KODO, GRYPHON AUDIO FLAGSHIP LOUDSPEAKERS That’s Beyond My Hearing Prowess?!

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The first time I met in person, Flemming Erik Rasmussen and Valdemar Borsting was in 2013. They were on an Asia Tour to visit their distributors in the region. At that time, I just bought their newly launch Gryphon Audio Mephisto stereo power amp to drive my then loudspeakers of choice, the Egglestonworks Ivy Signature. So, you could imagine my excitement to meet up with the person behind my newly purchased amplifier, and to hear the insights behind the design.

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Pushed forward to 2016, I was equally as excited to meet him again. I want to know more about the latest behemoth loudspeakers system that Gryphon Audio have launched, Kodo. It is the biggest, heaviest and tallest loudspeakers from them. I have quite a few questions, especially, since I have upgraded my Egglestonworks to their Pendragon in 2014.

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My first question was whether the Kodo was replacing the Pendragon. Flemming assured me that the Kodo was not a replacement for the Pendragon, as it is still very much in the catalogue (then, at 2016)

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The Kodo is similar to the Pendragon that they employed four towers of loudspeaker and that their bass towers are self powered with Gryphon Audio amplification system.

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The Kodo uses dynamic speaker drivers throughout, of specially treated paper material diaphragm, but the Pendragon uses two (2) meters length ribbon for the mid frequencies. The Kodo is more of the successor of their famed Poseidon which was Gryphon Audio previous flagship loudspeaker system. I think you have the answer, the Gryphon Audio Kodo is the current flagship loudspeaker at €260,000 (retail price at 2016, whereas the Pendragon is at €150,000).

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In term of flagship position, one may feel that Gryphon Audio‘s launch of the Kodo only after two short years the Pendragon may be a  depart from their precedent (?!). Flemming assured me that Gryphon Audio do not simply launch the next model without good reasons. The Kodo was in the design stage ever since the time has came for their flagship, the Poseidon to retire.

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However, at the same time and passion, Flemming has always have that fondness for ribbon loudspeaker design. Thus, the Pendragon was born out of his long time desire for such design (being once an owner of the famous classic The Infinity IRS). He further explained that ribbon design has its advantages and disadvantages in term of sound performance and playability. Notably, the narrow margin of speaker placement to obtain the ultimate performance. I have to agree with the ‘Big Man’ (Flemming) on that point and wish to express further that I have heard the Pendragon sings like no other too…took me around six months to reach that satisfying sound quality.

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The Pendragon being a four pieces loudspeaker system is a massive system that could play loud (my wife could testify and complain to that), but there were those who wished to go beyond that level (100+dB peak). That was where the Kodo came in. It was designed to deliver not just louder presentation, but with greater delivery of dynamic, transient, energy, power, slam, bang, scale and grandeur, coupled with the transparency to all the possible finesse, details, nuances, intricacies, texture, emotion, segregation, layering, space, separation and atmosphere that were contained in the recording.

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In addition, the Kodo came with an easier load for any amplifier. It was suggested (notby Flemming) that the Kodo might be driven well with a mid power tube amplifier (as low as 50 watts). That was another tempting option for the Kodo.

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Then Flemming went on to explain that Gryphon Audio Design was still very much helm by him (then in 2016, till retirement at 2019)

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Therefore, their customers can expect the “Family Sound“ and the enduring high quality that most have come to expect, cherish and love over the decades. Selected quality parts and proprietary technologies can be expected in Gryphon Audio product. He was thrilled to discover that many (new) audiophiles have started their high end audio journey with the Gryphon Audio, especially with their Diablo 300 integrated amplifier (nicknamed the Darth Vader!) that was launched fairly recently, with a sale amounting to thousand of units! (the figure was from 2016 alone)

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I congratulated the ‘Big Man‘ and at the same time felt proud to be an owner of the Gryphon Audio Pendragon loudspeakers system, and a GRYPHONIST!

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When I first laid my eyes at the Gryphon Audio Kodo loudspeakers at Munich High End 2016; its four towers configuration, higher height than (Mr.) Flemming himself, more massive and heavier than the Pendragon, and its “bigger” and transparent sound comparatively…I was sold!

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I was so excited that I wanted to place an order there and then! Oh yes, I did verbally placed that order with my local Gryphon Audio distributor, TK Han of Rave Audio Malaysia. However, later I discovered that the order was not made to Gryphon Audio Denmark… apparently TK Han was giving me time to think it over.

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After some months, I should be cool, sober and have every opportunity to decide otherwise…then, under my directive, the order for the Kodo was sent in.

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When production started (seriously, I could not remember when?) for the Kodo, I was asked what color would I want it to be? I just cannot make up my mind between “Ferrari Red” and the “Lamborghini Orange”. At last, I decided to take both colors, the stronger Red went to the more massive Bass Towers and the more refine Orange went to the sexy Treble Towers…against some audiophile friends’ suggestion that it would be difficult to resell(?!).

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A few months later, a phone call I received from TK Han informing me that the Kodo was about to land,…and that he hoped to meet up with me to discuss the packing of the Pendragon and the installation of the Kodo. We met up and decided to placed the Kodo approximately the same position as the Pendragon was in my audio den.

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At that fateful day, it took us (eight men, altogether) but a few short hours, in total; to pack up and deliver out the Pendragon, and to unpack, assemble and place the whole set of Kodo in my audio den!

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However, what came next was more time consuming…TK Han and his team spent around four days to fine tune the positioning of the Kodo, and at that same time, educate ourselves the audio fidelity of the Kodo. We played many CDs (mostly prepared by TK Han, and I did not count them) from grand, grander and grandest,…and complicated, more complicated and most complicated score of music…in the hope, we would discover the ceiling of its quality performances. After that few days (and till now, 2020), the ceiling we discovered was our own hearing prowess.

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Later, we invited some audiophile and some from the local audio industry for a session of listening. I would say that most reacted quite differently.

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Some would say that the Kodo still need time to run in, some would argue about coloration (in compare with what they have at home), some would say a few millimeters in speaker positioning would yield better result, some said its presentation was too neatly laid out that it sounded fake, one said that there was not enough bass attack,…etc.

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There were those who praised the Kodo‘s effortless presentation, enveloping and expansive soundstage, three-dimensional soundstage, thunderous bass, waves of low frequencies, palpable/tangible imaging, extended extreme frequencies at both high and low frequencies, scale,…etc.

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Finally, we have a few refined listeners whom were able to hear, thus praise the Kodo‘s transparency to detail…the micro detailing, minute transient of a slightest move of a tone, directivity of tone, segregation of tone, the multiple layers of textures in the human voice and tone emitted from any instrument, position(s) of elements,  delineation of imaging, definition of imaging, nuances,…etc.

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They noticed that the Kodo sounded as delicate and refined as a mini monitor. On the other hand, the same exclaimed that the Kodo, when played loud(!), could deliver all the raw transient, dynamic and quantum of energies, and at the same time exert the control of grace over the entire spectrum.

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However, they all agreed that the Kodo‘s four separate “Towers of Sound” sang coherently thus, sounded like a pair of loudspeakers (strict adherence to the manual in positioning the four towers in an arch, and toe in to the listening position). In addition, they were amazed at the speed, tempo, phase correct and “LIVE”-ness of its total sound quality.

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After all the comments received from the local audio community, it was time for the ‘Big Man’ Flemming‘s final word on my Kodo, its set up,…etc. Every Gryphon Audio Kodo owner will receive a Personal Professional Visit of a trained personnel from Gryphon Audio Denmark to “ensure” that its Set Up is done correctly to achieve that intended Gryphon Audio High Quality Sound presentation, and if achieved, the owner will be awarded a Certificate of Achievement (of the above).

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I received his visit some time in 2018 (a video interview by yours truly with the GRYPHONIST Flemming is available at INTERVIEW here…a work by Daimler Tan). (Mr.) Flemming and I listened to some of my selection of music of multiple genre, mostly in vinyl records, and ended that session with a play of a record’s particular track that he brought along (which he presented to me as a gift…honored!). He was listening to the exact lower frequencies and was satisfied with the whole sound quality and set up of the Kodo. He congratulated and thanked TK Han for a JOB WELL DONE!. I asked for any comment and he replied with a satisfying smile, “I respect you…” In regard to the Kodo‘s set up and sound quality, that was all I got from the main GRYPHONIST…“I am happy too”.

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In addition, all Kodo‘s owners will receive a Life Time Gryphon Audio VIP Membership which come with very nice personalized and specialized gifts (for you to find out?!).

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To top it off, and with great confidence from the GRYPHONIST, all Kodo come with a TEN YEARS WARRANTY (with terms and conditions applied)…almost speechless!

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I am sure that the Kodo will not be the last flagship Loudspeakers from the Gryphon Audio Denmark, and its replacement will not be anytime soon.

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Having lived with the Kodo for years, I found that it has made a ‘Bold Mark’ on my audio journey, and proud to have it as my Reference Transducer!
I (like to) believe that my hearing prowess in the very sound quality of audio component, has been heightened and at the same time, pampered.

Therefore, I awarded the Gryphon Audio Kodo as THE ANALOGUE FELLOWSHIP TOP PICK LOUDSPEAKERS  2020.

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I very much look forward to my next Kodo…and I know that patience is a virtue.

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Note: I realized that the above write up may not be literally a review of the Gryphon Audio Kodo (to some?)…however, I figure that almost all my reviews were done with the Kodo as the final transducer. Therefore, the readers (whom have been following) would have a good understanding (by now) of its sound quality and its transparency to the source materials and any change(s) in my total set up.

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Website: gryphon-audio.dk

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