Grado Sonata 1.5mV, 4.5mV, and 0.5mV for VPI


I have been looking at new turntables and after a great deal of demoing I have loosely decided on the VPI Scout/Grado Sonata combo. I have only heard the 0.5mV version of this cartridge. My phono stage is the grado ph-1, which will work for all three output levels. Also, I will soon be moving to a part of boston with quite a bit of emi/rfi in the air. What differences can I expect as I move from more to less output. Has anybody listened to the different sonatas on a VPI scout specifically? Any thoughts / recommendations are helpful. Thanks.
wrtickle
I'm looking for the same info for the same table......will be interested in the responses. thank you for posting this,patrick
Spoke with John Grado before I set up my Aries with a .5 Sonata.He say's if my phono could handle it (and I am sure yours can) you simply get fewer winds of coil to distort the sound.So .5 is what they say.I spoke more recently with Mike who is head tech at VPI and aksed about cartridges.Can't remember what he told me (lot's of subjects covered) when it cam to another brand (Dynavector?) but he said he recommnded the Master version of the Grado which runs $300 more.You might want to email VPI and ask for Mike and ask him why he thought the extra pony up is worth it.Nice combo in any case.I was thinking of getting new platter and ring but fellow I asked about who had it say's without centering device it's expensive and a pain in the ass (but works well with warped discs).Other than that when you want to spend more dough think about the VPI SDS motor controller though egtting something like a PS or other conditioner might allow you to not only greatly reduce motor noise and insure speed accuracy but also allow you to plug in and condition a few other pieces like CD and PRE.VPI has on their site a reccomendation for the Ginko isolation platform which seeems like it would be more stable than air bladder isolationa and do more than pucks.But big upgrade for my Aries was getting the Black Diamond Racing two piece clamp.Lastly of course a VPI 16.5 cleaning machine and no matter what cleaner you use check out the LAST products.I make my own home brew for the machine but use LAST Power Cleaner for guumy skunked up LP's.But the LAST LP Preservative is worth every hugely expensive penny they charge.Mike at VPI validated this for me.Told me he has folks bring up records they say have been played 100 or 200 times and beacuse they were treated with LAST preservative they sound more like thay hav had only a half a dozen spins.Lot's of places to spend dough if you want to some like Shung Mook Discs ($200 dollar wood drink coasters) or $1000 meter wire doesen't make sense but some unfotunately do much to the chagrin at least finacially to vinyl freaks and theri spouses.So your kid doesen't REALLY need to go to that fancy prep schoolright??
Regards
Chazz
Wrtickle,
If you think you might have EMI problem than you should definitely go with the lower output one. It is less sensitive to EMI.

Chazz,
I got the new platter and ring clamp upgrade for my Aries. The VPI ring does not require centering device. It is a snug fit.