Frankengrace? Gracenfrank?

[hoodie]

After following Needlestein's Grace F9 thread, it provided the motivation to find a suitable replacement stylus for a Grace F8 body. With eBay prices for an F8 stylus a bit on the high side the search was on to find an affordable alternative. I read over at VE that a Shure V15-III stylus would "fit", albeit a bit loosely, so I ordered a 4764-DE from V-M Audio (Thanks again Gary) and voila! IT LIVES!!

 

[MRL_Audio]

Not my cup of tea but good to know there are alternatives. Fell in love with my F8 Ruby and have been "hoarding" I mean collecting stylus for this ever since. Very nice.

 

[hoodie]

Not my cup of tea but good to know there are alternatives. Fell in love with my F8 Ruby and have been "hoarding" I mean collecting stylus for this ever since. Very nice.

After spending some time today with this combo and truly enjoying it, I would love to find an "affordable" genuine F8 stylus.

 

[Nashou66]

Wouldn't it be Gracenstien not Gracenfrank?

 

[ripblade]

Isn't the top of the needle holder supposed to be roughly parallel to the record? Have you measured the SRA?

 

[hoodie]

Isn't the top of the needle holder supposed to be roughly parallel to the record? Have you measured the SRA?

I've been playing around with the VTA and have lowered the arm significantly. The SRA is not optimal but close as I can get.
-Matt

 

[ripblade]

This highlights one of the difficulties with exploring substitute needles; it's not just whether it fits well but also whether the SRA is within range. I fitted a Kenwood N-49 needle in a Grace F9, resulting in a 100° SRA, roughly. Otherwise, a perfect fit. Good thing aluminum cantilevers can be bent lol!

 

[hoodie]

I had to carefully file away some of the plastic along the top of the holder to get the stylus to fit snug. It also made the rake angle less severe. That plus lowering the arm made the cartridge playable and it sounds pretty darn good. Exploring for possible substitutes is fun and ya learn some things in the process. A Nags JT-311 stylus is the next candidate.
-Matt

 

[danj]

I took the stylus from my V15III and tried it with my F8L body and, viola, it works but the fit could be a bit better. Didn't listen to it though because the Dual TK24 cartridge sled the Grace is mounted on has developed an uncorrectable hum so I've remounted my Grado Silver. I'll let you know after I get another cartridge sled or decide to repair rather than toss the humming one.

Love the Dual but the cartridge mounting scheme isn't the best.

 

[hoodie]

Sounds good Dan, keep us posted.

 

[hoodie]

Found a viable F8 stylus substitute....finally. It's a NOS Perpetuum Ebner / Elac STS elliptical. Fits like a glove and needs minimal tweaking to get to a proper SRA. Sounds really nice. Clear, crisp, detailed and non fatiguing with a wide sound stage. There's a slight bump around 1 kHz but it's no biggie.
-Matt

 

[mjw21a]

I've been running a Jico VN35HE NeoSAS/S for some time in my Paradox Pulsbodied Grace F8L. I much prefer it to my Grace F9E with SoundSmith ruby cantilever and elliptical tip. Half the price to send to Australia too

 

[hoodie]

I've been running a Jico VN35HE NeoSAS/S for some time in my Paradox Pulse bodied Grace F8L. I much prefer it to my Grace F9E with SoundSmith ruby cantilever and elliptical tip. Half the price to send to Australia too

Bet that it sounds great with a SAS. What do you do to attain a proper rake angle? I ended up shimming the back end of the cartridge, lowering the arm and using a taller matt.

 

[mjw21a]

I just adjust VTA.... That's about it really. I removed the stylus shank from the plastic surround though