Floorstanding loudspeakers — Gryphon Audio PANTHEON

The Pantheon is a reference three-way floorstanding loudspeaker system from Gryphon Audio Designs, designed and built in Denmark under founder Flemming E. Rasmussen. It uses five drivers in a symmetrical vertical array, and its launch price was EUR 35,000 per pair plus local taxes. Later list prices include USD 49,000, GBP 49,500 and AUD 82,995 per pair. The maker describes the shape of the enclosure as tall and sculpted.

Key specs that matter

Two 8 inch ScanSpeak bass drivers and two 5 inch ScanSpeak midrange units, customised and extensively modified for Gryphon for low Q and minimal dynamic compression, flank an Air Motion Transformer tweeter whose pleated metal diaphragm has very low mass. The bass and midrange units use a triple-magnet motor system. Gryphon quotes a system response of 25 Hz to 27 kHz at -3 dB. Each cabinet is 148 cm tall, 29 cm wide and 69 cm deep and weighs 89 kg.

Engineering and use context

Each bass driver sits in its own precision-tuned reflex enclosure, and the midrange pair works in an isolated sealed chamber. Every driver has its own mechanically independent baffle, five per speaker, with baffle thickness above 7 cm, and the contoured modular baffle and driver surrounds are covered to reduce reflections and diffraction. The enclosure carries extensive internal bracing with a mix of pure wool and synthetic damping materials inside. The passive crossover is a fourth-order network that Gryphon calls Constant Phase, and it is adjusted by hand and hard-wired with Teflon-insulated silver solder. Selected crossover capacitors are pre-biased by a 28 V battery that keeps a constant charge on the electrolytic capacitors, which Gryphon describes as running the crossover in Class A. Crossover parts come from Duelund, Jensen, Holm and Mundorf. Internal wiring is Teflon-insulated, silver-plated oxygen-free copper, and custom Gryphon screw terminals take the speaker cable. A string grille protects the drivers, whose rigid dust caps are low in mass and non-deformable.

Pairing

Real-wood finishes are offered in virtually unlimited custom options, and modular side panels can be replaced to change the finish later. As a passive design, the Pantheon is driven by an external stereo or mono power amplifier connected through its screw terminals.

Alternatives

Gryphon also offers the EOS 5, a floorstander using a beryllium dome tweeter and carbon fibre cones.