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Infinity Black Widow

Pootybear

Pootybear

Active Member
Has anyone used a Grado 8mz on an Infinity Black Widow tonearm? I'm currently running a Shure V15 III with Jico SAS stylus and was wondering if it would be fruitless to change to the Grado. I just want to see if it sounds better on the Black Widow than on my Rega 250.
 
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Sound Better-- depends on your musical tastes. But definitely different. The highs will definitely be more restrained, some might say better balanced. But the beauty of the Grado over the Shure would be the classic midrange that Grado is famous for. Open, balanced, great definition. You will notice it in the naturalness of vocals (especially female), piano, horns such as saxes. I'm a big Grado fan when I want to listen to Jazz or Classical. When I do rock or pop, I will *sometimes* swap out to the Shure for dynamics that seem well suited to those styles.
Hope that helps.
-GT
 
Sorry if that was confusing. I was wondering if the Grado will sound better on the Black Widow vs the Rega 250.
 
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, for I'm quite new to analog, but on paper, I believe the Grado would match up a bit nicer with the Infinity than the Rega??
 
Pootybear said:
Sorry if that was confusing. I was wondering if the Grado will sound better on the Black Widow vs the Rega 250.
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OK Got it after I re-read the last line:sigh:
The Jico/ Shure combo is definitely a better tracking combo for a low mass arm. But the Grado will definitely sound great. Don't know about "better", but I've actually heard the Black Widow with a Grado Wood Body and that cart has some mass to it. Sounded great.
I wouldn't get TOO hung up with the "low mass" tonearm thing, as long as you can balance the arm.
 
Thanks garpt. I just got the bug to do something different. I love the shure just wanted to know if I should go to all that trouble to try the grado. Do you think it will reveal more detail on the Black Widow?
 
Pootybear said:
Thanks garpt. I just got the bug to do something different. I love the shure just wanted to know if I should go to all that trouble to try the grado. Do you think it will reveal more detail on the Black Widow?
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I believe more detail is a given with a better quality arm. And the Black Widow is a substantially better arm then the Rega 250, IMO.
 
Thanks! I was thinking the same thing. I'll try it and post an update on the difference between the Rega and the Black Widow with the Grado. Also difference between the Grado and the Shure on the Black Widow. Should be fun : )
 
Pootybear said:
Thanks! I was thinking the same thing. I'll try it and post an update on the difference between the Rega and the Black Widow with the Grado. Also difference between the Grado and the Shure on the Black Widow. Should be fun : )
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look forward to it :music:
 
Both are top flight cartridges with slightly different voices. The Jico SAS is a different voice than Shure intended, but still good. It is worth a try and you may like it better. Only your ears will tell you. The 8MZ is my daily driver so I am partial.
 
Installed the Grado 8mz on the Black Widow today and gave it a listen. As compared to the Grado on the Rega 250 it was much more open and detailed on the Black Widow. More separation of instruments and I could hear more of the background sounds like really quiet guitar and percussion. Really nice full sound. As compared to the Shure V15 III on the Black Widow, the Grado lacked a little detail, but made up for it with richness. The Shure is very detailed and has tighter bass, but does lack the rich warm sound of the Grado. Warped records are no problem for either on the Black Widow.
 
Pootybear said:
Installed the Grado 8mz on the Black Widow today and gave it a listen. As compared to the Grado on the Rega 250 it was much more open and detailed on the Black Widow. More separation of instruments and I could hear more of the background sounds like really quiet guitar and percussion. Really nice full sound. As compared to the Shure V15 III on the Black Widow, the Grado lacked a little detail, but made up for it with richness. The Shure is very detailed and has tighter bass, but does lack the rich warm sound of the Grado. Warped records are no problem for either on the Black Widow.
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You might do some re-set up on the BW and the Grado. The Shure shouldn't outshine the Grado in the bottom end. Is this a new stylus, and not yet run in? Generally the Grado will prefer 1.6-1.65 gr VTF and little to no antiskate.

If the bass is still a touch loose and not fully detailed in the lowest registers, you might consider adding a little mass to the arm about 1/3 the distance from the vertical pivots to the stylus tip.
 
Thanks for the advice. The stylus is fairly new around 15 to 20 hours I think? I'm going to go with it for a week or two just to make sure it's broken in. I really love the smooth full sound. Roxy Music Avalon is like butter!!!
 
The BW craves high compliance cartridges/styli which these both are. It will be a matter of sonic taste, I don't think either will misbehave on that arm :)
 
Just wanted to give everyone interested an update on the 8mz Black Widow combo. After 20 or so hours of play on the Black Widow the 8mz really started to open up and the detail was much better with really nice full tight bass and great mids. I thought it might give the Shure a run for it's money as far as imaging and soundstage goes, then I switched back to the Shure :music: Both sound excellent but the Shure's soundstage is much more 3 dimensional. Almost forgot how good it was.
 
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