Grado... how many of you run em ?

[Jaxjax]

I would have just done a poll but I can't get it to work.
How many of ya run Grado carts.?
I do & tried a few modern carts before it on my Feickert /Jelco 950 arm
Even a Hana MC & hear the appeal of MC but... then I tried a Sonata 3 & it's been on ever since & almost time to get another. That was the sound I was wanting.
Joe

 

[Cougar]

I run a Grado Timbre Reference III cartridge in my system. It's was mounted on the ET-2 arm and I was using a SPL Audio Phonos but now run a EAR 834P Clone modded/upgraded.

The Grado sounds really nice and musical, this is what I was looking for. As of today I'm running a Shelter 901 (Original) was recently retipped after an accident. I'm just running the Shelter it to break in again after a few years of not using but the Shelter sounds really nice too. But once that is done, I will be putting the Grado back in the system again. The Grado came out due to a mishap and sent it to be checked out, it got a clean bill of health. Once the Elliptical Stylus is done, I will have it retipped with a Micro Ridge.

 

[DVDdoug]

I had one back in the analog days. I don't remember which one.

It had "good specs". IIRC the frequency response was rated into the ultrasonic range. It was one of the several cartridges I went-through foolishly looking for improvements when really I knew that the records were the weak-link.

The biggest difference I noticed with different cartridges was frequency response and I should have just been using tone controls/EQ, except on the few good sounding records that didn't need it.

 

[DSJR]

More modern ones are dull as ditchwater and not fully stable with medium to higher mass tonearms. Some analogue inclined people don't seem to like medium-high 'presence' frequencies much it seems, but like the Rega MM's made in their factory, I find them so bland getting worse as you go up the range and the HF peak gets less and less..

I do have here a late 70s F1+ and it measures far better and I also liked the original wooden bodies Reference models back then. It was given a poor review by a UK-based 'guru' mainly because it was test-tracked far too low and didn't sound so secure. Mine is used at 1.6g or so (checked on an external balance) and sounds great to me. these days, it's a bit like their headphones I think, they select the 'best' styli and charge more for them, then select again and charge even more and so on..

Okay, I shouldn't be posting in this thread I suppose, being an AT cartridge fanboy with some Ortofon overtones. I try to avoid the silly-price MC's out there but tend to like some Lyra's it seems The hf rise in some of these doesn't matter so much with a decent diamond keeping the effects of surface noise and so on to a minimum.

 

[DonH56]

I have not tried a Grado (or any cart) in years now. I had a couple way back when. They sounded nice, but did not track well, so I ultimately replaced them with other cartridges.

 

[Martin]

I've had a Grado Sonata wood body moving iron cartridge on my Mørch UP-4 for a number of years. Swapped to a Sonata3 with my latest stylus change about a year ago. Fantastic cartridge.

Martin

 

[Doodski]

I have noticed that Grado users are very loyal to the brand and they really hear stuff they enjoy. Is this fact, they like it bright etc?

 

[Jaxjax]

I'm simply getting another Sonata 3 when mine burns up..good enough for me it seems. I couldn't stand the MC Hana I had ...that HF rise in not cool to me.
I do about 50/50 digital stream & vinyl. I will however give a shout out to Feickert TT's.... Very very good tables. Wish I would have bought an extra Jelco 950 arm before they went under during Covid. I like this arm.

 

[Jaxjax]

I have noticed that Grado users are very loyal to the brand and they really hear stuff they enjoy. Is this fact, they like it bright etc?

Not bright...
at least mine isn't. I talked with Grado a long while on phone before I got mine & told them my likes & dislikes. I also do not have to change EQ setting between digital stream & vinyl play .

 

[Jaxjax]

I've had a Grado Sonata wood body moving iron cartridge on my Mørch UP-4 for a number of years. Swapped to a Sonata3 with my latest stylus change about a year ago. Fantastic cartridge.

Martin

I fully agree with that . The 3 actual exceeded what I wanted when I fired it up. I'm probably getting close to replacement time so I'll call Grado & see what my trade it will knock off new Sonata 3 . They told me but can't remember how much

 

[khensu]

I've had a Grado Sonata wood body moving iron cartridge on my Mørch UP-4 for a number of years. Swapped to a Sonata3 with my latest stylus change about a year ago. Fantastic cartridge.

Martin

I’ve got the same cart on my VPI Aries Scout. I didn’t choose it as I bought the table barely used and it was what the original owner put on. I don’t have much experience with other cartridges as I don’t play vinyl much anymore, but I’ve been very happy with it.
Edit: I’m referring to the Sonata wood body MI, not the Sonata 3.

 

[laidbach]

I was using a Sonata3 on a vintage Rega Planar 3 / RB300 tonearm for a while. Really bad match.

For starters, the EM hum from the motor (despite using upgraded motor and decoupled power supply NEO PSU) is so loud, there is no point really talking about “sound quality”. But there’s more:

Rega decks make it hard to adjust azimuth and VTA, which are obviously crucial to sound. Rega are in this way like Apple, I suppose. If you only use their own carts, they probably sound quite good, but you’re stuck with their own forever.

So I sold the Rega gear and got a Technics SL-1500C. Why did I not do it sooner! This deck is dead silent, no motor hum. Also, it’s direct drive, so very easy to use, no more lifting the whole platter to change speed.

In addition, it allows for easy adjustment to tonearm height, so you can really dial in VTA.

The removable headshell (I actually upgraded to Le Son Voyager) is a breath of fresh air of usability. Azimuth is now fully dialed in.

The Sonata3 really plays beautifully now. I can’t speak highly enough of this combination, while feeling regret of all these years I spent faffing around with the dumb Rega. What a crap design, hard to use and almost impossible to dial in. There, I said it! Speaking of usability, I haven’t mentioned end of side auto lift! Another simple feature of great importance imo, especially if you’re running an expensive cart like the Sonata3, which as I said is a beautiful musical instrument.

I couldn’t be happier

Hope this helps.

 

[mwj]

I had a Sonata 3 for a bit more than half a year. The warmth and sonority together with the dialed back presence was certainly attractive at times but it’s been paid by a way too exaggerated top-end (+5db) which was distracting me as I‘m still quite sensitive in that frequency band. Together with the bad tracking I finally gave up on it.

I‘ve measured the cartridge, you should be able to find it on this forum.

I had VM95SH before and a MP-500. Both better than the Gardo. Couldn’t be happier with Nagaoka. Case closed.

 

[laidbach]

+5dB is certainly massive, sorry to hear that. This response indicates too much capacitance between cartridge and phono stage? That could explain a HF peak that is both steep and well within the audio band. But I’m guessing you’ve already checked that.

The way I see it, most cartridge comparisons become difficult to make because you need all cartridges to be a) installed equally well (alignment, VTA, VTF, and azimuth) and b) be electrically (resonance) and mechanically (weight, compliance) compatible with the phono stage and tonearm, respectively, in order to ensure there is no such extreme, audible resonant peak, like in your case, or mechanical resonance outside the accepted 8-12Hz.

I use my Marantz 40n’s internal phono stage, which has an input capacitance of about 170pF. (I can’t change loading or anything nor does it support low output cartridges.) Plus another 70pF from the Blue Jeans interconnect, a total of about 240pf. In this electrical context that includes the Sonata3, a resonant peak that resides past the audio band and is only +1dB at around 16kHz, is produced. My own hearing tops out at about 14kHz nowadays. Mechanical resonance is also good and, on my current deck, I’ve done my best to ensure alignment, VTA, VTF and azimuth are as perfect as I could possibly get them. it does sound really good now. Balanced, clean and detailed, better soundstage, than I could previously achieve on the Rega P3.

Anyway, point is when we describe cartridges as analytical or bright, or having a wide soundstage, how much of that impression comes from optimal/suboptimal installation and/or electrical matching?

If you own a Rega, for example, I have found that baerwald alignment is not possible due to overhang being unachievable by less than 1mm, VTA adjustment is very limited and a right pain to do, and azimuth also a massive pain to fine tune. So best to stick with Rega’s own three-point mounting cartridges and suffer through the lack of usability on a daily basis. Any other cartridge will always remain suboptimal.

ok gotta go…

 

[Balle Clorin]

The convenience of detached headshell is king, but cannot correct the dull character of a Grado below10k, the massive top end peak I cannot hear any more ,,

 

[laidbach]

Tell me about it. Took me 30 years to discover!