Gryphon News

Mike

Mike

Audioshark
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Effective immediately, Gryphon has terminated their relationship with On A Higher Note (their US distributor).

This is disappointing news as OHN has been working tirelessly to promote the brand and provide excellent service and support to their dealer network.

OHN indicated previously Gryphon has long wanted dealers to have a much greater emphasis on selling Gryphon speakers. We had three of their speakers in the store and we will not bring in any more, ever again. The last thing we need is more speakers. This is not a worth while investment for us.

Suncoast Audio will therefore not be continuing with Gryphon Audio.

We wish all parties all the best in their future endeavors. We will happily be continuing working with OHN on many of their other brands, including Artesania.


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OHN, thats Phil O’Hanlon yes? I only met Phil a couple times, he seemed to be a great ambassador for the brand. The whole inside baseball of audio distribution, relationships with manufacturers, prices, etc. sure seems to have its ups, downs, and rocky stretches.
 
Bobvin said:
OHN, thats Phil O’Hanlon yes? Phil seemed to be a great ambassador for the brand. The whole inside baseball of audio distribution, relationships with manufacturers, prices, etc. sure seems to have its ups, downs, and rocky stretches.
Click to expand...

Yes, that’s the one. He’s always supportive and “in the trenches” with the dealers.

Indeed, it always leaves one scratching their head.


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Sorry to hear the news Mike. Sad indeed. How quickly things turn.
 
Mike said:
Effective immediately, Gryphon has terminated their relationship with On A Higher Note (their US distributor).

This is disappointing news as OHN has been working tirelessly to promote the brand and provide excellent service and support to their dealer network.

OHN indicated previously Gryphon has long wanted dealers to have a much greater emphasis on selling Gryphon speakers. We had three of their speakers in the store and we will not bring in any more, ever again. The last thing we need is more speakers. This is not a worth while investment for us.

Suncoast Audio will therefore not be continuing with Gryphon Audio.

We wish all parties all the best in their future endeavors. We will happily be continuing working with OHN on many of their other brands, including Artesania.


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Click to expand...

Mike,
That is not good news. Without knowing all that happened behind the scenes, I would say that, frankly, it is a foolish move on Gryphon’s part. Philip was doing a great job with the brand. I know that Gryphon speakers are not held in the same esteem as their electronics. What was your assessment when you had them in the store?
I wonder if they would go the same route as Luxman in the US.
In the end, a huge loss for you in terms of not carrying it anymore in your stable of top tier brands.
Anshul
 
That is really a big surprise [emoji15].

Gryphon going from hero to zero at Suncoast in a matter or minutes, is unexpected to say the least. But of course, if there is no joint business model collaboration does not make much sense.


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Kuoppis said:
That is really a big surprise [emoji15].

Gryphon going from hero to zero at Suncoast in a matter or minutes, is unexpected to say the least. But of course, if there is no joint business model collaboration does not make much sense.


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Click to expand...

Love their amps, but sure missing Flemming’s class and leadership.

Stupid.


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I only have had limited exposure to Gryphon gear. A bit at Suncoast and before that in Singapore. The funny thing was in Singapore it seemed they highlighted the speakers rather than the electronics.
 
apdoc2004 said:
Mike,
That is not good news. Without knowing all that happened behind the scenes, I would say that, frankly, it is a foolish move on Gryphon’s part. Philip was doing a great job with the brand. I know that Gryphon speakers are not held in the same esteem as their electronics. What was your assessment when you had them in the store?
I wonder if they would go the same route as Luxman in the US.
In the end, a huge loss for you in terms of not carrying it anymore in your stable of top tier brands.
Anshul
Click to expand...

Greed? Not sure. Assessment was a struggle with the customers perceived value in the speakers. The Mojo S at $30k is really up there. We took a pair on trade and had to give them away at $6k after 16 months of collecting dust. They aren’t as good as a Harbeth 30XD TBH.

The bigger ones are ok, but not well known. Never had a single inquiry about them, none, zero, ziltch, so I wasn’t about to put a nickel into them again.

Speakers are often a “badge” people proudly wear.



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Well, that’s truly a shame. I know you did pretty darn good with the Diablos in particular, as well as amps. Guess the new team isn’t as committed as Flemming was to making it a go in the US. I mean, if there’s not a market for the speakers (since it doesn’t seem they are all that, from what I’ve heard) then just deal with it and keep going with the electronics. Sorry Mike.


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I’m sorry Mike. I know how much effort Phil and you put into that brand. Their amps are truly superb. I don’t know what the senior management is thinking over at Gryphon.

Ken
 
Hmm, I can’t sell my speakers in the US, so let’s stop selling amps altogether as well.

I haven’t been in the hobby that long, maybe 10-11 years, but only in the last 2-3 years I started noticing Gryphon is making a name in the US. Must mean the distributor and dealers like Mike are doing something right.

A shame really as I love my Diablo very much.
 
Sorry to hear about that Mike as you did great with their Amps.....seems a bit strange to me what they are doing.
 
Most Distributors are not savvy business people. In this case I am unsure if OHN's agreement simply ran out with them and wasn't renewed, or if they even had any sort of written agreement with them. I assume they did, and they should have protected themselves better considering that this already happened to them once. Hopefully they made A LOT of money while it lasted and will now learn and move on... again.

I for one, hope that retail drops by 25% or more, always thought of them as being a bit too rich here. This absolutely sucks for those who bought into them, whether they love them or not.
 
Disappointing news. I expect their dealer network will decrease significantly. I like their electronics but their speakers not so much.
 
This is unfortunate. Was looking forward to revisiting getting a Diablo 120. Thanks for keeping it transparent and professional Mike.
 
I bought a Merging Technologies dac when OHN was the distributor.
I had a few questions so I called O'Hanlon...he couldn't have cared less...he was a total asshole...f*** him
He keeps losing lines. I wonder why.......
 
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