Pandora

Gryphon has always marched to the beat of a different drum. Way back in 1985, when Flemming E. Rasmussen and tech guru Kim Rishøj created the groundbreaking Gryphon Phonostage, it was on a strictly one-off, do-it-yourself hobby basis. Flemming just wanted to build the best possible phono preamp for his home system, not to get into manufacturing consumer products.

But word spread rapidly in the audiophile community until Flemming could no longer ignore a steady stream of requests and, suddenly, Gryphon Audio Designs was born.

In the intervening years, Gryphon has constantly had one or more projects in the works as experimental platforms, exploratory testbeds intended to bring us ever closer to a credible illusion of actually being in the presence of the performers. Although never meant for public consumption, these components invariably impress the fortunate few who have the opportunity to audition them at Gryphon headquarters and their enthusiastic response and encouragement have been the impetus behind the decision to occasionally make them commercially available.

It was this unique process that ultimately led to the release of the Gryphon Reference One power amplifier and, later, the four-piece Poseidon reference monitor loudspeaker system.

Most recently, Gryphon engineers have been granted the rare luxury of developing a preamplifier/power amplifier combination unrestrained by considerations of cost, size, weight, appearance or production deadlines. Their design brief was simple: make it the best that it can possibly be.

Once again, persistent rumours of these uncompromising laboratory instruments have resulted in the production of a strictly limited edition of components now officially dubbed the Gryphon Mephisto power amplifier and Gryphon Pandora preamplifier.