New Grado for the Sony TT

[Horn Head]

Well, finally installed a cartridge with a new stylus on my thrift store turntable, a Sony PS-X5 (scored by a fellow AKer). I think I’m pleased.

The cartridge is a Grado that had a Blue stylus but the stylus was broken off (quick story on that incident below). So instead of installing a Blue1 or Red1, I went for the Silver1. Figured it would ‘up’ the value more if in case it sounded like dooky.

Got the Silver1 stylus today from Needle Doctor and promptly installed it and set up the cart/headshell using the linear offset technique that came with the Hi-Fi News Test LP I ordered as well.

Played a couple albums very familiar to me and they sounded pretty good – but not crazy, over the top improvement over the AT Ae1 cart that was replaced. Had the TT running through a Yamaha CX-800 preamp on the MM (47k, 220pf) setting (source direct – all tone control disabled), then through a modified Magnavox 8802 PP6V6 amp to some big EV cornerhorns.

But then, I played M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull, Thick as a Brick Edit #1.......and wow!! There is was: The over the top improvement. I had no idea the high end and mids could be so good on a turntable (though I’ve been listening to vinyl without break for over 30 years). At this point though I had set the preamp to the MM (47k, 330pf) setting.

Now I’m hearing all this cartridge goodness I’ve been reading about. Very pleased.

Been pulling out all kinds of vinyl now; from very pristine albums with good recordings to some more well-used records. And this Grado surely makes the difference. And I’m pretty sure that setting up the cartridge with some deliberacy instead of ‘eyeballing’ it helped a bunch.

Not sure if I went over the top by getting the Silver1 stylus to put into the cart. From what I can tell the Silver/Gold carts are supposed to have some mystical oxygen-free wire in the coils that isn’t used in the Black/Green/Blue/Red carts.....even though the styluses all fit these carts (and I can’t find any way to distinguish what stylus any of these carts came with originally unless you bought it new and had personal knowledge). Perhaps it really doesn’t matter.

Will be going through the test LP tomorrow to fine-tune the set-up.

Oh, and there’s no hum at all from the cart on the Sony TT. Will send a PM to update the “Grado Hum Database”.

Quick story on how I settled on the Grado – it was by dumb luck. Was at a local auction last month – the kind where the items sit for a month and you bid on a slip of paper. Highest bid on the last Sunday of the month wins. So I saw a very good looking Pioneer PL-12D TT going for about $5 at the time. But it had the Grado cartridge with a Blue stylus (not damaged – perfect). I figured this was my opportunity to get a good cart for cheap. Come close-of-auction day and bidding had gone up to $20. I then bid at $25 and watched over the TT until that table was closed to further bidding. But for a moment there was some punk standing right in front of the TT just before the auction closed. I won. Went up to see the TT a minute later and saw the stylus was ripped off the cart. That punk must have been the guy who bid $20 and lost – then destroyed the stylus. What a bitter loser. Anyway, in the end I got the cart on my system for about $110 (after new stylus). Plus, I have a PL-12D with an AT cart for the in-laws. So not a bad deal overall.

And, listening to vinyl at an accelerated pace!

 

[Ant1-Hero]

Congrats on the new cart, I have a silver1 and love it, takes a bit to get it set up just right. But in the end well worth the effort.

 

[Horn Head]

AH,

Yep...spent a while with that HI-FI News test record and think I got this cartridge in a sweet spot. Settled on about 1.7 grams and screwed around with the tracking mechanism a bit - til the buzz went away on the left channel (discovered that the scale on the little anti-skate dial isn't accuarte enough to set without the test tracks). Also got VERY low output during the cartridge alignment (azimuth) test. All's good now.

Can really hear the differences in how each record was mastered....some bright, some mellow, some with sibilance problems, some spot on. Hearing the records now and all's good.

Very happy with the Grado.

 

[Mr. Lin]

Thanks for this. I own a pre-1 Silver and like it a lot, despite having moved much higher up the performance ladder AFA cartridges are concerned. They're finicky about setup, colored, and not the best trackers, but they have a sort of magic to them that many of us really like. FWIW, my Silver took months of regular use to break in - don't know if that's still the case with the new version you have.

 

[Horn Head]

I really don't know what break-in should sound like with at cartridge, but have been playing the crap out of the silver1 over the past two weeks. Would be stunning if I heard a forthcoming improvement.

Will report back if/when I do hear some changes.

(Note: I've been a real skeptic regarding 'break-in' of many things. Although speaker foam and spiders seem like reasonable candidates for such theory. Despite being a non-believer, I did hear coupling capacitors break-in after about 10 hours on that Magnavox 8802 amp I rebuilt - no psychoacoustic effect there, it was real. So, I'm really interested in listening critically to the GRADO to see what happens. Seems like it would be similar to speaker foam break-in given the flexible material holding the stylus in place.....we'll see. If no change is heard, all is still good with this fantastic cart. I the cart does change for the better....just can't wait. Will choose one record in order to evaluate future changes. )

Glad to hear others have had success with this cartridge. Add me to the 'happy owners' list.

 

[Mr. Lin]

(Note: I've been a real skeptic regarding 'break-in' of many things. Although speaker foam and spiders seem like reasonable candidates for such theory. Despite being a non-believer, I did hear coupling capacitors break-in after about 10 hours on that Magnavox 8802 amp I rebuilt - no psychoacoustic effect there, it was real. So, I'm really interested in listening critically to the GRADO to see what happens. Seems like it would be similar to speaker foam break-in given the flexible material holding the stylus in place.....we'll see. If no change is heard, all is still good with this fantastic cart. I the cart does change for the better....just can't wait. Will choose one record in order to evaluate future changes. )

The highlighted part is what will happen in theory, the suspension loosens up after hours of use. I often tell people not to be too concerned with if and when cartridge break in will occur - just enjoy the music. But for me, there was a real element of sparkle (the best way I can describe it) that appeared about four months or so after I began using my silver. Others have reported long break in times with Grado Prestige series cartridges, but as you're now experiencing, it sounds great out of the box.

As an interesting aside, I used to own a Grado Platinum, the entry-level wood body model. I never heard any change in its sound after a year and a half of use. Go figure. It's different from brand to brand and model to model IME.