Gryphon Pantheon - Manual (Page 5)

nents, Gryphon designed the
world's first single-chassis CD
player with onboard upsamp-
ling. 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 uncompromi-
sing Gryphon take-no-priso-
ners 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 mathema-
tician who has dedicated his
professional life to loudspea-
ker theory.
Duelund's theories on con-
stant phase in crossover net-
works 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 experti-
se and extensive experience
in design and manufacturing
to transform Duelund's theori-
es into real-world products
with scant regard for such
minor details as pricing, parts
availability, prevailing attitu-
des and preconceived notions.
Imperfect Drivers
The first step was to acknow-
ledge that the greatest chal-
lenge facing loudspeaker
designers was the simple fact
that dynamic drive units are
by nature fundamentally fla-
wed and compromised. Many
driver designs defy all sound
design principles, because
they are the result of penny-
pinching exercises under
heavy market pressure to deli-
ver "acceptable" performance
at the lowest price. There is
little motivation to allocate
resources to making drivers
that are truly the best that
they can be.
In order for the mission to
succeed, Rasmussen and his
hand-picked design team
began from scratch with dri-
ver design, literally building by
hand drivers with baskets that
did not introduce compres-
sion, hand-made multi-lami-
nate cones, exotic home-brew
coatings, adjustable wire sus-
pension to replace the con-
ventional spider, heavy-duty
magnetic systems, ventilated
pole pieces, machined phase
plugs and special surrounds to
optimize the transition betwe-
en cone and baffle. All edges
were beveled for a deliberate
aerodynamic profile. Double
wiring was employed on the
cones to ensure perfect sym-
metry. The list of break-
throughs goes on and on.
Every aspect of driver design,
assembly and function was
thoroughly investigated wit-
hout prejudice and with scant
respect for received wisdom,
which often proved to be ill-
founded dogma formulated by
Steen Duelund 1943 -2005
Lars Matthisen, Chief Acoustic
adviser at Gryphon, carrier of the
Duelund flame.