New Grado Black2

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.

This matches what I'm hearing as well. The Black1 has the most forward bass as well, but is also the duller of the three.

Thank you for doing this, nice music selections by the way.

Thanks! I tried to find some selections that wouldn't be annoying to anyone!
 
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!


quick question.........is that an 8M body, or 8MR body? Ohm reading?

(venus) the black-1 sets the bass a bit forward in the mix, does't separate the snare transient strike from the snare "device" the Black-2 tries to, and has the bass back beside the drum kit. More movement in the music with the Black-2.......................no where near the Siggie though.
 
quick question.........is that an 8M body, or 8MR body? Ohm reading?

I'm using the 8M body. I haven't measured the coils, but I believe it should be around 700-800ohms, right? That would put it in the same general range as the Black2, which I measured at 675.

(venus) the black-1 sets the bass a bit forward in the mix, does't separate the snare transient strike from the snare "device" the Black-2 tries to, and has the bass back beside the drum kit. More movement in the music with the Black-2.......................no where near the Siggie though.

Spot-on, Marc. I hear the exact same thing, it's quite apparent.
I've left the Black2 on the AR, and I'm working from home today ( :banana: ), so I have a good opportunity to give it a good audition on the Grado-optimized AR.

I have that Kenny Burrell album spinning right now. The Black2 is definitely warmer than the 8M, but not dull - just more cloudy/smokey. It has a thicker presentation too, with a very full midband. The 8M is much more open and detailed, with a more neutral presentation compared to the Black2. Imaging on the Black2 is pretty good, I'm getting some nice front-to-back depth. It also does very well at suppressing record noise, indicating that it's tracking the groove well.
 
I'm using the 8M body. I haven't measured the coils, but I believe it should be around 700-800ohms, right? That would put it in the same general range as the Black2, which I measured at 675.



Spot-on, Marc. I hear the exact same thing, it's quite apparent.
I've left the Black2 on the AR, and I'm working from home today ( :banana: ), so I have a good opportunity to give it a good audition on the Grado-optimized AR.

I have that Kenny Burrell album spinning right now. The Black2 is definitely warmer than the 8M, but not dull - just more cloudy/smokey. It has a thicker presentation too, with a very full midband. The 8M is much more open and detailed, with a more neutral presentation compared to the Black2. Imaging on the Black2 is pretty good, I'm getting some nice front-to-back depth. It also does very well at suppressing record noise, indicating that it's tracking the groove well.

OK, was wondering which exact 8M series.
The presentation of the Black-2 is more akin to ( IMO / IME) the F-3/G-3 bodies, but a bit warmer
 
Imaging on the Black2 is pretty good, I'm getting some nice front-to-back depth. It also does very well at suppressing record noise, indicating that it's tracking the groove well.

Imaging - that's the quality I love about the Black2. It knocked me out on the first disc I listened to with it, Electric Ladyland.
 
I'm becoming eager and eager to read Beatcomber's impressions of the stylus 8MZ fitted on black2 body. Please, as Barry White hit song, don't make me wait too long :)
 
OK, I listened to the samples finally. I like the Black2 better than the signature with 8MZ. Black2 has more slam, and my years tell me the soundstage is bigger.
 
Hello everyone, primary this discussion is about Grado Black2 but does anyone know what is the difference between Grado Black and Grado Black1 ? (prestige serie "0" and 1) I have both and I feel that the Grado Black (produced in 2010) is not so full in low frequencies as Grado Black1. Do you have also this experiences?
By the way, I ordered Grado Blue2, until now I use Grado Green1 + Red1 stylus and it is my favorite cartridge.
 
Hello everyone, primary this discussion is about Grado Black2 but does anyone know what is the difference between Grado Black and Grado Black1 ? (prestige serie "0" and 1) I have both and I feel that the Grado Black (produced in 2010) is not so full in low frequencies as Grado Black1. Do you have also this experiences?
By the way, I ordered Grado Blue2, until now I use Grado Green1 + Red1 stylus and it is my favorite cartridge.
There was a good bit of difference between the "0" and 1 throughout the entire line including up through the statement. The original Sonata I bought was nowhere in league with the Sonata-1 that replaced it.
(thanks to a grandson that forced me to get my Sonata "fixed" in 07, John sent me a Sonata-1 as the 'fix")
 
$13 was a lot more money back then. When I was a kid in the 1970s out post-Christmas shopping, I lost a $10 bill that was a Christmas present from my aunt. $10 was a huge amount of money--I relied on that gift and spent the whole year dreaming of it like Ralphie Parker dreaming of a Red Ryder BB gun just a few miles away and thirty years before--but we didn't know him yet.

I think my allowance was 25 cents a week, which didn't carry nearly as far in the 1970s as it did in the 1960s when my older brothers received that same amount at the same age. My parents didn't adjust for inflation in over a decade.

That $10 bill I lost somewhere between Uncle Bill's on one end and Best Products at the other end of the Shoregate Shopping Center in Willowick, Ohio and the totally ruined cold, sleeting, winter day it caused is something that still gets brought up at family get togethers almost or possibly an entire forty years later. I'm guessing, late December 1978 or early January, 1979. Details of warm, happy memories of past Christmases by the leaning painted pop-up cardboard fireplace, apparently, have all since been forgotten as topics of discussion.

Cardboard-Fireplace-with-Chimney.jpg

Too bad this one isn't lit up. There's a small red Chrismas bulb behind the "flames" that lights up. It's pretty fun, actually, for being so hokey.

By the way my red-faced dad reacted, that $10 was worth at least fifty in today's money, and the inflation calculator agrees.
We had one of these when I was a kid. Yours was fancier, ours didn't have the chimney on top of the mantle. On ours, heat from the light bulb turned a small shiny metal fan, made it look like the fire was flickering. We hung stockings from that thing.
At any rate, I bought in on the Black2. Put about 25 hours on it, then pulled it to compare the V15 II Improved. The Shure is the better of the two, just as smooth and punchy, images just as well too, but tracks a hair better and is more extended up top (without brightness, BTW).
Nevertheless, I prefer the Black2 over some other much more expensive cartridges I've used. Well worth $75.
 
I'm becoming eager and eager to read Beatcomber's impressions of the stylus 8MZ fitted on black2 body. Please, as Barry White hit song, don't make me wait too long :)
I installed my 8MZ in my Black2 a couple of days ago. Haven't had a lot of time to audition but from what little I've heard I like it. Need to play some familiar music. Will post more as I get into this.
 
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