Gryphon VIP Reference Series Cables

Gryphon VIP Reference Series M5 Power Cord

“How can a mere two meters of super power cable make any kind of audible difference, when the electrical wiring in the walls is vastly inferior and on top of that, there are 20,000 meters of thin, aging wire between the home and an unstable power plant?”

This is certainly a valid question for a consumer embarking on the purchase of a very expensive power cable, no matter how good it sounds.

As is the case with so many things in audio, the explanations offered are often more creative than the products themselves and The Gryphon have never heard anything on this subject that makes much sense.

Thier theory—and the design platform behind the VIP M5 Powercord—is that the crucial aspect of a power cord is not what it does, but rather the far more important question of what it does not do.

The rear of an amplifier, preamp or any active audio component is the “busy” side. Here, sensitive signals are transported in and out; some balanced, some single-ended, some even via unshielded cables. Then there are speaker cables, carrying an amplified version of our precious message to the speakers.

In the middle of this hostile environment is the villain of our tale: the power cable carrying horrendous levels of noise and interference. In most cases it is infected by everything connected to it, washers, air conditioners, garage door openers, refrigerators, computers and their peripheral components. The long list is a nightmare and a surefire recipe for trouble.

OK, so what can we do about it?

The hardcore enthusiast has a dedicated power line that is not shared – in theory at least – with household appliances. He also has a dedicated 10 foot copper pole earth ground, because the shared ground is the common sewer for all the garbage that you do not wish to share.

They may even have power line conditioners, filters, transformers, etc., all with their own separate sets of issues. But even with all that in action, there is still a difference between power cords.

The design of the VIP M5 is based on a theory that makes sense to Gryphon: that a power cord in close proximity to sensitive interconnects and circuitry must have low radiation in order not to contaminate its surroundings. The M5 has excellent conductors, allowing it to carry high power as demanded by large amplifiers. Insulation is extremely tight to avoid any possible vibration related distortion. It also has it own dedicated ground wire in matching dimensions and materials.

The conductors and ground are effectively insulated and isolated with electrical shielding foil under a very dense, heavily-braided copper screen. In the M5, this extreme shielding is connected to the dedicated ground wire as a well defined and efficient evacuation path for noise that otherwise would escape and radiate from the power cord to pollute the sensitive surroundings.

So the improvement that you hear is simply the elimination of emissions from a conventional poorly shielded power cord, allowing your other cables to perform at their best. The most obvious effect is normally an enhanced sense of “blackness” – silence, if you will, between instruments. This increased silence supports an improved experience of dynamics, as normally defined as the difference between silence and very loud.

The M5 is the fourth generation of Gryphon power cords since the introduction of the Online in the late 1980s.

The M5 is delivered in 2-meter lengths pre-fitted with Furutech connectors. Other lengths are available as special orders.
For installation purposes the M5 is available in lengths of 30 meters. Bulk cable will only be sold without the black outer jacket and we cannot offer connectors, unless they are fitted at our factory.

VIP Series Speaker Cable

”Wire is wire” has sadly become the new mantra for consumers who have encountered too much snake oil down through the years from disreputable cable suppliers whose dubious claims and practices have cast a dark shadow over the entire product category.

This is an unfortunate state of affairs in light of the irrefutable fact that there are straightforward laws of physics relating to impedance, Inductance, capacitance and hysteresis which account for the differences which we hear between cables. It is the cable designer’s complex mission to identify and control the practical construction parameters which define these mechanisms and, through them, the sonic performance of the cable.

With decades of experience designing and building some of the most revealing amplifiers, loudspeakers and source components ever made, Gryphon Audio Designs is in a unique position to develop cables with similar stellar qualities, first and foremost breathtaking neutrality and resolution with no identifiable sonic signature, just a clean, clear conduit for the audio signal.

The Gryphon VIP loudspeaker cable incorporates multiple individually insulated multi-strand conductors of the purest PC-OCC silver with varying diameter in order to combat resonance. Teflon is utilised for tight-fitting, effective insulation. For extreme stability and durability, the two conductors are wrapped in PVC jackets and nested alongside two PVC sheaths filled with air-core Polyethylene tubes to maintain constant distance between the conductors.

Finally, cotton filling, a non-woven fabric sheath and an outer jacket of thick PVC are fitted to create a rigid construction that protects the conductors from external mechanical forces and damage caused by bending and flexing.

Enthusiastic VIP cable owners report stunning new levels of resolution along with extraordinary harmonic purity. If a cable can have a Class A signature, then this is it.

For performance reasons, the VIP loudspeaker cable is available exclusively in custom-terminated sets assembled at the Gryphon plant using specially developed tools to ensure the finest possible mechanical and electrical interface between amplifier and loudspeaker.