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A Tribute to Steen Duelund
1943-2005
Without
the
inspirational presence of Danish loudspeaker legend Steen Duelund,
fondly known
to the cognoscenti as the mad loudspeaker professor, the Gryphon
Cantata,
Poseidon and Trident would be very different loudspeakers, indeed they
might
not even exist at all.
A
mathematician
by training, Duelund dedicated his professional life to experimental
loudspeaker design. He emerged from academic obscurity in the 1970’s
when a
do-it-yourself construction known as the Duelund cement horn was
published in
the Danish audio journal High Fidelity.
Generous to a
fault, Duelund made his theoretical studies and practical applications
freely
available to anyone who had the necessary skill and courage to embark
on such
an undertaking. Among his greatest fans was the equally controversial
Harvey
Rosenberg of OTL (OutputTransformerless) amplifier fame.
Meeting
by
chance, Gryphon founder Flemming E. Rasmussen and Duelund recognized in
each
other kindred spirits – Duelund’s take no prisoners approach to
loudspeaker
design being completely in sync with Rasmussen’s amplifier philosophy.
Having
followed
his work closely, Flemming E. Rasmussen was curious as to why none of
Duelund’s
speaker designs or design concepts had ever become an actual commercial
product. Flemming would find out soon enough.
Rasmussen
and
Duelund began from scratch with driver design, literally building by
hand
drivers with baskets that did not introduce compression, hand-made
multi-laminate cones, exotic home-brew coatings, adjustable wire
suspensions to
replace the conventional spider, heavy-duty magnetic systems,
ventilated pole
pieces, machined phase plugs and special surrounds to optimize the
transition
between cone and baffle. All edges were beveled for an aerodynamic
profile.
Double wiring was employed on the cones to ensure perfect symmetry. The
list of
breakthroughs goes on.
Duelund’s
revolutionary theories on constant phase in crossover networks can be
summed up
in a single statement: “All drivers must be in phase at all times at
all
frequencies.”
We
are the proud
to say that the Gryphon Cantata, Poseidon and Trident are the only
speakers
that live up to this theoretical ideal.
Following a long
period of illness, Steen Duelund passed away on April 26, 2005.
To honor the memory of
Duelund Gryphon has issued a competition to bring forward products that
in one way or the other have been inspired by Steen Duelund.
Read more at HiFi-Musik.dk.(in
Danish).
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