Grado Cartridges and Stylus - Questions and Advice.

[dbarila]

Third option- Blue3.

Stylus or cartridge upgrade? And why do you say that?

For reference current setup is U-Turn, Schiit Mani, Onkyo TX 8020, Elac Debut B6.

 

[HiFi Guy]

Stylus or cartridge upgrade? And why do you say that?

For reference current setup is U-Turn, Schiit Mani, Onkyo TX 8020, Elac Debut B6.

Cartridge upgrade. The 3 sounds better than the 1. You could get a Gold3 but you get lots of the benefits of the 3 series and save some money with a Blue.

 

[dbarila]

Cartridge upgrade. The 3 sounds better than the 1. You could get a Gold3 but you get lots of the benefits of the 3 series and save some money with a Blue.

Thanks for the suggestion. Is Amazon the only place to get a Blue3 right now?

 

[HiFi Guy]

Check your messages.

 

[Nee Lewman]

Thanks for the suggestion. Is Amazon the only place to get a Blue3 right now?

I ordered direct from grado.

 

[dbarila]

So in the opinion of the court...a Blue Upgrade would be a wiser use of resources than the 8mz stylus upgrade for $50ish more?

 

[Joe Mac]

So in the opinion of the court...a Blue Upgrade would be a wiser use of resources than the 8mz stylus upgrade for $50ish more?

in your shoes I’d go for the cart first too, once the 1000 hours is on it you can always pick up an 8mz stylus for it.

 

[HiFi Guy]

So in the opinion of the court...a Blue Upgrade would be a wiser use of resources than the 8mz stylus upgrade for $50ish more?

I agree with @Joe Mac

 

[AnthonyI]

in your shoes I’d go for the cart first too, once the 1000 hours is on it you can always pick up an 8mz stylus for it.

Third-ed

 

[dbarila]

The thought of cart swapping strikes fear in my heart. But it seems like it must be done!

 

[AnthonyI]

The thought of cart swapping strikes fear in my heart. But it seems like it must be done!

Look at the bright side, once you have the cart installed, swapping the stylus is going to be a breeze

 

[dbarila]

Look at the bright side, once you have the cart installed, swapping the stylus is going to be a breeze

Very true! My main concern is that it's the older U Turn arm and I can never find a mirrored protractor for Stevenson. And those PDF printed ones are terrible.

 

[AnthonyI]

Very true! My main concern is that it's the older U Turn arm and I can never find a mirrored protractor for Stevenson. And those PDF printed ones are terrible.

I know U Turn recommends the Stevenson alignment, but you can always try Baerwald......it's what the GeoDisc is set for. Its just tying to change distortion outcomes.

 

[HiFi Guy]

I know U Turn recommends the Stevenson alignment, but you can always try Baerwald......it's what the GeoDisc is set for. Its just tying to change distortion outcomes.

Baerwald can’t be achieved with the Gen 1 UTurn arm- it’s only 8.5” effective length. Nine inches or greater is required for Baerwald.

 

[AnthonyI]

Baerwald can’t be achieved with the Gen 1 UTurn arm- it’s only 8.5” effective length. Nine inches or greater is required for Baerwald.

Ah, missed how old the U-Turn was, my bad.

 

[dbarila]

I'll take my question back to this thread since I posted it in the wrong thread before. Why does the U-Turn old arm not align to Baerwald? I found a Baerwald that I had and I can get the stylus into the dots at both points. But why would I not want to use this one?

 

[Joe Mac]

I'll take my question back to this thread since I posted it in the wrong thread before. Why does the U-Turn old arm not align to Baerwald? I found a Baerwald that I had and I can get the stylus into the dots at both points. But why would I not want to use this one?

Your tonearm is too short for that method. The angles are designed for tonearms that are 9” or longer, yours is 8.5”.

 

[HiFi Guy]

I'll take my question back to this thread since I posted it in the wrong thread before. Why does the U-Turn old arm not align to Baerwald? I found a Baerwald that I had and I can get the stylus into the dots at both points. But why would I not want to use this one?

There are multiple Baerwald and Lofgren alignments. If you can put the stylus on the dots and the cartridge or head shell run parallel to the crosshairs at the same time, then you are good.

 

[dbarila]

One more Grado alignment question...do you all align so when you look at the top of the cartridge it's aligned with the grid...or do you look very closely at the cataliever to make sure it's lined up with the crosshairs? I find the later to be what's most difficult with the grado body style.

 

[HiFi Guy]

One more Grado alignment question...do you all align so when you look at the top of the cartridge it's aligned with the grid...or do you look very closely at the cataliever to make sure it's lined up with the crosshairs? I find the later to be what's most difficult with the grado body style.

I do both. Align the body so the front is parallel to the grid. Then look from the front and ensure the cantilever runs along the line in the grid.