Questions regarding old Grado cartridge

idealist

idealist

Perfectionist on a budget
Hi all,

I have an old Grado cartridge, tan in colour, marked Grado GT.

Unlike the illustrations of other Grado GTs I have seen, it does NOT have "Grado" stamped on the top.

I'm wondering if anybody knows:

a) if it's a genuine cartridge, or some kind of "knock-off"?

b) if it's worth arming with a new stylus. (assuming it works)?

c) if putting a "better" stylus in it would make it worthwhile using?

I intend to put it into a headshell today and test it, but am unsure of the colour-coding of the headshell wires.

I cannot even recall when I obtained this thing, or from where... :)

Thanks in advance,
:)
Mike

[edit] somehow the images seem to have rotated 90 degrees during uploading ... (?)

[edit] I found another thread on this cartridge in the "Lenco Heaven" forum, which told me that the "goo" behind the stylus assembly is apparently necessary (I foolishly cleaned it all off, before I knew better!) Anyone know if this is a "terminal" mistake?

[edit] I also found the colour codes for the pinouts, so that's ok...
 

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idealist said:
Hi all,

I have an old Grado cartridge, tan in colour, marked Grado GT.

Unlike the illustrations of other Grado GTs I have seen, it does NOT have "Grado" stamped on the top.

I'm wondering if anybody knows:

a) if it's a genuine cartridge, or some kind of "knock-off"?

b) if it's worth arming with a new stylus. (assuming it works)?

c) if putting a "better" stylus in it would make it worthwhile using?

I intend to put it into a headshell today and test it, but am unsure of the colour-coding of the headshell wires.

I cannot even recall when I obtained this thing, or from where... :)

Thanks in advance,
:)
Mike

[edit] somehow the images seem to have rotated 90 degrees during uploading ... (?)

[edit] I found another thread on this cartridge in the "Lenco Heaven" forum, which told me that the "goo" behind the stylus assembly is apparently necessary (I foolishly cleaned it all off, before I knew better!) Anyone know if this is a "terminal" mistake?

[edit] I also found the colour codes for the pinouts, so that's ok...
Click to expand...

First, get a DVOM and check continuity on both sides to make sure fooling with the black goo-pucky hasn't broken a coil fly-wire. Second, any of the current styli from Black through Gold will fit this body, including the 8MZ stylus. Use the search engine here and find the many threads on various styli replacements you can choose from, and other members results. PM me if you get stuck.

Marc
 
Looks like the standard Grado GTE cartridge body from the early 80's IIRC. There is supposed to be some type of filler mentioned recently that will sub but I can't remember where I read it. Not terminal if you didn't break the wires.
 
Thanks. GTE, ok.

I haven't a spare headshell (yet) to mount it on, but I'm measuring 795 ohms one side, and 810 ohms on the other. Very steady. (Fluke multimeter). I was expecting about 470 ohms, based on what I've read. Does that sound ok? I've ordered a new headshell to put it on, as I don't want to mess up the alignment of the other carts I have already on headshells.

Any idea what the (lack of) filler would do?

cheers,
:)
Mike
 
idealist said:
Thanks. GTE, ok.

I haven't a spare headshell (yet) to mount it on, but I'm measuring 795 ohms one side, and 810 ohms on the other. Very steady. (Fluke multimeter). I was expecting about 470 ohms, based on what I've read. Does that sound ok? I've ordered a new headshell to put it on, as I don't want to mess up the alignment of the other carts I have already on headshells.

Any idea what the (lack of) filler would do?

cheers,
:)
Mike
Click to expand...

The filler is supposed to be a damping agent for the coils, may cause a bit of resonance, but since yours is missing, may as well try it and see what happens until you can find a suitable sub.
 
idealist said:
Thanks. GTE, ok.

I haven't a spare headshell (yet) to mount it on, but I'm measuring 795 ohms one side, and 810 ohms on the other. Very steady. (Fluke multimeter). I was expecting about 470 ohms, based on what I've read. Does that sound ok? I've ordered a new headshell to put it on, as I don't want to mess up the alignment of the other carts I have already on headshells.

Any idea what the (lack of) filler would do?

cheers,
:)
Mike
Click to expand...

Those coil numbers are good, although they woud indicate as does the manufacturing date on the body, this is actually an MTE even though its "badged" as a GTE. The "G" series carts were 700 ohm coils, the M series were 800 ohm coils. :thmbsp:
 
Thanks for the info.

So I'm dealing with a GRADO MTE...

I didn't even see the manufacturing date!

Still worth keeping? Worth upgrading the stylus?

Thanks again,
:)
Mike
 
Well, it turned out I had some spare headshells lying around that I had forgotten about...

I mounted the cartridge on one, set it up for the turntable, and gave it a go.

My initial impression is - WOW!

Cal Tjader's vibes resonate around the room, and the detail is delicious!

To think that thing's been lying in a box for God knows how many years... :/

I tried it against my AT150MLX, and have decided I don't like the A/T any more. Not only does it sound flat and uninvolving by comparison, but it scoops up gunk from the bottom of the groove, and needs to be cleaned before the last track.

Given that the 150MLX was so damned expensive, I kinda wonder if it's just me...?

I also have only a TCC TC-750 preamp, and am wondering what difference a better preamp would make. I realize that the 150 may have an impedance mismatch with the 750.

Also I noticed that the "ears" on the Grado stylus look to have a silver dot each side. Not sure what that means.

Any recommendations for a preamp under about [edit] $300 which might be an improvement on the 750?

BTW, I have ordered an 8MZ stylus...
:)
Mike
 
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For a phono preamp the ART DJ is an improvement over the TC and even better yet a used V-LPS. There was one for sale in BT, but with the disfunctional search function I couldn't find it.
 
idealist said:
Well, it turned out I had some spare headshells lying around that I had forgotten about...

I mounted the cartridge on one, set it up for the turntable, and gave it a go.

My initial impression is - WOW!

Cal Tjader's vibes resonate around the room, and the detail is delicious!

To think that thing's been lying in a box for God knows how many years... :/

I tried it against my AT150MLX, and have decided I don't like the A/T any more. Not only does it sound flat and uninvolving by comparison, but it scoops up gunk from the bottom of the groove, and needs to be cleaned before the last track.

Given that the 150MLX was so damned expensive, I kinda wonder if it's just me...?

I also have only a TCC TC-750 preamp, and am wondering what difference a better preamp would make. I realize that the 150 may have an impedance mismatch with the 750.

Also I noticed that the "ears" on the Grado stylus look to have a silver dot each side. Not sure what that means.

Any recommendations for a preamp under about [edit] $300 which might be an improvement on the 750?

BTW, I have ordered an 8MZ stylus...
:)
Mike
Click to expand...

The stylus on the MTE+1 is a nude mounted .6 X .3 diamond of "special grado design" . It is superior to the current stylus offered on the Black. Nice cart actually as I have a NOS one as well. For a phono section that will extract what the Grado can extract, especially the 8MZ stylus, the DB-8 from DB Systems

http://www.dbsystemsaudio.com/
 
Hmmm. I just went out and bought a Project Phono Box. Given that it's three times the price of the 750, I hope I haven't shot myself in the foot...
:)
 
Well, to Pro-Ject experiment fell over!

Having driven 40 kilometres to find anyone who even HAD a phono preamp, I probably should have known better than to buy it from JB HiFi. (The "HiFi" in JB Hifi is wishful thinking...)

It was an old model, Phono Box, Mk1, at a premium price ($155).

(OTOH, everything in Australia is much more expensive than in the US.)

I got it home, connected it up in place of the 750, and went to plug in the power.

The DC plug doesn't fit. It LOOKS like it should, but it doesn't. It just won't go in.

If that's an example of Pro-Ject's quality control, I'm afraid I'm not interested.

So now I'm examining other options for a decent phono stage.

It's now obvious I'm going to have to allow around $250-$300 to get something worthwhile here, and it's going to have to be mail-order or eBay. :/

:)
Mike
 
Better, i think. i have just ordered a Gram Amp 2 SE, at a very good price, from the UK.

We'll see how that goes...
:)
Mike
 
Update: Fitted an 8MZ stylus and installed a Gram Amp 2 SE MK 3. Sweet! :)

Thanks for the assistance.

Mike
 
idealist said:
Update: Fitted an 8MZ stylus and installed a Gram Amp 2 SE MK 3. Sweet! :)

Thanks for the assistance.

Mike
Click to expand...

Nice to know you can get top shelf performance with what amounts to (these days) pocket change from a simple stylus swap.

Glad we could help :thmbsp:
 
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