New Grado Black2

That's exactly what I have in mind... Black 1 and 2 with native styli vs. with 8MZ stylus vs. Signature 8M. I may even throw the ZC+ into the mix.

At any rate, the new Black2 on my BIC is sounding very nice. It's a helluva nice cart for $75, although its lush presentation may not appeal to everyone, and that's fine. But what it does well, it does REALLY well. The music envelopes the listener like a warm bath with this Grado, and it has that classic Grado depth of soundstage that many of us like.
post man says you should see the Black-1 Monday
 
Yeah, there's that. What's the best place to order for returns if necessary? Direct from Grado, if that's possible?

Grado sells them direct (under the name "4OurEars") on Amazon. In the event of problems, you can either return it via Amazon or do what I did, call Grado on the phone and request a warranty exchange. They sent me a new one immediately.

I still would not hesitate to buy another one. Grado has taken care of every one of the problems that have been mentioned here. I have bought three of them right at the beginning and mine had no problems. They are fantastic cartridges and I could easily live with the Prestige Black2 as my last cartridge forever.

Certainly, I wouldn't worry about it. If you do get a bad one, there is little hassle involved.
 
The Black2 on the BIC is no competition for the Grado 8M on on my @marcmorin AR, but it's not really a fair fight; the AR table is head and shoulders superior to the BIC.

Once the package from Marc with the spare headshell arrives, I'm very curious to see how the Black2 fares against the 8M on the AR. That should be very revealing.
 
The whole competition with the AR would allow all cartridges to be evaluated at peak levels (or close to it).
 
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The Black2 on the BIC is no competition for the Grado 8M on on my @marcmorin AR, but it's not really a fair fight; the AR table is head and shoulders superior to the BIC.

Once the package from Marc with the spare headshell arrives, I'm very curious to see how the Black2 fares against the 8M on the AR. That should be very revealing.

I eagerly await this comparison.
Thanks in advance for sharing!
:lurk:
 
I have a Black2 that John Grado sent me with a stylus that had about 70 hours on it. I think it's pretty damn good, especially for the money. I also have an 8MZ stylus that I thought I stick in the Black2 to see if it was an improvement over the stock stylus. One problem - I can't get the stock stylus out! Never encountered this with a Grado before. Going to have to ask John about this.
 
I have a Black2 that John Grado sent me with a stylus that had about 70 hours on it. I think it's pretty damn good, especially for the money. I also have an 8MZ stylus that I thought I stick in the Black2 to see if it was an improvement over the stock stylus. One problem - I can't get the stock stylus out! Never encountered this with a Grado before. Going to have to ask John about this.

We certainly don't want any more busted shells!
 
You learn something new every day. I've never owned a woody Grado and I didn't know that the stylus was glued into place. I guess I won't be trying my 8MZ in that Black2 after all.
 
Probably glued in. It was recommended back in the day to glue the styli in to defeat resonance. The wood body Grados have the usual Grado styli, but they are glued into place after some modification to the plastic carrier (the color tabs are cut off). Every now and then, I buy a used Grado and find that the stylus is glued into place. I would definitely call John.

You learn something new every day. I've never owned a woody Grado and I didn't know that the stylus was glued into place. I guess I won't be trying my 8MZ in that Black2 after all.

I find it hard to believe that Grado is glueing in the Black2 stylus.
 
I can't say if it's glued in or not but it doesn't seem to be coming out any time soon. None of my other Grados were afflicted.
 
OK, here we go...

The turntable is my c.1964 AR-TX, extensively hotrodded by @marcmorin , and the phono stage is my '59 Fisher X-100 with '58 long black plate RCA 12AX7's. To get the impedance right, there is an FX Audio tube buffer with GE tubes between the Fisher and my Tascam DR40 recorder. The files are all 24/96 FLACs.

First up is "Midnight Blue" by Kenny Burrell, from the Blue Note album of the same name, from a '90s(?) Classic Records reissue.

Grado Signature 8M w/ 8MZ stylus:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0r8g0w8rq9l47r8/KB_8M.flac?dl=0

Grado Black1:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lzq6ntyo641stgg/KB_B1.flac?dl=0

Grado Black2:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o46406krwfbuswz/KB_B2.flac?dl=0



Next is "Venus" from the Olympians' self-titled album, a Daptone release from a couple of years ago.

Grado Signature 8M w/ 8MZ stylus:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/183c4qj1atgoiz2/Oly-8M.flac?dl=0

Grado Black1:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kmooomcwsfhbtbe/Oly-B1.flac?dl=0

Grado Black2:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f0jct7qoewm47uq/Oly-B2.flac?dl=0

Let the discussion begin!
 
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No surprise, I like the 8M w 8MZ stylus best. Great detail on the high end which the other two are missing, without being too bright. (I'm listening on a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pros via a recapped Sony TA-1120A). The Black2 does have a better high end than the Black1, but is not the equal of the 8M/8MZ.

Thank you for doing this, nice music selections by the way. FWIW, I own a Black2 p-mount, and I'm pretty blown away by it.
 
(Now listening on my Senn 600s, same amp. I now realize that I in fact, do like the 600s better than the Beyerdynamic).
 
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