Gryphon gets no press, but is great.


Gryphon, a product I sold back in the early '90's is magical sounding gear. But according to the Owner Principal designer, he can't get arrested in the U. S. Press. I have emailed an acquaintence (Robert Harley) from my days as Director of Sales for THIEL Audio, about this and he was vaguely aware of some of this, even to the point of saying that he had a memory a negative review. That seems impossible if you read the Worldwide rave press they receive. Plus as an owner of the Callisto integrated, I can verifiy that it runs away from virtually all things (even some separates costing multiples) comparable. Why is it that a product that is so good, from their integrateds, to their separates, doesn't get a better shake in the our country? Marketing has been, in my evaluation poor, and I have shared this with Mr. Rasmussen, but even so, sometimes ground swells of interest have overcome this. Flemming Rasmussen, who is the owner, says, that the U.S. is not a large enough market for "his kind of product", and that Americans may lack the "sophistocation" to appreciate it. He was not being condescendig or vitriolic, just sadly stating his perspective. Of course, seeing all the two channel (brother) audiophiles out there, I can't believe that. What is up, other than poor marketing choices?
Any ideas and thoughts from current or previous owners would be good input. Frankly, while traveling all over the U. S. I never saw it in stores. That is sad given its performance.
lrsky
I think Gryphon has re-entered the US market this year. I would have liked to demo their products, but they were not available at the time. Everything I had heard about them was great. Their integrateds are pricey, though: $7000 for the 2100 and $9000 for the 2200. In today's economy that can be a tough sell.
The Gryphon amp indeed did get a fairly negative review in Stereophile years back, I think it was Mr. Scull who did not find it to have the magic he was looking for at its price level. I can state that having heard the big Gryphon stereo amp in the early 90s on both Avalon Ascents and mbl 101's, it remains one of the best solid state amplifiers I've ever heard to this day, and the best amp I've ever heard with the power hungry mbls. So while the poor review undoubtedly hurt, that was long ago and the products are good enough to be in the top tier of equipment over here. However, the amps are very pricey, and Budrew is right, it's a tough sell in this economy, particularly where there are no entry-level Gryphon products in a lower price range to get people to appreciate the brand before they can afford to purchase the cost-no-object designs.
FWIW, the Gryphon Sonata Allegro Preamp got a great review in a recent issue of HiFi+. I know that doesn't qualify as a US publication, but it's better than any of them and is slowly gaining ground. As to your question, having never heard a Gryphon I can't really comment, but the high prices certainly can't help.
Here's my two cents!

I purchased a Gryphon Exorcist (used) here on Audiogon last May. It works very well. I did take the end cap off to check it out. It has a 9 volt battery that is almost an interference fit. I can't remove it (easily). I e:mailed the seller who said he never tried to change the battery...
Fair enough!
On May 29th, I sent an e:mail to the address listed here on Audiogon for Gryphon. (I still have a copy of the e:mail).
I NEVER received an answer.
I mentioned this to a local dealer who has been in Audio all his professional life. He stated simply that Gryphon has no U.S. distributor. This is not good! They've been around for years without one. This is not good!
I'll e:mail one of the Gryphon dealers on Audiogon today, I'll see if they bother to answer my question....
If the factory web address can't be bothered with my question, does anyone think I'll spend another dime on Gryphon?