7
The Man Behind the Brand
After 33 years at the helm of iconic Danish High
End brand Gryphon Audio Designs, Flemming
Erik Rasmussen has retired from the company
he created almost unintentionally in 1985 to
devote himself to his favourite pastimes which
include fly fishing, photography, motorcycles,
vintage automobiles and especially his first love,
painting.
Rasmussen entered the audio field from
an unusual direction after earning a degree
in painting and graphic arts at the Aarhus
Art Academy in Aarhus, Denmark. He then
taught painting and photography for ten years
before becoming chief designer of textiles and
imprints for Scandinavia’s largest sportswear
brand.
Bitten by the audio bug, Rasmussen
resigned to form 2R Marketing, which grew
quickly to become Denmark’s leading High End
audio importer.
Rasmussen’s passion for cutting edge audio technologies resulted in the design and
manufacture of the Signal Master range of cables and plugs, making him the first to introduce PC-
OCC (Pure Crystal Ohno Continuous Casting) cable technology outside Japan.
Gryphon Audio Designs was founded in 1985 as an offshoot of 2R Marketing. The first product,
the now legendary Gryphon Head Amp, grew from a one-off spare time project developed only for the
designers’ own home systems. Although the Head Amp was initially strictly a hobby project, not an
actively pursued commercial venture, demand generated by reviews and word of mouth acclaim led
to the formal establishment of Gryphon Audio Designs as a separate corporate entity.
Following the immediate success of the Gryphon brand, import activities were phased out in
1993, so that Rasmussen could dedicate his efforts entirely to Gryphon.
Rasmussen’s background in fine arts and industrial design imbued every Gryphon product
with distinctive, luxuriant styling. His elegant, uniquely Scandinavian black on black designs were the
original Nordic Noir, long before TV crime dramas appropriated the term.
The legendary Gryphon Head Amp
Flemming Erik Rasmussen
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