Grado Cartridges and Stylus - Questions and Advice.

AnthonyI said:
Valid point, and I'm not 100% sure. While on and MC the load is more of a recommendations and you can play with them a bit, I'm not sure in the MM world how that would play out, especially with the low output.
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Yeah and 100 to 47,000 is a significantly bigger difference to stay running the 400 ohm Hana at 800. I don’t know enough about the maths to comment but it seemed like something that should be flagged!
 
Alright. So I think the consensus is that a high-output model would at least be a better fit than the low-output. Obviously a better preamp would be my best route (but $$$). Thinking a Sutherland product because of the high praise and more options for loading.

So here's my strategy...

Take a leap of faith on an Opus3 or Platinum. Keep the ART9 for when the Grado gets old. And hopefully by then the phono funds will have caught up.

Thoughts? Bearing in mind I have about $400 from the records sales as fun money...
 
folsom_lives said:
Alright. So I think the consensus is that a high-output model would at least be a better fit than the low-output. Obviously a better preamp would be my best route (but $$$). Thinking a Sutherland product because of the high praise and more options for loading.

So here's my strategy...

Take a leap of faith on an Opus3 or Platinum. Keep the ART9 for when the Grado gets old. And hopefully by then the phono funds will have caught up.

Thoughts? Bearing in mind I have about $400 from the records sales as fun money...
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I don’t think that’s a bad call, it’s likely where I’d land in your shoes.
 
folsom_lives said:
Alright. So I think the consensus is that a high-output model would at least be a better fit than the low-output. Obviously a better preamp would be my best route (but $$$). Thinking a Sutherland product because of the high praise and more options for loading.

So here's my strategy...

Take a leap of faith on an Opus3 or Platinum. Keep the ART9 for when the Grado gets old. And hopefully by then the phono funds will have caught up.

Thoughts? Bearing in mind I have about $400 from the records sales as fun money...
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Sounds like a good path. The high-output Grado is definitely a better bet with the Vincent. A Sutherland is great option when funds allow and will be a better match for the ART9.
 
folsom_lives said:
Alright. So I think the consensus is that a high-output model would at least be a better fit than the low-output. Obviously a better preamp would be my best route (but $$$). Thinking a Sutherland product because of the high praise and more options for loading.

So here's my strategy...

Take a leap of faith on an Opus3 or Platinum. Keep the ART9 for when the Grado gets old. And hopefully by then the phono funds will have caught up.

Thoughts? Bearing in mind I have about $400 from the records sales as fun money...
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I think the plan is sound, the only thing I would interject if a new phono is on the horizon, go with the Opus HO for now and save the money. You'll get more out of a Platinum LO with a new stage ;)

But either is a good way to go about it.
 
Joe Mac said:
I really loved that cartridge when I was running it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too, all the best qualities of the gold + 8mz, but more.
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This is what I'm hoping for. I loved the sound of the Gold and was missing the Grado sound with the new setup. This seemed like a great way to play around with the next level up while still having a killer cart as a future step up (the ART9 that is).
 
folsom_lives said:
Yup. I think I'm fighting two battles at once here with my phono being a bit mismatched for the caliber cart that came with the StudioDeck and preferring a warmer Grado sound. Not really in the market to spring for a $1,000+ phono stage right now so I'd like to find a more appropriate Grado to fit the near term.
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Sometimes it's about equipment synergy, more than spending. Sutherland's for ie are probably great matches for the higher end Grado's and many others, but there are many others. I bet the Grado family would agree. I use a restored vintage Mc from 1967! 😊

The day my Opus gets tired it will likely get traded up to a Platinum.
 
JohnnyCashFan said:
Sometimes it's about equipment synergy, more than spending. Sutherland's for ie are probably great matches for the higher end Grado's and many others, but there are many others. I bet the Grado family would agree. I use a restored vintage Mc from 1967! 😊

The day my Opus gets tired it will likely get traded up to a Platinum.
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Sage advice. I think I was a bit disappointed with my StudioDeck and ART9 combo for that very reason. My phono was/is holding things back and I didn't get the sonic improvement the dollars told me I would get. Not saying the combo doesn't sound great with the right equipment, but it just didn't sound right with MY equipment.
 
folsom_lives said:
Alright. So I think the consensus is that a high-output model would at least be a better fit than the low-output. Obviously a better preamp would be my best route (but $$$). Thinking a Sutherland product because of the high praise and more options for loading.

So here's my strategy...

Take a leap of faith on an Opus3 or Platinum. Keep the ART9 for when the Grado gets old. And hopefully by then the phono funds will have caught up.

Thoughts? Bearing in mind I have about $400 from the records sales as fun money...
Click to expand...
Here’s why you want a high output in your position.

The Vincent has 2 choices- MM or MC.

In MM mode, it doesn’t have enough gain for the 1 mV output of the low output Grados. But the loading is perfect at 47k ohms.

In MC mode it actually has more gain than you need at 60 dB. 48-52 dB would be the sweet spot for most systems. But the loading is all wrong at only 100 ohms. Run the Grado at 100 ohms and the sound will be very muffled with no highs at all. None. 100 ohms works well with many (but not all) Moving Coil cartridges, but is a definite mismatch with a Moving Iron.

You need a phono stage that allows sufficient gain while also allowing 47k ohm loading. Many phono stages will not accommodate this requirement. Most of the Sutherlands will, which is how I landed on Sutherland. While I’ve owned and enjoyed a low output Grado, I’ve found it’s more important to me to have a user replaceable stylus, which is why I still use the Gold3. If I ever get a wild hair, the Sutherlands are flexible enough to be used with any Moving Coil as well.
 
HiFi Guy said:
Here’s why you want a high output in your position.

The Vincent has 2 choices- MM or MC.

In MM mode, it doesn’t have enough gain for the 1 mV output of the low output Grados. But the loading is perfect at 47k ohms.

In MC mode it actually has more gain than you need at 60 dB. 48-52 dB would be the sweet spot for most systems. But the loading is all wrong at only 100 ohms. Run the Grado at 100 ohms and the sound will be very muffled with no highs at all. None. 100 ohms works well with many (but not all) Moving Coil cartridges, but is a definite mismatch with a Moving Iron.

You need a phono stage that allows sufficient gain while also allowing 47k ohm loading. Many phono stages will not accommodate this requirement. Most of the Sutherlands will, which is how I landed on Sutherland. While I’ve owned and enjoyed a low output Grado, I’ve found it’s more important to me to have a user replaceable stylus, which is why I still use the Gold3. If I ever get a wild hair, the Sutherlands are flexible enough to be used with any Moving Coil as well.
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So are you saying even the high output Opus3 is still going to have issues with the PHO8?
 
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