GRYPHON APEX AND GRYPHON COMMANDER AMPLIFIERS AND PREAMPLIFIER RELEASED

Gryphon Audio Designs, the High End Danish HiFi brand, has announced its new Gryphon Apex amplifiers and Gryphon Commander Preamplifier.

The brand says that these are “the pinnacle of amplifier performance”.

The Gryphon Apex

GRYPHON APEX AMPLIFIERS

With the Gryphon Apex Mono and Gryphon Apex Stereo, Gryphon Audio Designs says that they are elevating “pure Class A power amplification beyond what was previously considered possible”.

Rear of the Apex

The material specifications of Apex illustrate its cost-no-object design: Apex Mono features a complement of 128 very high-current bipolar output transistors (64 per chassis), 2,080,000 μF (>2 Farad) capacitor banks (>1 Farad per chassis), four separate custom-made 2,000 VA toroidal transformers (two per chassis), all housed in a magnificently crafted, constrained-layer damped chassis.

Inside the Apex

Apex Stereo tips the scales at nearly 450 pounds, while a pair of Apex Mono weighs in at 900 pounds. With nearly 1800 RMS Watts into one Ohm (Mono), Gryphon Apex will drive even the most challenging speaker loads.

Top view of the Apex

GRYPHON GREEN BIAS

Rune Skov of Gryphon Audio Designs told us: “Ever since we introduced the legendary DM100 in 1991, pure Class A operation has always been a Gryphon hallmark because no other circuit topology approaches its sonic perfection. There are a growing number of “New Class A” topologies based on automatic biasing which supposedly allow the amplifier to sense when the bias should increase to ensure constant Class A performance. Put bluntly, however, you can’t cheat physics. Our research into obtaining Class A performance from class A/B topologies proves that there is no substitute for the musical magic of pure Class A; however, based on thorough analysis of typical listening situations, we have invented “Green Bias” (“Green” for reduced environmental impact) which delivers true, pure Class A with considerably lower power consumption than traditional solutions”.

Gryphon Apex utilizes a completely independent transformer and linear power supply for display and control circuits, preventing digital noise generated by these circuits from contaminating the amplifier circuits. The new and proprietary Gryphon speaker terminals accept bare wire, spade lugs, banana connectors or any combination thereof.

Apex’ “Nordic Noir” chassis incorporates advanced constrained-layer-damping technologies to optimize resonance, while the specification of non-magnetic materials virtually eliminates electrical interference.

GRYPHON COMMANDER PREAMPLIFIER

The Gryphon Commander Preamplifier is the culmination of Gryphon’s four decades of philosophies, design goals and engineering expertise, they say it is “the world’s most advanced preamplifier”.

Gryphon Commander peamplifier

Rune Skov says: “Launch point for Commander was our extraordinary Pandora, widely regarded as one of the world’s best preamplifiers. Commander shares Pandora’s Dual-Mono layout with separate chassis for signal and power supply circuitry. Pandora’s singleended Class A input buffer is retained, as it offers the advantage of passing the signal through the smallest possible number of electrical components–two transistors and a single resistor. open. Both preamplifiers employ zero global negative feedback”.

Commander PSU rear

The Commander’s voltage reference has approximately 50 times lower noise than the reference used in Pandora. A pair of fully discrete, linear power supplies feed each channel’s analogue circuit while a third is dedicated to the digital control circuitry, thus maintaining absolute mechanical separation and electrical isolation between digital and analogue sections.

Commander rear

Housed in two massive chassis, Commander’s power supply includes four custom made toroidal transformers—two per stereo channel—engineered for minimal noise. Two of these (one per channel) power the dual-mono preamplifier circuits while the second pair are reserved for upcoming Gryphon source components, thereby ensuring a future-proof upgrade path.

ALUMINIUM CHASSIS

Extensive use of aluminium chassis components yields a highly stable, non-resonant enclosure that minimizes both mechanical and electrical degradation and provides optimal working conditions for Commander’s circuitry. Unique to Commander, a constrained-layer-damped bottom plate—a “Sandwich” of three individual layers of Kerrock®, bitumen and stainless steel—reduces resonances to an absolute minimum. All amplifier and analogue power supply circuit boards float above these bottom plates on specially-designed isolators, providing a virtually vibrationfree environment for Commander’s sensitive circuitry.

Inside the Commander

An extra-thick, 4mm glass window presents Commander’s 4.3” TFT capacitive touch display, designed to ensure an utterly intuitive user interface. Customized system set-up is facilitated by extensive Commander menu control of such functions as start-up level, left/right channel balance, maximum volume level, source level matching, input naming, display brightness (including Auto Dim On/Off), dedicated AV-throughput for integration with Home Theater systems, output level and Green Bias adjustment for use with Gryphon power amplifiers. In a unique design flourish, Commander’s display changes with the listener’s distance from the system; in this way, Volume and other settings remain uniformly readable regardless of the listening position.

The gryphon Commander

GRYPHON APEX AND GRYPHON COMMANDER PRICING

Apex Stereo Power Amplifier: 82.500 EUR* / 99.000 USD*

Apex Mono Power Amplifier: 165.000 EUR/Pair* / 198.000 USD/Pair*

Commander Preamplifier including Commander PSU: 52.500 EUR* / 63.000 USD*

(StandArt Apex Amplifier Stand: 6.500 EUR* / 8.000 USD*) – Is going to be released together with the Apex

*Prices are basic worldwide statistical reference prices and may be subject to local taxes and duty depending on area

HiFi Pig Says: We can’t wait to hear the new Gryphon amplifiers and preamplifier….sure to be a very high-end treat!

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