Overview

For the first time in our 40-year history, Gryphon has authored a phono cartridge. A state-of-the-art phono cartridge: the Black Diamond DLC. You may rightly ask, “What does Gryphon know about cartridge design?” Turns out we know quite a lot. Just as importantly, our close relationships with the best minds in phono transducer design and materials technology have helped us create what we believe to be the finest phono cartridge available.

The Gryphon Black Diamond DLC has been inspired by the Danish-designed and manufactured Ortofon MC Diamond. With its diamond cantilever, Ortofon Replicant 100 diamond stylus, and a titanium body formed by a cutting-edge Selective Laser Melting process, the MC Diamond has been universally praised as one of the finest and most technically advanced phono cartridges ever made. For Gryphon, it served as a springboard for innovation.

The Drive

Compared to the base Ortofon, Gryphon’s Black Diamond DLC visually distinguishes itself through its rich black DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coating. Pioneered by Gryphon in cooperation with the Danish Technological Institute, the DLC-TR Coated SLM Titanium employed in the Black Diamond DLC offers enormous sonic benefits: by doubling titanium’s transmission speed of sound and resonance from 9,000 meters/second to 18,000 meters/second, Gryphon achieves a level of clarity, detail, and musicality attainable in no other way.

But while the Gryphon’s DLC coating might be the most obvious enhancement, what lies beneath its beautiful black skin are a series of innovations that enable the Black Diamond DLC to transcend the Ortofon MC Diamond and establish unprecedented standards of sound quality. The DLC’s coil wire, for example, has been upgraded from copper to gold-plated copper for superior conductivity and longevity. This wire is deployed in a newly developed 6-layer coil configuration with 2 x 84 windings per channel to further elevate signal quality. Upgraded front and rear rubber bearings are now crafted from a specially formulated rubber compound that offers previously unattainable levels of durability, performance, and longevity; as a result, fortunate owners will enjoy a longer, maintenance-free lifespan. The mechanical tension of the generating system has also been updated and optimized to complement these advanced bearings, coil setup, and coil material, further ensuring peak performance and reliability.

THE TRIO

The comprehensive engineering program undertaken for the Black Diamond DLC benefits every aspect of cartridge design, from performance to consistency to compatibility to longevity. Collaboration by a trio of Denmark’s most acclaimed technical innovators—Gryphon, Ortofon, and the Danish Technological Institute—has resulted in a product that is more than unique: it is uniquely Danish. And uniquely Gryphon.