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Grado Prestige RED1 p-mount

M

mancubus

New Member
Hello, just bougth Grado Prestige RED1 p-mount and replaced my old technics p30s cartrige in technics sl-dd22. First of all i noticed that my old p30s (2,5 mV) has higher output than grado RED1 (4 mV). Furthermore grado cartridge sound really "thin"...all vocals are so "compressed" and all mids are like lowered... Maybe it's a wrong phono amp?
thanks in advice
 
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Maybe its an adjustment issue as the Grado should be a vast improvement.

Check your tracking force and tracking angles, make sure your turntable is level.
 
Welcome to AK!

It's a p-mount, so there aren't any adjustments. And that's part of the problem. P-mount was developed as a standard by Technics. In order for a cartridge/stylus to function properly, the cartridge must weigh 6g and the stylus be designed to track at 1.25g. The only time where you can vary from the standard would be with the high end, p-mount tables that had adjustable tracking force, and those are few and far between.

The Grado weighs 5.5g and requires 1.5g of tracking force. In essence, then your cartridge is .5g too light, meaning you are tracking at .75g on a cartridge that requires 1.5g of TF. If you call Grado, they will not doubt give you a song and dance, but the fact is that they are ignorant or apathetic about p-mount standards.

The reason your Technics cartridge sounds so good is that it naturally adheres to the standard. So do the AT, Shure, and Stanton p-mounts. Ortofons do not, so you should avoid them along with Grado.

As a fix, if you can figure out a way to add .75g of weight to the cartridge end of the arm--maybe affix a coin or some putty--you will effectively solve the problem. But in the future always ask us first here at AK before purchasing anything.
 
Check behind the DD22 tonearm. If you see a screw, get a screwdriver and try turning it clockwise. My SL-BD20 and similar technics tt's have a screw at the back of the tonearm which will adjust the tracking force. I believe .25 either way (don't quote me on that). The DD22 looks to be a similar setup. It's perfectly safe, but you'll want to use a gauge to be sure just how much you're adding or should you want to set it back to it's original and/or correct 1.25g position.

You'll still need to add .50g I suppose, but it's a start!
 
wushuliu said:
Check behind the DD22 tonearm. If you see a screw, get a screwdriver and try turning it clockwise. My SL-BD20 and similar technics tt's have a screw at the back of the tonearm which will adjust the tracking force. I believe .25 either way (don't quote me on that). The DD22 looks to be a similar setup. It's perfectly safe, but you'll want to use a gauge to be sure just how much you're adding or should you want to set it back to it's original and/or correct 1.25g position.

You'll still need to add .50g I suppose, but it's a start!
Click to expand...
Unfortunately it doesn't have the adjustment, and he'd need to add .75 anyway.
 
I just went downstairs to check my Technics SL-20 tone arm. The knob at the end of the tone arm allows for incremental adjustment between 1.00-1.25-1.50 gram. My is set at 1.25 gram. The black anti-skate knob has similar settings. Learning new things as I go along.:music:
 
Some of the Technics p-mount turntables allowed for adjustment and some did not. My SL-BD22 and SL-Q5 do not, but my SL-M3 does. The instructions for the M3 says it will adjust +/- .25 grams, but in practice it has a wider range.

I have a Grado Silver p-mount (the older non-1 version) that weighs 6 grams, but I still bump up the tracking force to the 1.5 grams recommended by Grado on my M3. Are the newer Grado p-mounts that much lighter?
 
SA-708 said:
Some of the Technics p-mount turntables allowed for adjustment and some did not. My SL-BD22 and SL-Q5 do not, but my SL-M3 does. The instructions for the M3 says it will adjust +/- .25 grams, but in practice it has a wider range.

I have a Grado Silver p-mount (the older non-1 version) that weighs 6 grams, but I still bump up the tracking force to the 1.5 grams recommended by Grado on my M3. Are the newer Grado p-mounts that much lighter?
Click to expand...
I haven't weighed them. The specs at lpgear say 5.5g.
 
Looks like Grado specs say 5.5g for the current Prestige carts, and the older generation too, without any differentiation between the the standard mount and the p-mount. Could they be adding a half gram to the p-mount version, in spite of the specs? Mine is definitely 6 grams, perhaps even a smidge over.
 
They could be adding .5g on p-mounts or just publishing the wrong weight for all the carts. Or there could be variation from cart to cart. With Grado, you just never know.
 
You are sure it is plugged in all the way and secured by the horizontal screw.

I'd try to return it or at the very least get a replacement--or if not the dealer, perhaps Grado will replace it.
 
Well my SL 5 came with an Ortofon OM10P. Sound and plays great, including with a replacement OM-10P.


hakaplan said:
Welcome to AK!

The reason your Technics cartridge sounds so good is that it naturally adheres to the standard. So do the AT, Shure, and Stanton p-mounts. Ortofons do not, so you should avoid them along with Grado.

.
Click to expand...
 
fastbike said:
Well my SL 5 came with an Ortofon OM10P. Sound and plays great, including with a replacement OM-10P.
Click to expand...
I chose my words poorly. I shouldn't have said that one should avoid Grado and Ortofon p-mounts, but rather to be aware that they do not strictly conform to p-mount spec. Glad you're enjoying yours.
 
Not trying to argue, but perhaps I wasn't clear. I'm the original owner of the SL-5 and don't remember replacing the factory cart. I believe the OM-10 was factory original.

hakaplan said:
I chose my words poorly. I shouldn't have said that one should avoid Grado and Ortofon p-mounts, but rather to be aware that they do not strictly conform to p-mount spec. Glad you're enjoying yours.
Click to expand...
 
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