Grado cartridges ??????

[Floyddroid]

Anyone out there had experiences of Grado cartridges? I have heard many good things about them. I am looking for a decent inexpensive cartridge for a Technics and wondering whether ishould consider one.:)

Any other suggestions appreciated.:)

[synsei]

The Ortofon 2M Red springs to mind. The only Grado I've had experience with is a 1980's FCE+1 and it made for a terrific radio receiver ;)

[DSJR]

My experience of numerous budget to mid price Grado's is that the more recent ones are terribly load sensitive and unstable/wobbly in the arm I think you're going to be using. Some very old models may be better and I believe there's a revised "One" version of the ones I knew a very few years ago which has a shorter cantilever and revised coil-turnings to improve immunity of loading differences.

The 2M Red, Blue or Bronze will be an excellent choice methinks (don't use the supplied original headshell, but use a modern techie style shell [with better "Nerve Audio/Audioquest" style litz wires] instead) to keep the mass a little lower. The Denon DL110, Sumiko Blue Point should be good matches, along with similar models and the Dynavector 10X series was perfect at the time in the original Technics headshell.

[Yomanze]

This is a well-balanced review of the Grado Gold and he specifically mentions the Technics turntables as having a good synergy. http://best-turntables.com/grado-gold-cartridge-review/

[DSJR]

The "current" Techie arm is much lower mass than the one Steve will be using, which is more like the Jelco 750 in mass :)

[Yomanze]

Not sure what arm Steve is using but the SL1210 arm effective mass from Mk2 through to Mk5 is 12g, which is ideal for the Grado.

[DSJR]

The SL1500 tonearm is around 18g if not 20g as supplied.......

[synsei]

By inexpensive I considered cartridges under £100. The 2M Red obviously falls into this category as does the Grado Black, which can be picked up for around £50 these days. In this price bracket it is also worth considering the Audio Technica AT95e and the little Goldring Electra, both of which punch well above their station and can be had for less than fifty quid and should work well on the Technics.

For under 200 quid the Ortofon 2M Blue is a no-brainer as is the Audio Technica AT440mla. Personally I lean more toward the Ortofon as I feel it offers the more balanced sound of the two (the 440mla can sound a little bass shy in some setups).

I have deliberately shied away from recommending MC carts as the OP mentions in his post that he is looking for an inexpensive solution. The very few that are available for around 200 quid don't hold a candle to the better MM carts in this category anyway, with one exception, the Denon DL103em. Marco is the man to speak to about this fabulous cartridge and seeing as it can be picked up from Doug Brady's for under £150 it has to be a contender.

[manwithvan]

With the deck & arm you have, consider the Nagaoka MP-110. By the way, how did you end up with a Dais platter on a Hyperspace?!

[thankyoumisterman]

You might also consider the Grado carts modified by AVA, aka the "Longhorn" modified cartridges: http://www.avahifi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=258&Itemid=226&74a0ad6b5f7a1df0ef4ab98b8fffbb41=386bab211b01952ab 93d59dc16ac9c12

[goraman]

I have had the F1 the Grado Red and Gold, The Gold can be stunning even compared with carts 3X it's price. I replaced a Goldring Eroca H a $750.00 cartridge with a Grado Gold on a Music Hall MMF7 with a Medium weight Project 9 arm and with the Audion Silver Night phono stage using 2X Phillips 2269's Blues,Rock and Jazz was stellar.
The over all tone was far deeper and dynamic.
Another cartridge I liked was the AT11E by Audio Technica a great R&R cart on the right arm,I still see them used on ebay pretty cheap too, and you can still get replacement styless for $20.00 brand new.

[Yiangos]

Hi Steve

First-of-all,the grado black through gold(not sure about the more expensive Grados) require a low mass arm or at least an arm with damping if you are going to get decent results.As an experiment,i fitted my SME 20.0/model 5 with a Grado Gold (the old one,not the newer Gold1) and my findings are a bit complicated.It is warm sounding (lots of lower mid/upper bass) not forward sounding (shut in treble if you are used to good MCS) and it accenuates sibilance if there is on the record.Don't get me wrong.it's a wonderful sounding cartridge.Just be prepared to make some compromises.

[Floyddroid]

It was one of ten made to a special order. The Space ace arm i have is unique too, it also being only one of ten when i bought it about three years ago. I went to the factory/workshop and spent the day there. I traded in my spacedeck which i had been using happily for nine years. I simply went there on the right day at the right time. It is a very special TT indeed, i love it.

[goraman]

If cost is an issue.
http://www.vinylengine.com/library/audio-technica/at11.shtml

New styless here.

http://www.turntableneedles.com/ATS11E-for-Audio-Technica-AT11E-Cartridge-etc--Our-Needle-200-DEC_p_913.html
Good deal here:
http://turntableneedles.biz/audio-technica-at11e-cartridge-and-needle

Sorry,this is the one I had in 1982 the AT88E same cartage and styeless as the AT11E so I'm told. 30+ years ago how could I have confused the model number?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Audio-Technica-AT88E-Cartridge-with-Needle-Stylus-200-DEC-AT-88-E-/221039119012?pt=US_Record_Player_Turntable_Parts&hash=item3376f54aa4
In 82 I paid $100.00 for this cart at Pacific Stereo and it sounded fantastic.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Audio-Technica-AT88E-Cartridge-Needle-Stylus-200-D7C-88-E-/221039120505
You can also have the cantilever retipped with a nude elliptical as an upgrade. When my brother broke the needle off there was a guy in the 80's that used to retip for $50.00 and used better diamonds than stock it was a nice upgrade.