Grado Cartridges and Stylus - Questions and Advice.

HayesWeighsIn said:
Just reporting back now that I’ve got a handful of hours on the 8mz on my Green and it’s starting to open up. Biggest takeaway now I’d say is that great pressings sound REALLY great. Like, that smile on your face, close your eyes, totally in it kind of great. Definitely a humanizing factor to this stylus upgrade. Easier to notice the records that have less than stellar mastering now too, simultaneously. But yeah, this is very cool.

I’ve got mine tracking at 1.6 grams. I’ve seen 1.5 floating around as recommended, but just curious what you all like to track your Prestige’s at.
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Grado states 1.5 grams.

I’m at 1.65 grams. I think it tracks and sounds better.

There’s an interesting thing I found- Len Gregory hotrods Grados in England and sells them under The Cartridge Man brand. He recommends 1.58 grams.
 
A nice write up on the Epoch3 here, not that it’s in my budget. Trickle down technology is a wonderful thing.

Analog Corner #296: Grado Epoch3, Lyra Atlas Lambda SL, Ortofon MC A Mono phono cartridges Page 2

The damper and suspension changes bring to the Atlas SL λ a quality of top-to-bottom, luxurious textural suppleness, sustain, timbral generosity, and midband warmth, while losing none of the speed, slam, and detail retrieval for which the Atlas SL (and the brand in general) is best known. Still...
www.stereophile.com www.stereophile.com
 
Back to normal after Hurricane Laura, I've been spinning some vinyl with my new Gold3/8mz. I haven't noticed any settling in changes yet after a few hours, but if it stays the same, I'm stoked. My impressions of changes from Gold2/8mz should be taken with a grain of salt. I was happy with the Gold2, but upgraditis is a funny drug.

The Gold3 is better. Instrument separation seems a bit more clear, soundstage is just as good if not a tad better. I can write off those improvements to biased upgrade expectations, but one thing that is definitely undeniable is that the Gold3 is quieter than the Gold2. Ain't night and day, but noticeable right away. Setup was identical with the same protractor, (Feickert using Baerwald), and 1.6 VTF. I'm very happy.
 
Question for @HiFi Guy, @AnthonyI, and anyone else who’s clocked some time with Grado carts, one that I’ve been daydreaming about a bit. With currently having a Green2 with an 8mz, how would that setup differ from a Gold2 cartridge? I know that by stepping up to a version 3 I would definitely see improvement, but curious regarding the 2nd gen carts.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
Question for @HiFi Guy, @AnthonyI, and anyone else who’s clocked some time with Grado carts, one that I’ve been daydreaming about a bit. With currently having a Green2 with an 8mz, how would that setup differ from a Gold2 cartridge? I know that by stepping up to a version 3 I would definitely see improvement, but curious regarding the 2nd gen carts.
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Unless the v2 is being discounted and blown out price wise, the v3 is going to be the best course of action, even with tossing the 8MZ on the v2........keep in mind, the 8MZ can be used on v3 as well. My opinion of course ;)
 
AnthonyI said:
Unless the v2 is being discounted and blown out price wise, the v3 is going to be the best course of action, even with tossing the 8MZ on the v2........keep in mind, the 8MZ can be used on v3 as well. My opinion of course ;)
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Oh for sure! If I upgrade the cart, it’s a v3 hands down. I guess what I’m asking is, am I missing any sonic goodness running a green w/ 8mz vs what a comparable gold would offer?
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
Oh for sure! If I upgrade the cart, it’s a v3 hands down. I guess what I’m asking is, am I missing any sonic goodness running a green w/ 8mz vs what a comparable gold would offer?
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I’ve always heard that a Black2/8MZ beats a Gold2 FWIW. And while I really liked the Gold2, the 3 bests it easily. Sometime soon I’ll put an 8MZ on my Gold3, but I’m really enjoying it as is.
 
I am weirdly noticing a bunch of sibilance on some records now with my Grado Gold 3 that I never noticed before on certain records. And it's on the first tracks on a side but not on the tracks toward the inner groove? It seems to be calibrated based on quickly looking at my mirror protractor. Any thoughts? Should I just try to calibrate it again?
 
MikeH said:
I am weirdly noticing a bunch of sibilance on some records now with my Grado Gold 3 that I never noticed before on certain records. And it's on the first tracks on a side but not on the tracks toward the inner groove? It seems to be calibrated based on quickly looking at my mirror protractor. Any thoughts? Should I just try to calibrate it again?
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Yes. Also, what’s your tracking force?
 
MikeH said:
I am weirdly noticing a bunch of sibilance on some records now with my Grado Gold 3 that I never noticed before on certain records. And it's on the first tracks on a side but not on the tracks toward the inner groove? It seems to be calibrated based on quickly looking at my mirror protractor. Any thoughts? Should I just try to calibrate it again?
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How old is the stylus?
 
HiFi Guy said:
I run mine at 1.65 grams.
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Tried to re-align the cart and I think it sounds even worse now somehow haha. Now there is terrible sibilance on the inner tracks. I hate aligning cartridges...I have the Grado gold 3 on a rega moth rb-202 tone arm. I'm lining up the stylus to the center point of the outermost grid and lowering it on the mirror protactor so the stylus meets the circle in the middle of the grid. Then I'm looking from above to make sure the grid isn't showing double in the mirror and making sure the front of the cartridge is parallel to the lines on the grid. Then I lift the arm, rotate the platter a little, move it toward the middle-most grid, repeat. Then I go back to the first one to make sure it's still straight. It seems straight to me but still has bad sibiliance on multiple records. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?? Stylus isn't very old. Tracking is at 1.68 now...
 
MikeH said:
Tried to re-align the cart and I think it sounds even worse now somehow haha. Now there is terrible sibilance on the inner tracks. I hate aligning cartridges...I have the Grado gold 3 on a rega moth rb-202 tone arm. I'm lining up the stylus to the center point of the outermost grid and lowering it on the mirror protactor so the stylus meets the circle in the middle of the grid. Then I'm looking from above to make sure the grid isn't showing double in the mirror and making sure the front of the cartridge is parallel to the lines on the grid. Then I lift the arm, rotate the platter a little, move it toward the middle-most grid, repeat. Then I go back to the first one to make sure it's still straight. It seems straight to me but still has bad sibiliance on multiple records. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?? Stylus isn't very old. Tracking is at 1.68 now...
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Is the cart level? Azimuth?
 
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