Hi David , I think you should try a subwoofer. Most people do not call the Grado bright, Focals can light up a room, but for many adding lows can fill out the sound. Testing a cart at home with out buying is not easy these days Almost every town has a Best Buys or simular store . Go buy a sub you can afford and try it , they will gladly take it back if it doesent help. Maybe they will not have the best but most stores will have something worthwile owneing. David
New cart for under 1K
I am looking to buy a new cartrdige for my setup. My current system consists of a VPI Scout II with a Black Knight platter and 10.5SE tonearm (the TT Michael Fremer demonstrated a cartridge setup at last years show in NYC), JM Focal 936's, Mac solid state power & pre, and a Dynavector P-75 phono pre-amp. The Focal's are very accurate and tend to be bright in the highs. Brightness is what I am trying to avoid. I've found the highs to be too harsh for my liking, especially with vocals. Sibilance is also an issue and something I have attempted to control with speaker placement, VTA, damping fluid, and the tone controls on my old Mac preamp. My current cart is a Grado Gold. I am hopeful that upgrading to a new cartridge helps eliminate some of the treble harshness and provides a sweeter overall sound. I'm interested in the Dynavector 20x2 so far. Any other suggestions for 1K or under, Benz, Ortofon, Sumiko (Blackbird, a little over 1K, but what the hell)?
Thanks for you assistance!
Thanks for you assistance!