I always feel like a slob when I walk into a room hosted by Gryphon Audio Designs. Rune Skov, global sales director of this Danish manufacturer of extremely high-end audio components, is the sharpest-dressed man in audio. He’s trim, well-groomed, except for what looks like a carefully curated length of stubble, and he wears a suit like it was made for him just prior to the opening of the show.
And here I was in scruffy jeans and a band-logo T‑shirt. I hadn’t shaved either, but that just made me look homeless.
Still, Skov is the consummate gentleman. He’s the perfect representative for this company, which makes products that seem less like they were manufactured than forged. It’s always a pleasure to visit this room and listen to his well-chosen records, which he keeps coming at a steady pace.
This year I found myself drawn to their new power amplifier, the brand-new-for-the-show The Gryphon Hyperion. As is the case with amps from Gryphon Audio Designs, it’s a huge, matte-black brute that almost seems to suck the light into it. Dense, collapsed matter. It’s beautifully anodized, with two very slightly different finishes that give it enough contrast to provide sufficient detail so you can focus on it. The heatsinks and metalwork are a mix of straight lines and curves, the end result being a component that’s equal parts science fiction and primitive archetype.
Okay, the Hyperion is impressive and terrifyingly beautiful. But what the hell is it? This amplifier is a stereo unit that runs in full class-A mode right up to its rated power, cranking out 180Wpc into 8 ohms and doubling down all the way to 720Wpc into 2 ohms. I guess that’s why it weighs 278 pounds. And why it consumes 715W of wall power at idle. This amplifier runs hot. Many amplifiers claim to be dual-mono, but the Hyperion lives up to that claim—around back are two 20A power cords. Skov saw me looking at its backside and said, “You can saw it in half, and it will still work.”
In this world of crazy-expensive power amplifiers, the Hyperion almost seems like a bargain at €59,800. I can’t believe I just typed that sentence, but it’s an opinion I stand by.
Jason Thorpe
Senior Editor, SoundStage!
