Grado question

apholden

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I enjoyed my experiment with the Denon MC cart, but I think it's time to put the Grado back on my U-turn. Should I just get a new 8MZ stylus for my Black 1, or should I take this opportunity to upgrade to a Gold cart? Also, now that I have the Sutherland, are any of the MCZ, TLZ, or XTZ styli worth it?
 
I would move up to the Gold v2 at this point, it's an amazing sounding cart as is. Once you've put the mileage on the standard stylus, then upgrade to the 8MZ.
Thanks! It looks like a little shopping is in order then!

This will have to wait for wiser folk than me ;)
No worries! I figured it was a bit of a long shot given how little I hear about them. Maybe people don't like spending more on a replacement stylus than they did on the whole cart!
 
I enjoyed my experiment with the Denon MC cart, but I think it's time to put the Grado back on my U-turn. Should I just get a new 8MZ stylus for my Black 1, or should I take this opportunity to upgrade to a Gold cart? Also, now that I have the Sutherland, are any of the MCZ, TLZ, or XTZ styli worth it?

I'd get a Gold2 and the 8MZ down the road. I've had both the Gold1 and Gold2 and the 2 is far more impressive.

To run the other styli, you need to change in loading from 47k ohms and lower it to about half using resistors soldered to your RCA cables. I wouldn't bother.
 
Just got the Gold in. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I definitely got a lot of energy back that I was missing with the Denon.

It's crazy. The Denon sounded great, but I noticed I wasn't bothering to spin as much as when I had the Grado. I'm not sure exactly what that means. :unsure:
 
Just got the Gold in. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I definitely got a lot of energy back that I was missing with the Denon.

It's crazy. The Denon sounded great, but I noticed I wasn't bothering to spin as much as when I had the Grado. I'm not sure exactly what that means. :unsure:

Get some hours on it. It gets better.
 
Is there any difference in the cartridge body/generator in the Grado Prestige line?

According to the rather vague Grado website, it seems that the stylus/cantilever improves as you go up the line. The black/green has a three-piece cantilever with a "specific diamond." Then the blue/red has a four-piece cantilever (more pieces is better?) with, I assume, the same "specific diamond." Lastly, the silver/gold has the (same?) four-piece cantilever with a "specific elliptical diamond." Does this mean the black through the red have a lower-quality diamond? As for the rest of the cartridge, however, I can't figure out if it's the same or different from black through red.

EDIT: I see now that in the silver/gold a "machined turned generator is used to achieve a lower distortion and greater transparency." It looks like the black through red don't have this.

I'm not really hung up on technical details, but I do want to know what exactly you get as you pay more to move up the line, and how much of a difference that really makes in the sound quality. I respect that the gold is significantly better than the rest of the line, but how much of a difference is there, say, between the black and the blue?

Would I be wise to start with a black to try out the "Grado sound"? Then later, if I like it, I could upgrade to a gold cartridge or an 8mz stylus?
 
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Would I be wise to start with a black to try out the "Grado sound"? Then later, if I like it, I could upgrade to a gold cartridge or an 8mz stylus?

I went straight to the Gold - then went to a 8mz once I needed a new stylus - that was about 5 years ago. Haven't used any other cart/stylus combo since.

I don't see the point in spending money to then spend more money...just go for the top.
 
Unfortunately, I experimented for a few months between my black and my gold, including a MASSIVE upgrade to my phono pre. That makes it pretty much impossible for me to compare them.
I would say the black is a decent introduction to Grado, but with a caveat that it sometimes hisses for very bright instruments like cymbols. The 8mz fixed that.
 
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