Gryphon Audio Black Diamond DLC
Gryphon’s Black Diamond DLC brings transient speed and dynamic authority into rare harmony with supple tonal weight. Michael Fremer found its richly textured midrange, lifelike timbre and wide, transparent soundstage preserve exceptional detail without turning analytical—an elite moving-coil cartridge built for vivid, genre-spanning vinyl playback.
WATT RECOMMENDS
Save your favorites. Compare them anytime.
Create a free HiFi Hub account to save products to your Wishlist and compare your favorites side by side.
Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
95/100
Build Quality
50/100
Features Usability
50/100
Value for Money
84/100
Pros
Combines richly textured mids and bass with fast, precise, highly resolved treble.
Delivers powerful macro-dynamics, subtle micro-dynamics and convincing attack, sustain and decay.
Creates a wide, deep, transparent stage with clear vocal separation and natural instrumental color.
Proved compelling across rock, piano and orchestral music rather than favoring one genre.
Cons
Its approximately $20,000 cost confines it to the ultra-high-end market.
WATT RECOMMENDS
Save your favorites. Compare them anytime.
Create a free HiFi Hub account to save products to your Wishlist and compare your favorites side by side.
What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 95/100
The review describes a highly resolved but natural presentation, adding suppleness and tonal richness to the MC Diamond lineage without giving up speed or precision. It is portrayed as convincing across genres, with forceful dynamics, lifelike instrumental color and an expansive, transparent presentation.
Overall Sound
96/100
Michael Fremer hears a notably supple, richly textured midrange and bass alongside excellent transient clarity, speed and precision. He praises its convincing attack, sustain and decay, and says it avoids both analytical edge and overly soft, velvety coloration while excelling with every genre played.
Tracking Retrieval
94/100
The Black Diamond DLC is reported to track flawlessly while delivering substantial dynamic impact and preserving the original design's detail resolution. Fine vocal separation, clearly decipherable lyrics, and convincing instrumental attacks further indicate very strong retrieval of recorded information.
Soundstage Imaging
94/100
The review explicitly describes the soundstage as wide, deep and transparent. Vocal placement is presented as especially clear and distinct within the mix, while woodwinds are said to be delicately drawn.
FEATURES USABILITY PERFORMANCE 50/100
The available review does not discuss arm matching, compliance, mounting, output requirements or setup sensitivity.
Tonearm Compatibility
50/100
No practical guidance is provided on suitable tonearm mass, phono-stage loading, installation ease or how broadly the Black Diamond DLC will suit different analog systems. Prospective owners should obtain those matching details before purchase.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
50/100
The supplied review concentrates on listening results rather than the cartridge's body construction, stylus assembly, cantilever execution or long-term durability. It offers little direct evidence about physical craftsmanship.
Value for Money
84/100
At approximately $20,000, the Black Diamond DLC is acknowledged as a very costly proposition, though the reviewer notes that comparable ultra-high-end cartridges exist and considers it worthy of attention for buyers able to afford it. There is no detailed comparison with direct rivals or claim that it represents unusual value within this rarefied price class.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
Online Reviews & Mentions
YouTube Reviews
Forum Mentions
No forum mentions found yet
Specifications
- Input load Impedance
- MM: 47K Ohm, MC: from 20 Ohm to 1600 Ohm in selected steps
- Input load Capacitance
- MM: 0pF to 608pF in selected steps, MC: 0pF, 220pF or 440pF
- Output impedance
- 50 Ohm
- Bandwidth
- RIAA +/-0,1dB
- Total Power Supply Capacity
- both unit’s: 74.000uF each stereo channel
- Gain
- MM +38dB or +48dB @ 1kHz, MC: +58dB or +68 dB @ 1kHz
- S/N Unweighted 20-20kHz
- MM: 86dB @ 10mv, MC: 70dB @ 0,5mv
- S/N A-weighted 20-20kHz
- MM: 90dB @ 10mv, MC: 74dB @ 0,5mv
- Channel Separation
- Infinite
- Additional +10dB Gain option
- MM and MC
- Display Intensity
- (100%-75%-50%-25% and Auto Dim ON/OFF)
- Outer dimensions, W x D x H
- SIREN unit: 480mm x 236mm x 455mm 18.9in x 9.3in x 17.9in PSU unit: 480mm x 236mm x 440mm 18.9in x 9.3in x 17.3in
- Net weight
- SIREN unit: 30,4kg – 67lb PSU unit: 38kg – 83.8lb
- Shipping weight
- Two crates; each 59 x 57 x 38 cm, respectively 45kg – 99lb and 52kg – 114,4lb
Manufacturer's Description — Gryphon Audio
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.
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
All Dealers
Zoom out the map to see more dealers
Authorized dealers for Gryphon Audio Black Diamond DLC
- 110Hz — online and in-store — Kielce, Województwo świętokrzyskie, Poland (website)
- Alpha High End — online and in-store — Brasschaat, Vlaams Gewest, Belgium (website)
- Alta Fedelta — online and in-store — Lombardia, Italy (website)
- Analogue Seduction — online and in-store — Whittlesey, England, United Kingdom (website)
- Audio Evolution — online and in-store — Volla, Campania, Italy (website)
- Audio Excellence (CA) — online and in-store — Markham, Ontario, Canada (website)
- Audio Excellence (CH) — Switzerland (website)
- Audio Gallery — online and in-store — Las Rozas de Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain (website)
- Audio Magic - EU — online and in-store — Wola, Województwo mazowieckie, Poland (website)
- Audio Salon — in-store — Boca Raton, Florida, United States (website)
and 44 more verified dealers