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A LIFELONG DREAM Gryphon Audio Designs is the brainchild of Flemming E. Rasmussen and the fulfilment 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 LP covers and concert posters for many leading local acts. After graduation, he taught photography and painting for ten years before becoming chief designer of textiles and imprints for Scandinavia’s largest sportswear manufacturer, advancing to the position of president of the company’s printing plant before resigning to found 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. At the 1986 Chicago Consumer Electronics Show, a respected Japanese distributor expressed interest in the product. Soon after, the Head Amp was voted “Best Buy” by the Japanese audio press. Although the Gryphon project was initially strictly a hobby, not an actively pursued commercial venture, demand generated by reviews and word-of-mouth acclaim 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.

Gryphon Audio Designs achieved immediate and on-going global acclaim for state of the art performance, intuitive ergonomics and the stunning beauty of the cost-no-object Gryphon preamplifiers and power amplifiers. 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.

 

A MISSION STATEMENT


Gryphon has undertaken a quest for absolute musical truth, remaining unconditionally faithful to the musical source. One of the most important lessons that Rasmussen learned as a painter is that too much of human perception is based on expectations, on what we think we know about things and not on what we actually see or hear.

 

In order to properly create the illusion of something real, we must first perceive the reality accurately and understand it in detail. This lesson is the philosophical cornerstone of Gryphon Audio Designs.

 

As the best possible reminder of the reality that the finest audio equipment must recreate and as an indispensable tool in the development of our products, Gryphon owns an extensive collection of first and second generation master tapes of studio performances in all musical genres recorded between 1956 and 1976 during the golden age of stereo recording. These tapes represent the closest approximation to live performance, which for Gryphon is the only reliable reference. No CD or LP comes close to these original recordings for dynamics and resolution. These recordings are a valuable tool that forces Gryphon engineers to work to a higher standard than designers who only have access to ordinary commercial releases.

 

Gryphon also works closely with a professional recording engineer whose concert recordings allow the frequent opportunity to attend a concert and then listen to the recording immediately after. With the concert experience fresh in mind as an absolute reference, the critical evaluation of home equipment takes on new dimensions, which are reflected in the exacting standards to which every Gryphon product is designed.

Gryphon Apex Power Amplifier
Gryphon: Apex series pre & power amplifiers
Gryphon: Commander Apex preamplifier
Gryphon Audio Commander presentation

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  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

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