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Grado cartridge

9

91firebird

Super Member
Well found a mint grado cartridge under a receiver,no idea where the hell it came from or how long it was
Under there.anyway found a head shell put a belt on the pioneer table put U2 on,well it sounds dam good,
These grado are dam nice,no idea what cartridge it is.
 
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Grado M-2+

I took off the stock stylus then put back on a low hrs 8MZ... Less bass , more sparkle in the upper mids. Probably better clarity

About that Grado goo... Because of the age of the M-2+ the damping goo dried out , cracked and most is gone (fell out?)

I've been looking for a goo substitute... Researched the 'net and questioned some local techs. I came up with 'Permatex Tune-Up Dielectric Grease' :eek:

Applied with a toothpick in a few strategic places... Slipped in the 8MZ, nothing blew-up

SQ, stereo imagining and balance are very good. Top notch in fact

Have listened to 6 LPs without a hitch - YMMV
 
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Frank Sol said:
Grado M-2+

I took off the stock stylus then put back on a low hrs 8MZ... Less bass , more sparkle in the upper mids. Probably better clarity

About that Grado goo... Because of the age of the M-2+ the damping goo dried out , cracked and most is gone (fell out?)

I've been looking for a goo substitute... Researched the 'net and questioned some local techs. I came up with 'Permatex Tune-Up Dielectric Grease' :eek:

Applied with a toothpick in a few strategic places... Slipped in the 8MZ, nothing blew-up

SQ, stereo imagining and balance are very good. Top notch in fact

Have listened to 6 LPs without a hitch - YMMV
Click to expand...

A great sub for the goo is plasticlay (non-hardening modeling clay). You can even get this stuff in black! I think my last batch came from Joann Fabric here in town.

Wayner
 
Modeling Clay or Duct Seal would work I'm sure

Blewpernt said:
.

Dielectric grease is fine but stays goopy...
Click to expand...

I used it very sparingly also I checked the cart this morning (30 hrs later)... The grease is thicker or firmer. Was not runny to begin with
 
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Ordered an 8mz and can't wait to try it after reading about them for years and years. It'll go into a Gold2 cartridge. This is for a Rega and yes I get a small hum when the stylus gets to the lead out grooves, but for that I have a Hagerman Humbucker on the way as well. I feel like the Grado sound is like a warm glow that envelopes the sound but hope that the 8mz will add a little high-end sparkle and openness, while retaining that glow.
 
DavidTT said:
Ordered an 8mz and can't wait to try it after reading about them for years and years. It'll go into a Gold2 cartridge. This is for a Rega and yes I get a small hum when the stylus gets to the lead out grooves, but for that I have a Hagerman Humbucker on the way as well. I feel like the Grado sound is like a warm glow that envelopes the sound but hope that the 8mz will add a little high-end sparkle and openness, while retaining that glow.
Click to expand...
You're going to like it.
 
Blewpernt said:
I’ve read that it’s Duct Seal. Dielectric grease is fine but stays goopy, just like plumber’a grease (probably the same thing in different packages). I’ve never remembered to pick up any Duct Seal when I’m at the hardware/big box store, but maybe next time I will actually remember thanks to this thread.
Click to expand...
I'm on it when I get to the hardware store. And to think I used beeswax in the past
 
I've been a long time AT fan, but a TT I got this past year came with a Grado F3+ with a good stylus (just icing on the $5 JVC QL Y5F cake) that I've been playing with and really, really enjoy. I moved my AT 530 to the JVC and set up the Grado on my Luxman with it's low mass arm and it seems to be an excellent match. Nice clear highs and separation with very defined, tight bass. Fantastic for rock music in general, but particularly nice for the lo-fi/chamber pop/pop punk/dream pop/indie/garage rock I listen to
 
Funny, but after hearing no hum from my new Grado Green on my Sansui QRX, I definitely heard it today on my newer Sony receiver. Damn! But it vanishes when the music starts so...
 
Quadron said:
Funny, but after hearing no hum from my new Grado Green on my Sansui QRX, I definitely heard it today on my newer Sony receiver. Damn! But it vanishes when the music starts so...
Click to expand...
Interesting because I always understood 'Grado hum' to be a factor of the turntable, not the amp/receiver.
There is a list of turn tables here on AK somewhere that supposedly don't play nicely with Grados.
Although I've scoffed at the idea of 'Grado hum', my evidence is purely anecdotal as all my turntables work great with them, and I dig the Grado sound.

What turntable do you have?
 
I was switching it between two Sony PS-X555ES to test the difference in receivers. But after moving the pre-amp a bit further away and re-tightening wires, I don't hear it now...so I'll keep my ears open. Otherwise, I really like the clean sound of the Green.
 
The 8mz in a Gold body sounds pretty great right out of the box. More highs and tighter overall. It balances out the tendency (in my system) for the Grado to be bass-emphasized. It sounds more balanced now but still is obviously Grado. We'll see how it beds in but I'm very happy already. It's an expensive way to go though, at ~$200+ for the cartridge and $175 currently for the stylus. But many of us have a Grado prestige body to use, so what the hell right? Anyway, it makes very nice music.

As far as the humbucker goes, I'm not sure what to make of it. The hum I've got on a Rega is slight enough that I have to crank the volume way high to hear the hum increase toward the lead out, so the only way I knew to test the humbucker was with motor on, platter off, swinging the arm in and then back out, with and without humbucker in place on plinth, at very high volume. At that very high volume the humbucker seemed to make no difference on a new Rega with 24 volt motor and PSU. Hum near the spindle, with or without the humbucker. BUT, that might not be a realistic or valid test. Maybe with headphones I'd hear more of that hum at lower volume with an improvement from the humbucker. But, I almost never listen with headphones. At any rate I'll leave it on the plinth because I've got it and at the very least it can't hurt AFAIK.

So, a very big YES on the 8mz and a MAYBE on the humbucker.
 
DavidTT said:
The 8mz in a Gold body sounds pretty great right out of the box. More highs and tighter overall. It balances out the tendency (in my system) for the Grado to be bass-emphasized. It sounds more balanced now but still is obviously Grado. We'll see how it beds in but I'm very happy already. It's an expensive way to go though, at ~$200+ for the cartridge and $175 currently for the stylus. But many of us have a Grado prestige body to use, so what the hell right? Anyway, it makes very nice music.

As far as the humbucker goes, I'm not sure what to make of it. The hum I've got on a Rega is slight enough that I have to crank the volume way high to hear the hum increase toward the lead out, so the only way I knew to test the humbucker was with motor on, platter off, swinging the arm in and then back out, with and without humbucker in place on plinth, at very high volume. At that very high volume the humbucker seemed to make no difference on a new Rega with 24 volt motor and PSU. Hum near the spindle, with or without the humbucker. BUT, that might not be a realistic or valid test. Maybe with headphones I'd hear more of that hum at lower volume with an improvement from the humbucker. But, I almost never listen with headphones. At any rate I'll leave it on the plinth because I've got it and at the very least it can't hurt AFAIK.

So, a very big YES on the 8mz and a MAYBE on the humbucker.
Click to expand...

Interesting. On mine the humbucker over the motor knocked down the hum substantially, but I'm using an MC, not a Grado.
 
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