Lab80, Grado DJ, Grado Gold

[KevinL]

I finally got a Garrard Lab80 MkII that fully works!

I'm currently using a Grado DJ cartridge because I figure the arm is high mass. The DJ cartridge is tracking at 3 grams and does not appear to be destroying my records.

I have a Grado Gold laying around and I'm wondering whether the mass of the arm is too much for the cartridge. I believe the Gold can be dialed up to 2 grams.

Any feedback is sincerely appreciated. Happy Holiday all!

 

[deaner33]

Congrats. You may be better off with the DJ cart. The Late Joel Thorner (RIP) at the Turntable Factory recommended another DJ cart for the Garrards: Shure M25. I tried cartridges with lower recommended tracking forces on my Garrards (Lab 80, SL-95, SL-65) & had nothing but problems. When I switched to the Shure M25, the problems pretty much went away.

 

[Mr. Lin]

Yes, the Gold would work fine at 2.0g, that's where I found my Silver optimal, but if it's a high-mass tonearm it's probably not going to work very well. Maybe you should give it a try just for fun?

 

[ChairSpud]

I suspect your Grado will work fine on it at 2 grams, I once emailed Grado about the ideal arm mass for their cartridges and was told they perform best on tonearms that have an effective mass of 12 to 17 grams with optimum performance at 14 grams.

 

[131east23]

I just bought a Lab 80 with original Pickering V15 cart and original stylus. I balanced the tonearm, applied 1.5 grams of stylus pressure and tried to play something from the 70's. Sounded awful. I pulled one of my old We Five albums out, increased the stylus pressure to Pickerings specs which I think starts at 2.5 grams and was blown away by the sound; the brightness and magnitude of the sound. I have looked at replacement carts and styli for the unit but haven't bought yet. I am interested in the Shure cart as well. I have enough older records that can deal with greater stylus pressure, so I thought why not buy a period piece and construct a neat little period piece system.

Also, the difference in sound may have also been affected by stylus shape...

 

[KevinL]

Thanks everyone for your input! I'll might give the Gold a try later. I spent all day cleaning it up, lubing the mechanics, and adjusting the auto mech. The auto mech is fussy once in awhile but I'm done. Not going to mess with it. Still very happy! IMO its the most beautiful TT ever, and it sounds awesome! Thanks again!

 

[deaner33]

Do you have the stacking spindle? If so & you plan to use it, a conical stylus is the way to go due to the change in VTA with each record.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Stick with the Grado DJ here. The LAB 80 isn't suited for light cartridges. The Audio-Technica AT 95e is also good, the Stanton 500 new model and the Stanton 400 are good here and you have several Shure options here.

 

[131east23]

Still very happy! IMO its the most beautiful TT ever, and it sounds awesome! Thanks again!

Totally agree about the looks of this TT. I plan on giving it an overhaul, bought a parts table (if I need it, if not will sell in better condition than I bought it) and put it next to the Dual.

Question: The bias (anti-skating) set weight on my tables won't stay in place. I see that there is a hole underneath the elastic rubber ring (which is broken on both tables), so should there be something in that hole which has pressure applied to it by that rubber ring to hold the set weight in place?

 

[KevinL]

Totally agree about the looks of this TT. I plan on giving it an overhaul, bought a parts table (if I need it, if not will sell in better condition than I bought it) and put it next to the Dual.

Question: The bias (anti-skating) set weight on my tables won't stay in place. I see that there is a hole underneath the elastic rubber ring (which is broken on both tables), so should there be something in that hole which has pressure applied to it by that rubber ring to hold the set weight in place?

You're talking about the little weight that slides back and forth for the grams of bias? If so, I have one that stays in place. PM me your address and I'll send it to you.

Another question from me: On the MkII - in manual mode does the arm lift and return after the record is over? I have to hit the auto button to get it to return.

 

[131east23]

KevinL, thanks for offering the weight but I have one that is intact so when I take it apart, possibly breaking the rubber around it, I'll see what the other one is missing. I really appreciate that though. I bought one Lab 80 three weeks ago and I am very happy with it. Very quiet, seems to be in good shape, but has a slight hum so I need to rewire, lube, get some damping fluid, etc... I just received the second one and it has more issues but they are all fixable. So, to get to your question... Even though the second Lab 80 has the Mark II tone arm it isn't a Mark II, so I have two early Lab 80's. My limited experience, which includes reading the manual and these forums, tells me that my Lab 80's are strictly manual in manual mode. I had read that the Mark II's (in these forums somewhere) will return the arm, but I think you have to initiate it yourself. This would be a good question to ask on the Garrard Forum at Vinyl Engine, or maybe a Garrard Guru will see this and answer it. Vinyl Engine has all the manuals for the Lab 80 on their site.

 

[KevinL]

Unhappily, a few Lab80s were major junk before lucked into this one. Yes, I'm having to hit the Auto switch to initiate the return. I've seen a lot of Lab 80s with the MkII arm. That must have been some transition period. Hey, check out my new avatar!

 

[sberger]

Bringing back this old thread simply to add that one of the cart/stylus combos on my Lab 80 that I've had excellent performance from is a Grado ZF3 cart with a 8MZ stylus. Tracking at 1.65g(per Grado guru Marc Morin's instructions) it is another excellent option if your looking for viable carts for the Lab 80 and have an old Grado body lying around. I've read on another thread how Grado's were recommended back in the day as an upgrade over the Pickering's that normally were mated with the Lab 80's.