Grado Cartridges and Stylus - Questions and Advice.

dansomeone said:
How do you like your Cliffwood? How does it compare to your previous deck, a Pro-Ject if I recall correctly?
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I’ve had a bunch of previous decks! SL-1800, Debut Carbon, Orbit, RT-85, StudioDeck, 2Xperience SB - I’ve been able to dabble all around. I’ll tell you that for my ear and user experience, I’ve enjoyed my time with the Cliffwood most, no question. It’s the first deck I’ve put on where my brain hasn’t gone into instant critical analysis mode of, how can I make this better? Musicality is probably the thing we’re all most chasing from our listening experience, right? And this one’s got it for me. The unipivot has behaved remarkably well for me. I don’t miss having anti-skate. There’s something about the pure simplicity that really drew me to it. This is the table that’s also helped me GET the Grado sound. I’d been an Ortofon 2M fan prior to this, and the combination of this table/arm with the Green has really found a great place in my listening headspace. It’s strange you don’t see more press on this table, and it also seems like fewer and fewer places are carrying it, but it’s still in production as they’ve shown making them on VPI’s Instagram, though they now come outfitted with an AT95.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
I’ve had a bunch of previous decks! SL-1800, Debut Carbon, Orbit, RT-85, StudioDeck, 2Xperience SB - I’ve been able to dabble all around. I’ll tell you that for my ear and user experience, I’ve enjoyed my time with the Cliffwood most, no question. It’s the first deck I’ve put on where my brain hasn’t gone into instant critical analysis mode of, how can I make this better? Musicality is probably the thing we’re all most chasing from our listening experience, right? And this one’s got it for me. The unipivot has behaved remarkably well for me. I don’t miss having anti-skate. There’s something about the pure simplicity that really drew me to it. This is the table that’s also helped me GET the Grado sound. I’d been an Ortofon 2M fan prior to this, and the combination of this table/arm with the Green has really found a great place in my listening headspace. It’s strange you don’t see more press on this table, and it also seems like fewer and fewer places are carrying it, but it’s still in production as they’ve shown making them on VPI’s Instagram, though they now come outfitted with an AT95.
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Just an idea- an 8MZ is $150. You can get a Red3 for $170.
 
HiFi Guy said:
Just an idea- an 8MZ is $150. You can get a Red3 for $170.
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Oh I like where you’re going with this, but think I’m just going to opt for the (hopefully?) simple stylus swap - I’ve never done it on a Grado before. Think if I were gonna go for a whole new cart, I’d probably spring for a Gold3.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
Oh I like where you’re going with this, but think I’m just going to opt for the (hopefully?) simple stylus swap - I’ve never done it on a Grado before. Think if I were gonna go for a whole new cart, I’d probably spring for a Gold3.
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I get where you are coming from. Unipivots are the easiest though because the whole arm wand is removable. I know @LeeVing just changed his. Maybe he will chime in.
 
Yeah. I've done it both ways. Keeping the arm attached was actually quicker and easier, but it took a little bit of a learning curve.
Having to calibrate the whole arm just for a cart change brought more frustration than anything.

Luckily the Opus doesn't use nuts.

Changing the stylus on a Grado while still on the arm isn't too hard either...but for the first time I would suggest to remove it just so you know how it comes on and off...then you can see how to remove it when it's on the arm next time.
 
Joe Mac said:
Given what you’re already packing you weren’t tempted by the opus3 LO Mono?
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Actually I was, very much so. But I really gave this some thought, reached out to Rich with a simple "starter" question and then had a little back and forth with @HiFi Guy, who brought up a very valid point, which even Rich agreed with in the end.

To clarify, this is happening on my PLX, not the UD. The Opus3 is a better cart, no doubt, but, for this "experiment" and eventual long term ease, running the mono Prestige and a Gold V3 takes away any calibration when switching from one to the other, making my life much easier. The two share the same exact specifications so once they're dialed in the 1st time, it's a literal "pop & swap" set up.

It took some time to think this through, I've been wanting to dip my foot into this mono rabbit hole and this seems like the soundest scenario, in my opinion, of course.
 
AnthonyI said:
Actually I was, very much so. But I really gave this some thought, reached out to Rich with a simple "starter" question and then had a little back and forth with @HiFi Guy, who brought up a very valid point, which even Rich agreed with in the end.

To clarify, this is happening on my PLX, not the UD. The Opus3 is a better cart, no doubt, but, for this "experiment" and eventual long term ease, running the mono Prestige and a Gold V3 takes away any calibration when switching from one to the other, making my life much easier. The two share the same exact specifications so once they're dialed in the 1st time, it's a literal "pop & swap" set up.

It took some time to think this through, I've been wanting to dip my foot into this mono rabbit hole and this seems like the soundest scenario, in my opinion, of course.
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Such temptation is a reason I’m happy to have a fixed headshell...
 
Just reporting back now that I’ve got a handful of hours on the 8mz on my Green and it’s starting to open up. Biggest takeaway now I’d say is that great pressings sound REALLY great. Like, that smile on your face, close your eyes, totally in it kind of great. Definitely a humanizing factor to this stylus upgrade. Easier to notice the records that have less than stellar mastering now too, simultaneously. But yeah, this is very cool.

I’ve got mine tracking at 1.6 grams. I’ve seen 1.5 floating around as recommended, but just curious what you all like to track your Prestige’s at.
 
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