Well, I have used Grado cartridges for a long time now. I have a Grado arm, so my comments may not apply since that combination is pretty hard to beat. I have a second arm on my TT and I have had numerous cartridges in it - Shure's, Denon's, ATC, a few moving coils, plus a few others of which I have forgotten. However, I keep coming back to the Grado combination. My current plan is to buy a third arm and try some of the newer MC cartridges again.
MC suggestions
I have long been a Grado fan. Currently running a Statement Reference v2. I love it, but. I auditioned the Ortofon Quintet Black and the Dyna 17d3 and the Benz Glider and while each were excellent in their way, the overall feeling, despite being faster and transparent left me wanting, I was happy enough with my Grado. Id like to take another crack at this now. What I am looking for at this point and I hope you guys can make some suggestions, is a cleaner, and more live sound. This combined with a nice sense of space and width to the soundstage. Is this asking a lot in my price range which is 2.5k(ish)? I am of the opinion after spending sometime trying to figure this out, that an el34 based tube amp combined with the Grado cart are just too similar in voicing(warm). I had hope that running a ss phono stage combined with the low output statement would be just the synergy. It definitely moved the needle in the right direction and I could live happily if I didn't think I could push it a little farther in the detail direction without losing what I love about the Grado sound. That is primarily it is not brittle, its natural sounding, nice soundstage all around. Perhaps if I had solid state amplification it would be a synergistic match made in heaven. Some carts I have been thinking about are VAS, Miyajima, Dyna(I did really like the 10x5 I listened to at one point). Not to rule out Lyra but would be worried about the thinness I've read about from some users. Grado fans seem a little few and far between and I wonder if there are previous fans who have moved on. Maybe I just need to have a couple carts around and their is no one right cart. I have hesitated pursuing a cart change because my system has been tuned to Grado's sound but if I can get close with another company making MC's that wouldn't call for recalibrating my rig that much would be great. Thanks for reading and sorry to be so long winded.
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I have owned a Lyra Helikon and now own two Delos cartridges. I don’t know where you heard that they were "thin" sounding but that sentiment couldn’t be further from the truth. Lyra cartridges are very evenly balanced across the audio band; don’t mistake high detail retrieval for lack of body. I too am a Grado fan and own a Black, Gold, Sonata and their mono elliptical. For me, the real high value, exceptional sounding carts to own these days are the Nagaokas, MP110, MP150 or MP200. The 200 gives my Delos a run for the money for sheer performance alone. |
Ortofon MC2000 is spectacular if you have an appropriate high gain phono stage or dedicated SUT for it. I’ve been able to find unused NOS (New Old Stock) and the package is very impressive with invitation to the ortofon Golden Ear Club. This is a high compliance and extremely low output MC (can be used on the same tonearm with your grado). Ortofon MC-2000 is full or details and really a mind blowing presentation. The NOS unit can be very expensive, but cantilever and tip is so special, do not expect any re-tipper can replace it with something equal. Only the original worth the effort and money. If you’re considering the low compliance Miyajima, which must be very interesting cartridge, you can look for Ortofon SPU Royal G mkII with Replicant-100 profile and very special coil. The Miyajima and SPU can be definitely grouped together, while the Miyajima has Shibata profile the SPU Royal G has Replicant-100 profile. However, for both cartridges you need much heavier tonearm than for your Grado. SPU and Miyajima are Low Compliance cartridges and highly regarded for their organic presentation! But with Replicant-100 profile on SPU you will get more details, really nothing to miss. And life span of Replicant-100 is up to 2000 hrs ! A good Miyajima (Kansui or Madake) is much more expensive than your budget BTW |
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