Grado Cartridges and Stylus - Questions and Advice.

Well, I’ve added another cartridge to the stable.

I’ve been using the IPT RigB500 which is a fantastic cartridge and a great value.

I’ve got my Grado Gold3 on another head shell and just ordered a Grado ME+. I’ve already got another identical headshell to go with it. Now I’ll have stereo and mono cartridges and I can switch back and forth between the Grados without changing any settings.

The IPT RigB 500 is a superior cartridge and appeals to the head.

The Grados appeal to the heart.
 
Ok what color wires for where on the Opus3 on the studio deck?

The Art9 was wired up from left to right top to bottom White, Red, Blue, Green.
 
Part of the reason I switched to the Technics GR was the ability to quickly and easily switch cartridges. I’ve got 3 now: my new Grado ME+ mono cartridge showed the other day. The idea was that I could have a Gold3 mounted to one head shell, the ME+ in another identical head shell. Then I could easily switch between them without making any adjustments.

Well, it was a fail. My system is uber quiet in regards to hum and noise. When I first tried the ME+ I got a nasty buzz. I knew everything was fantastic with a stereo cartridge, so I did some troubleshooting and research. With the phono stage built into the NAD preamp, it was quiet. So for whatever reason, the Sutherland Duo and the ME+ were a no go. I am thinking it’s something with the Duo being a dual chassis dual mono design.

So I did some research and it turns out there were folks that had $$$$ Miyabi mono cartridges and dual chassis phono stages having the same issue. Their solution was to add a mono/stereo switch. Well, for < $35 delivered for the switch it was worth a shot.

Putting the switch between the output of the Sutherland(s) and the input of the NAD (as others had success) made no difference. That’s the thing about chasing noise issues- what may work in one system may not work in another. So I tried the switch between the output of the Technics and the input of the Sutherland(s) honestly not expecting much. Damn if it didn’t work like a charm! No noise on mono or stereo and the switch seems totally transparent in operation.

Someone is going to ask if there’s a difference between a stereo cartridge run in mono with a switch and a true mono cartridge like the Grado. Yes there is- all there is in the vertical plane on a mono record is noise. A mono cartridge doesn’t pick up anything vertically- so no noise. A stereo cartridge and a mono switch just shares the noise equally between the two channels.

Now I need some hours on it!

5E5A1D85-6EBF-4EBE-9C4A-74A89A7E269D.jpeg
1FC214F1-2250-4B0B-8A4E-766046BB13BF.jpeg
 
HiFi Guy said:
Part of the reason I switched to the Technics GR was the ability to quickly and easily switch cartridges. I’ve got 3 now: my new Grado ME+ mono cartridge showed the other day. The idea was that I could have a Gold3 mounted to one head shell, the ME+ in another identical head shell. Then I could easily switch between them without making any adjustments.

Well, it was a fail. My system is uber quiet in regards to hum and noise. When I first tried the ME+ I got a nasty buzz. I knew everything was fantastic with a stereo cartridge, so I did some troubleshooting and research. With the phono stage built into the NAD preamp, it was quiet. So for whatever reason, the Sutherland Duo and the ME+ were a no go. I am thinking it’s something with the Duo being a dual chassis dual mono design.

So I did some research and it turns out there were folks that had $$$$ Miyabi mono cartridges and dual chassis phono stages having the same issue. Their solution was to add a mono/stereo switch. Well, for < $35 delivered for the switch it was worth a shot.

Putting the switch between the output of the Sutherland(s) and the input of the NAD (as others had success) made no difference. That’s the thing about chasing noise issues- what may work in one system may not work in another. So I tried the switch between the output of the Technics and the input of the Sutherland(s) honestly not expecting much. Damn if it didn’t work like a charm! No noise on mono or stereo and the switch seems totally transparent in operation.

Someone is going to ask if there’s a difference between a stereo cartridge run in mono with a switch and a true mono cartridge like the Grado. Yes there is- all there is in the vertical plane on a mono record is noise. A mono cartridge doesn’t pick up anything vertically- so no noise. A stereo cartridge and a mono switch just shares the noise equally between the two channels.

Now I need some hours on it!

View attachment 138035
View attachment 138036
Click to expand...
I have to assume the 20/20 would have the same issue, then. Good to know!
 
Well, I’ve learned (again) not to trust specs.

The published specs on the Gold3 and the ME+ are the same in regards to weight. In reality, they don’t weigh the same.

I decided to measure the tracking force of both cartridges. With the same cartridge, headshell and hardware weight, the tracking force should be the exact same between the two. The Gold3 showed 1.65 grams. Perfect. The ME+ showed 1.34 grams. Uh oh.

What made me find this? After all, on paper, it’s perfect. Last night, I played my 2014 mono copy of the White Album. Honestly, after side 1, I was unimpressed. Bass was way off, very subdued. If you know Grado, you know that’s not right. It’s also a sign of too little tracking force.

After discovering the issue, I reset the tracking force. It was dynamite. So I needed to add a small bit of weight to the mono headshell so that the mono and stereo cartridges weighed the same. A dab of rope caulk to the mono headshell and we are at 1.65 grams on both Grados.

Also, the ME+ (as I understand it) is based on the “2” series. The 3 series supposedly weighs a half gram more. But my measured difference between the two was .31 grams, so that doesn’t account for the weight difference either. Takeaway? Measure and verify.

Here’s the fix:

55ACDE46-5622-4884-9303-CC0AFD078C76.jpeg
 
HiFi Guy said:
Well, I’ve learned (again) not to trust specs.

The published specs on the Gold3 and the ME+ are the same in regards to weight. In reality, they don’t weigh the same.

I decided to measure the tracking force of both cartridges. With the same cartridge, headshell and hardware weight, the tracking force should be the exact same between the two. The Gold3 showed 1.65 grams. Perfect. The ME+ showed 1.34 grams. Uh oh.

What made me find this? After all, on paper, it’s perfect. Last night, I played my 2014 mono copy of the White Album. Honestly, after side 1, I was unimpressed. Bass was way off, very subdued. If you know Grado, you know that’s not right. It’s also a sign of too light tracking force.

After discovering the issue, I reset the tracking force. It was dynamite. So I needed to add a small bit of weight to the mono headshell so that the mono and stereo cartridges weighed the same. A dab of rope caulk to the mono headshell and we are at 1.65 grams on both Grados.

Also, the ME+ (as I understand it) is based on the “2” series. The 3 series was supposedly weighs a half gram more. But my measured difference between the two was .31 grams, so that doesn’t account for the weight difference either. Takeaway? Measure and verify.

Here’s the fix:

View attachment 139919
Click to expand...

Blu tack, and it’s equivalents, wins again!

Yeah if the white mono is low on bass you know it’s the system because that’s generally more bass heavy than most of the stereo mixes I’ve heard!
 
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