grado prestige gold phono cartridge question

[rodney sherman]

Does someone on this board own a grado gold,and if so do you like it? I'd like to upgrade my cartridge wich is a pickering (v-15 micro 4 ame) to something a little better.

[NealW]

i am very happy with my grado love the midrange and find it sweet and natural and gets plenty of detail out of those grooves (far better than the shure i had before) but i must warn you that some people complain that it hums with certain tables now its doesn't hum on my micro seiki and it doesn't hum on my friends Thorens TD 160. what turntable do you have?

also it can have a wobble in the first few revolutions of of an LP (usually the lead in groove) now i haven't even got back to my seat before that wobble is gone so that doesn't worry me.

for the price there is very little to beat it but i'm sure other people have their favourites (Dynavector being one but that is a lot more expensive). if you are like me this was a nice step up and once i move to a better table i may purchase a more top end cart.

[Beagle]

I own the Prestige Gold, along with the Reference Platinum and an older MCX. The Gold is a fine, detailed, open and musical cartridge. For $180, it is excellent. It is great for simply enjoying records and not thinking or worrying about what it is or isn't doing. Slightly less warm than the Platinum or MCX but this can be a good thing. It gets you close to Platinum territory and unlike the Platinum, the stylus is user-replaceable.

[mcow1]

Do you have a problem with the Grado gold skating into the first part of the first track if there is even the slightest edge warp?

[NealW]

yip usually a little wobble before it starts, worse when there is a warp in the LP

[mcow1]

I tell ya that skating into the first second or so is driving me crazy. Unfortunately my turntable is just an old "P" mount (for now) and I don't know a better cartridge for it than Grado.:(

[Beagle]

A lot of this is tonearm dependent, I have Rega RB300 and Mission arms, and have only had a rare wobble occurence with the BR300. I'd say on 99% of my records I have no problem whatsoever. But I have seen the wobble cause mistracking and woofer pumping due to subsonic resonances, and this was with the Platinum not the Gold.

[rodney sherman]

Originally posted by NealW
i am very happy with my grado love the midrange and find it sweet and natural and gets plenty of detail out of those grooves (far better than the shure i had before) but i must warn you that some people complain that it hums with certain tables now its doesn't hum on my micro seiki and it doesn't hum on my friends Thorens TD 160. what turntable do you have?

also it can have a wobble in the first few revolutions of of an LP (usually the lead in groove) now i haven't even got back to my seat before that wobble is gone so that doesn't worry me.

for the price there is very little to beat it but i'm sure other people have their favourites (Dynavector being one but that is a lot more expensive). if you are like me this was a nice step up and once i move to a better table i may purchase a more top end cart. The turntable I'm going to put this cartridge in is a BIC 80Z.I have 4 turntables and each has its funny ways when it comes to grounding the cartridges in the headshell.I also read the posts from people who want to rid the world of grado cartridges.the pickering v-15 micro 4 ame was made in the late 70s and i like it alot.maybe i'll stay with it.the pickering has a very short cav so it does not wobble.it also plays the lp with good sound on the inside grooves with out the raspy destorted sound you sometimes get with other cartridges.

[quadjoe]

Originally posted by mcow1
I tell ya that skating into the first second or so is driving me crazy. Unfortunately my turntable is just an old "P" mount (for now) and I don't know a better cartridge for it than Grado.:(

I also had this problem on my P-mount with both Stanton and Grado carts, but when I tried an Audio Technica AT 331LP (AKA Trackmaster 8) the problem went away. I suspect strongly that while the Grado will fit the p-mount arm, it may not be properly balanced when installed in the arm and since there are no adjustments you can make (at least not easily) to the P-mount arm it is a problem you may have to live with (of course you can always manually cue your records) if you really like the sound of the Grado. BTW, I'm using a Grado Prestige Blue (a much lesser cartridge to the Gold) on a Sony TT in an old Quad setup in my den, and amazingly it flawlessly tracks my CD-4 records perfectly (if you don't know or remember CD-4 discs contain a 30khz-50khz carrier signal for the rear surround channels which are passed to a demodulator to retrieve the surround info, much the way FM Stereo broadcasts work.) Needless to say I am very impressed with Grado Cartridges, they really do have response to 50khz as they claim!

[mcow1]

I never had the problem with my Stanton, that was my favorite cartridge I ever had on there. Unfortunately they no longer make it and I haven been able to find a replacement cartridge or stylus for it (was a L737e). The Grado was actually a replacement for an Audio Technica AT331lp which was pretty new but I didn't care for the sound of it. I do enjoy the sound of the Grado and may stick with it for now but even manually cued sometimes it skates in to the first second or so. It seems to me I read somewhere, maybe from TP, that it is from a lack of dampening.

[Grant]

What is this wobble and how does it sound?

No matter how I set my skating force (within reason, of course), I do experience that skating to the beginning of the first track with my Grado. I also get the hum with my table, but oh, the guys are right about the midrange and dynamics, very natural-sounding.

[Beagle]

Originally posted by Grant
What is this wobble and how does it sound?

No matter how I set my skating force (within reason, of course), I do experience that skating to the beginning of the first track with my Grado. I also get the hum with my table, but oh, the guys are right about the midrange and dynamics, very natural-sounding. Grant:

By "skating", do you mean the stylus jumps from the lead-in groove into the first track or it jumps during the playing of the first track? With some warped records, the lack of damping in the cantilever structure make the cartridge susceptible to bumpy record surfaces caused by tiny warps, and it could make your woofers almost jump out of their cones because of the low frequency resonance. If you encounter this on a record that does not look warped, try shining a flashlight on the record (on the first cut) while it is turning. It is likely you will see the reflection of the light wiggle at a high frequency and a certain point on each revolution. This is what causes the wobble and jumping.

This problem rarely occurs for me with either the Rega RB300 or Mission 774 tonearms, but I have had it happen. Intrerestingly, I have not had the problem since I moved my stereo to the basement on a cement floor.

You might want to see if you can find a soft rubber or sorbothane turntable mat. I recall that this helped when my Mo-Fi "Dark Side Of The Moon" would do the wobble thing on the opening heartbeat.

I find the Grado cartridges to be very accurate tonally and with timbres. You can listen to them for hours without getting irritated or fatigued. Very musical, meaning they make all types of music sound real, not hi-fi.

Also, regarding the hum, try manipulating yout turntable cables (that patch into your amp). Sometimes you can lift them, move them and the hum lessens. Try moving the cables while wearing headphones and not playing a record. Turn up the volume a bit and see if the hum dissipates then tape the cable in place so it does not move. And try to keep your turntable as far away from other components as possible. The cartridge can pick up hum from CD players, tape decks and amps, not just from the motor.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Beagle
Grant:

By "skating", do you mean the stylus jumps from the lead-in groove into the first track

That's it! But It's not severe, I mean, it will play all of the music from the beginning. I do not hear the wobble effect.



I find the Grado cartridges to be very accurate tonally and with timbres. You can listen to them for hours without getting irritated or fatigued. Very musical, meaning they make all types of music sound real, not hi-fi.

Yes, I love the sound and I hear the same things you do. My vinyl doesn't sound doctored as they did with the Shure carts I were using. The only reason I even considered replacing the Grado was because of the hum. So far, the Grado is the best cart I have ever heard so far!



Also, regarding the hum, try manipulating yout turntable cables (that patch into your amp). Sometimes you can lift them, move them and the hum lessens. Try moving the cables while wearing headphones and not playing a record. Turn up the volume a bit and see if the hum dissipates then tape the cable in place so it does not move. And try to keep your turntable as far away from other components as possible. The cartridge can pick up hum from CD players, tape decks and amps, not just from the motor.

I do have everything close together because of space constraints.

A couple of days ago, while recording a Chuck Mangione LP to the PC for transfer to CD-R, the left channel dropped down in level and the hum disappeared. I wiggled all the cables and connections and then tapped the leads from the cart and the sound came back without the hum. I guess I have a bad wire in my tone arm? Problem is, I did this repeatedly over months and nothing changed until now. The hum is still there but now it is very faint. It's no longer a problem to clean up.

Oh well, it's time to save for a new table.

[lukpac]

Originally posted by Grant
My vinyl doesn't sound doctored as they did with the Shure carts I were using.

Which Shure carts? The V15 series is about as "un-doctored" as they come - flat.

[Grant]

Originally posted by lukpac


Which Shure carts? The V15 series is about as "un-doctored" as they come - flat.
Yes, I know. But I never used a v15, unfortunately. Too expensive for me.

[quadjoe]

Originally posted by mcow1
I never had the problem with my Stanton, that was my favorite cartridge I ever had on there. Unfortunately they no longer make it and I haven been able to find a replacement cartridge or stylus for it (was a L737e). The Grado was actually a replacement for an Audio Technica AT331lp which was pretty new but I didn't care for the sound of it. I do enjoy the sound of the Grado and may stick with it for now but even manually cued sometimes it skates in to the first second or so. It seems to me I read somewhere, maybe from TP, that it is from a lack of dampening.

Wow, small world. I also own a Stanton L737e cartridge, and unfortunately I can't find a replacement stylus for it either. I was told by the folks at Garage-a-Records, that it was discontinued :( . By the way, they are a very good place to buy cartridges and turntable accessories as well as turntables. I believe I saw that they have the Grado Gold for around $130.00.

[mcow1]

Originally posted by quadjoe


Wow, small world. I also own a Stanton L737e cartridge, and unfortunately I can't find a replacement stylus for it either. I was told by the folks at Garage-a-Records, that it was discontinued :( . By the way, they are a very good place to buy cartridges and turntable accessories as well as turntables. I believe I saw that they have the Grado Gold for around $130.00.

It is a small world as Garage-a-Records is where I buy my cartridges. When I first started buying I bought a At331lp from them and asked if they had a replacement stylus for the L373e, she said, at the time, that they had a stereohedron stylus that would fit it and it would be better than the elliptical. Unfortunately I thought I was getting a better one with the AT and when I called back to get the stylus it was gone. Bummer:(

[Beagle]

Originally posted by Grant


I do have everything close together because of space constraints.

A couple of days ago, while recording a Chuck Mangione LP to the PC for transfer to CD-R, the left channel dropped down in level and the hum disappeared. I wiggled all the cables and connections and then tapped the leads from the cart and the sound came back without the hum. I guess I have a bad wire in my tone armPossibly. Might be the jack on the amp too. Try reversing the channels on the amp, see if the weak side changes channels too.

Regarding hum, when using the turntable, make sure other components like CD player, tape deck etc are powered off. I did that and noticed the overall hum level dropped. I have my Rega turntable on one component stand and my other components on another stand next to it. This keeps most of the hum at bay. All that remains is some residual hum near the label area from the TT motor.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Beagle
All that remains is some residual hum near the label area from the TT motor.
That's what happened when I wiggled the leads to the cartridge. I don't know what else to do. I don't have any grounding problems, I keep all of my non-essential components off, I filter my power supply for good measure, My TT sits on a heavy wooden table.