we set it up, perhaps I'm just used to its sound now.
 

andromedaaudio

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Jan 23, 2011
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Nice read , seems you like The gryphon , never heard them yet .
Small remark : " Speaker cable is currently 2x 3m Kharma (Siltech)."
Kharma and siltech are 2 different dutch companies , and i dont think one is using the other ones cable design
 

PKN

New Member
Aug 22, 2016
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Indonesia
Nice read , seems you like The gryphon , never heard them yet .
Small remark : " Speaker cable is currently 2x 3m Kharma (Siltech)."
Kharma and siltech are 2 different dutch companies , and i dont think one is using the other ones cable design

You'd be wrong however. We have custom Siltech cable laying around that was ordered and picked up straight from Siltech. Their blue sleeves are one of a kind. Underneath the Kharma cable's own black sleeve there is that unmistakable blue sleeve of Siltech. A few weeks ago we polished the Kharma cable's spade connectors in anticipation of the Pendragons. We removed one of the heatshrink tubes covering the spade and removed the sleeve far enough to have instant recognition of that specific cable. True story.

And Crystal cable, which is owned by the wife of the owner of Siltech...well.... Feel free to draw some conclusions. But as for Kharma, it simply is Siltech.

Edit: It dawned on me while driving to the office this morning that I forgot to post WHY we peeled back the heatshrink, it was partly due to the polishing.......My dad sent me a picture of one of Kharma cable's spades through Whatsapp, it came accompanied with the words "zoom in" and so, I'll give you gentlemen that same picture.

And before I do, I will share a bit of knowledge on Siltech cable. They hard solder their spades to their cable. Keep that in mind.

IMG_20171209_WA0002.jpg

Anyway, I take it this case can be put to rest now? It's Siltech.

All Kharma has done is add their own gel filled flex tube the size of a drain pipe to nullify acoustic feedback through the cable. It's pretty though.
 
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andromedaaudio

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Hmm,well i never was a cable guy anyway , i dont think you wanna see a picture of my " cable cooker " , i post it somewhere on my system page :D
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
I am a competing but friendly loudspeaker designer....... so take this with a pinch of salt (or whatever other condiment you care to use).

You may find that the speakers sound very much better if you have the midrange/tweeter panels set up with the tweeters on the INSIDE instead of outside.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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I am a competing but friendly loudspeaker designer....... so take this with a pinch of salt (or whatever other condiment you care to use).

You may find that the speakers sound very much better if you have the midrange/tweeter panels set up with the tweeters on the INSIDE instead of outside.

Hey Gary, as ever the scholar and gentleman. I just googled Gryphon Pendragon...and 10 out of 10 photos had them set up exactly as I think you are suggesting. All the photos have the dark small rectangle (barely noticeable in the middle of the Pendragon panel) located on the INSIDE. The photo in this thread has those dark rectangles on the OUTSIDE edge of each panel.
 

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