Grado Questions

Grado only has about 18 employees. Go to their Contact Us Page, fill out the email form with your question, and sent it off. You will probably get the most reliable and definitive answer within a week or two.

When you looked at the stylus under the loupe, was the tip completely clean? The stylus can easily accumulate baked-on gunk that would drop transparency and detail significantly. It can also be affected by setup--stylus rake angle (SRA) and vertical tracking force (VTF).

I don't know what the shelf life is for the elastic suspension, but this *is* a 39-yr-old stylus. If the elastomer has hardened up over time, you would lose detail compared to a new one. As to whether a new stylus would work the better or same with the Signature body or your Gold one, I think only somebody at Grado would know for sure, though perhaps somebody at LPGear would know as well, since the new XTZ stylus is an exclusive special order from them.

Hi Johnnyb53 its an original from 1976. Judging from the performance of the old stylus in the cartridge body its sounds fine in that nothing dropping out, or shorting out. I just feel the old XTZ stylus is not quite as revealing as a new one could be.

I am pretty sure any Grado stylus will fit on any cartridge body i.e. stereo with stereo. Do you think I would get good performance out of Gold-1 with a XTZ new stylus on it?

Thanks for the LP Gear link. I did call Grado but did not get a tech person.

When you say "silver body" do you mean an original Joe Grado Signature cartridge body from 1976, or a current production Grado Prestige Silver body?

LPGear offers a current production of the XTZ stylus for those who still have an XTZ cartridge body. It's $450, though, so if your stylus is in good shape, take care of it and use it if that's practical. If I were you I'd check with LPGear customer service or Grado Labs to see what's the best cart body to plug it into.

The Grado Signature debuted in 1976 for $300, even more than a Fidelity Research moving coil cartridge. Adjusted for inflation that $300 is equivalent to $1250 today.