Debuted for the first time at Munich's High End 2013, Denmark's Gryphon Audio Designs is now shipping the Trident II loudspeaker. Gryphon founder and CEO, Flemming E. Rasmussen, elaborates: “Gryphon has never felt the need to constantly replace our product line-up to suit the changing seasons. Our observation has been that most 'Mark 2' versions are simply trivial bug fixes promoted as major breakthroughs. We prefer to expend the necessary effort and resources to get things right the first time. That is why Gryphon products have an exceptionally long lifespan both in the marketplace and in the home. In the case of the Trident, we identified specific areas in which technological advances made real improvements possible, so it made sense to pass them on to music lovers.”
The Gryphon Trident II incorporates specially developed constant-phase technologies to ensure that all drivers are in phase at all frequencies at all times. As Rasmussen proudly declares, “Few loudspeakers can truthfully make this claim and they are all made by Gryphon.” Compared to its predecessor, the Gryphon Trident II is housed in a slimmer, taller, massively braced enclosure with a precisely contoured baffle. The baffle covering was carefully selected and applied to effectively address reflections and eliminate diffraction phenomena.
The most crucial upgrade in the Trident II is perhaps the implementation of an AMT (Air Motion Transformer) high-frequency driver. As a result of the driver's inherent low mass, Gryphon promises lightning-fast transient response, as well flat frequency response beyond 38kHz, low distortion, and an absence of compression.
The Trident II also possesses a self-powered bass system. The semi-active configuration is based on a dedicated Gryphon 1000W power amplifier in conjunction with heavily modified drivers. Active bass allows the owner to select the ideal amplifier for the upper-frequency range without having to worry about deep-bass power demands.
Like every Gryphon product, the Gryphon Trident II was designed by Flemming E. Rasmussen and is manufactured in Denmark. The price is 97,000 euros per pair plus any local taxes.