Grado Prestige cartridges

[Alfi]

The wooden bodied ones..

Wide price range, worth a punt?

Alfi.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Indeed.

Good - very musical,
Not so good - they have character,
Bad - they can have hum problems with some decks.

[Alfi]

Is there no way to subdue or cure the hum Doc?

Alfi.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Depends on the deck. They are open to hum field pick up so big motors like Garrard 301 401 have problems. LP12 I doubt a big problem maybe just a little. Suck and see.
Same problems as Deccas / Londons.

[_D_S_J_R_]

The earlier wooden bodied ones were very good, but not sure about later ones - They used to like damped tonearms for best stability. Better than a 2M Bronze? I'd say not, but many would disagree I suspect...

No hum issue with LP12's and similar, but Regas could give issues, especially if an amp transformer was nearby to add to the issue.

[Alfi]

Thank you Gentlemen.

I just try a lower end version to get an understanding of how they perform, if they perform as well my SR60 headphones that I use with my second system I guess I'll be pleased.


Thanks again

Alfi.

[paskinner]

I've used at least half-a-dozen Grados over the years. My current favourite is my Grado statement master...stupid name for a lovely cartridge. Mine is the newer 0.5mv version, although the normal 5mv costs the same (for this model, £600 from Turntable World, same as the US price). The more basic wooden bodied version start around £200. A plastic bodied Prestige Gold (simply a selected sample of a cheaper version) costs less and is pretty good. If just experimenting a Prestige Silver at less than £100 could be sensible (sensible?)
Now, the question of 'hum'. My recent samples have been quiet as a mouse, and the 0.5mv version is also utterly hum free (on my deck and several others I have tried, including the Garrard 401). No guarantees though. It is 'suck it and see'. Turmtable World know a lot about the Grado and could probably give you a clearer answer.
The sound? They don't sound like most MCs, thank goodness. They are warmer in the midrange with a sweeter top but tendency to a mildly plummy bass (depending on which model, and your kit etc etc). I prefer my Grado to my last cartridge, a Koetsu Urushi, but maybe that's just me.
I really do rate them, some people really dislike them (''too soft''). Worth trying.
BTW: if you ever down near Hastings, you can pop-in and hear mine, I could compare it with another cartridge too. Buying cartridges is a lottery...
Just noticed you live in West Wales!

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

My experience with Grado were early ones as imported by Steve Wilcock in Peterborough, they hummed, like a Decca, similar design in some ways. It seems they have solved it.

[paskinner]

My experience with Grado were early ones as imported by Steve Wilcock in Peterborough, they hummed, like a Decca, similar design in some ways. It seems they have solved it.

Or maybe the decks I have tried have well-shielded motors? Hard to know, but most users seem ok. Perhaps more motors are shielded these days? Deccas seem very prone to hum, but some of that seems down to the odd wiring; my friend has a Decca Gold and you never know what noise you will get with different arms. Sounds pretty good though, but the opposite of a Grado, all speed and bite.

[_D_S_J_R_]

My Lab 80mk2 plays host to an old F1+ tracking at 1.5g and from the era the Doc refers to and it's really good, although 'Choice didn't like it (they tracked it far too low - deliberately?). I must admit to disliking the current crop for the reasons paskinner rates them I find all but the cheapest one dull, bland, over-ripe mid bass inaccurate and in the past (prior to the '1' models) not very stable. The 'wooden' ones never seemed as bad for whatever reason.

I like sparkle on vinyl, as long as it's fairly clean and not 'spitchy.' So many high frequency problems in systems are blamed on sources I found, when in fact it's the speakers causing most of it. Just my view obviously.