Grado Reference vs Benz Glider and H2


I'm looking to replace my beloved Grado Reference and thought a Benz Glider or H2 might be a nice change.

I love the lush, rich midrange and vocals the Grado gives but am curious about other cartridges.

How does the Glider and higher priced h2 compare to the Grado Reference. Keeping in mind that I'm spoiled by the fabulous cartidge I already have. Will I be taking a step back or fowards by buying a Benz?

I'm not willing to sacrifice anything that the Grado gives me when I can just go buy another one. I use an EAR834P with a Rega arm on a suspended table with metal platter like the Linn.

Finally I am led to believe that the Grado is not compliant with the Rega arm which is evident from all the subsonics I get. Is the Benz a better match?
kel34

Showing 1 response by siliab

For me, the Benz cartridges occupy the middle ground between the fast, highly delineated sound of the uber moving coils favored by most audiophiles, and the rich, smooth textured sound offered by the Grados, Shure V15s, etc. In addition, the Benz cartridges from the wood bodies on up do something special with tonal balance that favors vocal, woodwind, and massed string reproduction in particular. Like the Grados, I find the Benz H2 to be a natural, rather than supernatural sounding cartridge. However, unlike the Grado Ref it is more rhythmically lithe, which shows up particularly well in bass and percussion heavy recordings.

Unfortunately, I can not comment on the suitability of either the Benz H2 or Grado Reference with your arm and table. That is what a trusted dealer is for.