Flemming Rasmussen’s Personal Foreword to the New Gryphon Catalog

Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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With Flemming’s permission here is the very personal essay he wrote as the foreword to the new Gryphon Audio Designs catalog:



WHEN THE CIRCLE IS DONE


When I was a small kid, perhaps 5-6 years old, in a different century, in a different world, my home was in the city of the town, a narrow street of 6 floor houses. It was not a very desirable neighborhood, being close to the harbor and bus station.

There was a profound number of girls on street, they wore heavy make-up and light clothing. I thought that they looked nice with all their colors and they we nice to me.

I was just a kid, what did I know?

Most of the people in the building were related; I guess that Father’s Day could be a confusing day to celebrate.

My home was not a musical home. There was no TV; only a broken radio that I do not recall working at any time, but my mother would sing sad songs in the kitchen, mostly local songs from her childhood, lost and forgotten now.

On the other side of the street, there was a popular nightclub call Pan-Am. They would have live music almost every night.

The house band was a famous jazz band called Pappa Bues Viking Jazz band, and their signature was a Viking outfit and a talent for consuming enormous amounts of beer, while playing traditional jazz. In warm summer nights, the window to the bedroom was open, and the bands would be playing to early morning, the volume control was the opening angle of the window.

I would lie in my bed and listen to the music, it was magic. The sound coming into the room would create a wave of music that every night would carry me into a sleep and small boy’s dreams of weird and wonderful creatures, each singing with its own voice like the instruments in the band playing. I had never seen live music and did not know what the instruments looked like.

I was a time that I shall never forget and something that somehow was defining my future.

In the afternoons, the band would rehearse new material while struggling with hangovers. From the street I could hear them and the music was drawing me like a magnet and I found my way up and listened in the doorway. They found my presence amusing. I was clearly their youngest fan and they started spoiling me with cookies and lemonade and told me about the different instruments. It was a professional band but they loved their job and wanted so share their world with a little boy that was mesmerized by it.

Already at that time I had a very vivid imagination and the music was creating images in my mind, an ability that followed me the rest of my life. Later in life I made most of my paintings while listening to music. I flew a hang glider from the peak of Kitchbuhler horn in Austria, with Mahler in my earphones, and perfect soundtrack for an amazing visual experience.

The band asked me if I would place flyers on the windscreens on the cars in the area, to promote their band. After checking with my mom, I was allowed to cover the nearest 3 blocks, to be sure that I could find my way home.

I just got my first job in the music industry.

It actually took a very long time before I developed any interest in reproduced music, partly because I did not have the money.

While I studied art I worked as a roadie for a band and part time as a bouncer at a local music place - never really in action – just standing in the corner and looking sinister, so I heard a lot of live music and most of my friends were in the music world. Most of them had stereo systems, but nothing impressive, but they had great record collections that we listed to at no end.

When I finally was bitten by stereo systems, I went all in, and changed and experienced as much as economics allowed (and beyond. I even modified products to squeeze extra performance out.

Looking back, I now see that the equipment became more important than the music; the music almost became an excuse to listen to the stereo and something to compare with. When we were with groups of hard core audiophiles in our sessions, we compared one piece of electronics with another piece of electronics and rarely did correct reproduction of any live event enter the heated discussions. There were those that claimed that the stereo playback was far better than the live event.

The recorded playback often had “better” soundstaging, “better” depth of field and the discussion had no end. It was fun, but the reproduced music almost got its own life with no real connection to reality, but more to a idealized perception of reality.

A friend of mine made many recordings with a Nagra setup and a “Decca tree” - a 3 mic configuration. We listed to the recordings and the fun was me guessing which location it was recorded at.

Years later I acquired a unique collection of master tapes, mostly Decca studio masters from 1950s to 1970s.

Despite their old age they had so much realism that I got goosebumps every time I head them.

To many fellow audiophiles they were disappointing as they lacked the pinpoint accuracy in the sound stage, that a 80 channel recorded mix would have. Most of the recordings of the day when Deutsche Grammophon was ruling with the multi-mic, multi-channel recordings, had constructed sound stages, and the sound stage was created in the mix. But there was great live classical recordings and I had many of them on tape.

In rock music that embraced the multi-channel technology, they would mix multiple individual recordings from different locations and, on the mixing console, create an event where we audiophiles would discuss whether the musicians was standing in the right position on the stage or how many fillings the female singer had in her mouth, but there never was a stage to begin with. But the illusion was often very clever.

I founded Gryphon with a mission of making “correct” sounding products, not creating any make up, or becoming illusions, but in essence, a naked reproduction of the actual recording, good or bad.

This philosophy was the cornerstone of Gryphon’s universe. We made many products that sounded “nice” or “impressive” but it was usually the prototype with a (on the first impression) more humble presentation, that would grow on you. It was “right,” inviting to play more and more records and finally would end as a Gryphon.

This no hostage take on the idea behind Gryphon took a while for people to accept and it was not for everyone, but it was enough to found a Company that now has existed for 32 years and filled me with pride.

Last year I came home from a trip to Asia with a severe illness. After months, I woke up one morning with no hearing in one ear.

It was gone for good, it was terrible for me, and forced me to retire from Gryphon.

At first I felt that my life was over, without stereo in my life, but what happened over the next year changed my priorities, in a way my priorities in music changed.

The stereo was gone but I found a less complicated way to enjoy the music, and was able to do away with all speculations of whether it sounded correct. I could simply just enjoy the music and the interpretation in its most purest form, because the best music always shines through and beyond the technology.

I will always miss the performance from a Gryphon system and a lifetime spent with it. But somehow I refound my true music love that was created through the bedroom window so many years ago.

The Circle was done.

Flemming E. Rasmussen
Founder of Gryphon
March 2019
 
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Hieukm

Well-Known Member
Oct 2, 2016
271
105
128
So i guess the content and timing of this post is to tell us to enjoy the music instead of arguing "whatsbest".

And Gryphon gears do sound very natural.
 
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GSOphile

Well-Known Member
Sep 3, 2017
569
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173
Quite a guy... and IMO an iconic company.

Several years ago I posted on the Gryphon site regarding my interest in their products and lamenting their lack of US distribution. I was surprised to receive a personal response from Flemming. About a year later, when Philip became Gryphon's US distributor, I bought one of the early US Diablo 300s and was not disappointed - great product!
 

spiritofmusic

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2013
14,601
5,411
1,278
E. England
Very much like the comment on girls w heavy make up and light clothing being nice to him. Why couldn't I grow up proper LOL.
 

Ron Resnick

Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Jan 24, 2015
16,017
13,346
2,665
Beverly Hills, CA
Quite a guy... and IMO an iconic company.

Several years ago I posted on the Gryphon site regarding my interest in their products and lamenting their lack of US distribution. I was surprised to receive a personal response from Flemming. About a year later, when Philip became Gryphon's US distributor, I bought one of the early US Diablo 300s and was not disappointed - great product!

Flemming is one of high-end audio’s iconic living treasures. I feel very honored that he took a liking to me and Tinka.
 

Vienna

VIP/Donor
Great man, great story, great company, perfect products, stellar sound
 

Down Under

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2014
191
42
333
Thanks for posting Ron-really enjoyed his life story.
He is a man of few words,but those words are usually profound.
 

Michael Davitt

VIP/Donor
Nov 3, 2020
327
239
140
Thank you Ron, for allowing me to be thankful for life's blessings reading through this missive.
You just never know how the sands will shift underfoot .

When someone has been given much, much will be required in return;
and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.

When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
To dig the sandy shore.
My holes were empty like a cup.
In every hole the sea came up
Till it could come no more.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson
 
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