Grado Black 'The Silent Warrior'

[jmercado]

The more I listen to my Grado Black Cartridge, the more surprised I am of how much character this little inexpensive cartridge has. For me its amazing how it performs compared to its higher level competitors. Listening to Kansas 'Vinyl Confessions' and Jean Luc Ponty's 'Aurora', I never felt I was listening to a 40.00 or 60.00 dollar cartridge. There simply was no glaring faults, excessive graininess,no overt sloppiness,little shrillness and a lack of harhness.There was some detail missing,but the rhythm and pace of music was always well preserved and neutral. You might say this little cartridge has a heart. Its an overachiever whose sins are moslty of ommission.

I know these may sound silly to all those high end audiophiles who probably have already compared this cartridge to more expensive ones (like the Gold and beyond), but when taken together, the Grado Black's strengths make for a musical presentation that is lively, involving and fun. So to all those who are dubious about whether to start with this entry level cartridge and before jumping to a Benz Micro, Denon DL-160 or the other high end Grado Cartridges, please give this 'silent warrior' a chance. You will not regret it!

[bauzace50]

Yes,
the Grado Black is all you say, and even better modified with a Paratrace diamond from Expert Stylus. It is one of those excellent performers which are also inexpensive.

Enjoy,
bauzace50

[Ldg]

Not my experience, unfortunately. Bad hum pickup. unstable tracking, and a certain distortion and colour that's not my taste. Caveat emptor. Many better even for the same price, IMO.

From time to time threads emerge as if from nowhere extolling Grado carts along such lines as the OP. Make your own mind up about such posts, but I don't get it. A significant fraction of the OP's posts concern, promote or advocate Grado products. I have no axe to grind, they have strengths and weaknesses like all carts. But by any reasonable standard, I reckon that cart is plain unremarkable, and on the weak side of par. For reasons set out extensively previously here.

[john guest]

I am a firm believer that Grado have down graded the cartridges which gave them a good name and a price which at one time was acceptable and well applauded. I have a 30 odd year old F-1+ with original stylus , it kicks into touch, what is supposed to be the equivalent , the gold stylus.In fact the F-1+ is supposed to be equivalent to the silver ?. Put a Gold stylus against the F-1+ and hear the difference, No comparison. I love the Grado sound, you either love it or hate it, pick the side of the fence your on , as there are more for than against, shame about the downgrading and the high cost.

Regards,
JohnG

[bauzace50]

@ ld,
oh, I enjoy my DL-110 hugely more than my ex-Grado Black,even with the Paratrace modification. But it was enjoyable, for sure.

Regares,
b50

[pivot]

I am a firm believer that Grado have down graded the cartridges which gave them a good name and a price which at one time was acceptable and well applauded. I have a 30 odd year old F-1+ with original stylus , it kicks into touch, what is supposed to be the equivalent , the gold stylus.In fact the F-1+ is supposed to be equivalent to the silver ?. Put a Gold stylus against the F-1+ and hear the difference, No comparison. I love the Grado sound, you either love it or hate it, pick the side of the fence your on , as there are more for than against, shame about the downgrading and the high cost.

Regards,
JohnG

I had a number of Grados "back in the day" and the F-1+ was one of them. Used to be one did not have to move very far up the line to get into a decent nude mounted stylus and decent tracking. Currently line one does not get a nude stylus till the rather upscale Sonata 1.

I have Blue (not a Blue 1) and could never get around the IGD. I like the Grado sound but if they don't track I can get excited about 'em.

[smeg68]

I had a Prestige Gold for a couple of months. I found it to have average tracking at best and a strange, bloomy midrange that whilst not exactly unpleasant, always reminded you it wasn't very accurate. Couldn't live with it in the end and sold it on.

[banerjba]

I love Grado Prestige series. I use them on my Technics 1200. I have Black, Red and Silver. The Silver sounds huge compared to the other two. One thing I noticed is that a high quality interconnect from phone pre to line stage makes a huge difference. That bloom in the Silver dissappears and you get much flatter response. I use a Nordost Purple Flare. Agreed they are not great trackers like my AT carts but Grados are amazing on the right setup. So best value in the line up is the Blue/ Red. Fuller than the Black/Green but not as much bloom as the Silver/Gold. I understand that the tip might not be that fancy but even the Black is capable of exceptional detail compared with virtually any other budget cartridge. Not perfect but great value.

[Ldg]

I understand that the tip might not be that fancy but even the Black is capable of exceptional detail compared with virtually any other budget cartridge.

Again, not my experience - IME many of its price peers beat it for detail, and avoid the Grado mid-voicing which is a prominent love/hate thing. Besides, when it doesn't track well, personally it becomes tough to discern any finer points. But I found nothing remarkable about this Grado cart, at least not on the positive side. And hum pickup was a real problem, not just from the TT motor. It never fully went away.

[smeg68]

One thing I noticed is that a high quality interconnect from phone pre to line stage makes a huge difference. That bloom in the Silver dissappears and you get much flatter response. I use a Nordost Purple Flare.

You used a $260 interconnect to compensate for the tonal problems in a $190 cartridge? Seems the money would have been better spent on one $450 cartridge in the first place..?

[banerjba]

Not at all. Does not matter how you get great sound. As long as you get there. As a seasoned audiophile I no longer take accepted wisdom as gospel. I had a Linn system for a long while. The magazines and many audiophiles in the know told me hifi should sound this way. All I know is that I was listening to less music than I am now. A $500 cartridge versus a cartridge and cable combo for the same money. I know which sounds better to me.

Also many cartridges are priced based on what the market will bear. Twenty years ago Linn sold a version of the AT95e for $150. It was a pretty version of a $30 cartridge.

Today a $500 cartridge available in Canada reflects exchange rates and other factors that have nothing to do with performance. My $30 AT95 vastly outperforms my $275 Rega Elyse2 in key areas that are important to me. Also in Canada many well known cartridges are not locally available. I ordered at AT95e from Germany for $44 landed delivered to my house in Toronto in 7 days. My local retailer near my downtown Toronto office offers the same cartrdige for $115 plus 13 percent tax. The more expensive cartridges are even more out of wack price wise.

There is a lot of hate on this site for Grado. You dont like them I get that. But I do. What cartridge for similar money do you prefer?

[smeg68]

No hate for Grado here. I have had an F1+ in the past and really liked it, part of the reason I bought the Gold was the pedigree of the F1+. I also own Grado headphones and love them.

What I didn't like was the Prestige Gold. Simple as that.

What cartridge would I buy at the price level of the Prestige silver plus your Nordost interconnect? Probably I'd get a Shure V15 III 2nd hand and a Jico SAS stylus again. That was a good combination

[Ldg]

There is a lot of hate on this site for Grado. You dont like them I get that

Personally, I don't think it's like that. It's more like that 'posts which might point out downsides in Grado carts can be perceived as an affront by those who might post partisan advocacy of Grado products'. So the posts appear polarised, but if taken together seem to form a reasonable view. I think it's an artifact of the sort of 'cult' that seems to surround Grado products, where no dissent or challenge seems too welcome.

Grado carts are simply another thread in the tapestry of vinyl replay, IMO. Pretty obviously they can't be that far from par to have stood the test of time. They are what they are, and have strengths and weaknesses like all carts. But pointing out potential pitfalls and downsides isn't really 'hate', it restores the balance from 'love' post ommissions. It would surely be misleading to read the OP in isolation, for example.

[john guest]

There is a lot of hate on this site for Grado. You dont like them I get that

Personally, I don't think it's like that. It's more like that 'posts which might point out downsides in Grado carts can be perceived as an affront by those who might post partisan advocacy of Grado products'. So the posts appear polarised, but if taken together seem to form a reasonable view. I think it's an artifact of the sort of 'cult' that seems to surround Grado products, where no dissent or challenge seems too welcome.

Grado carts are simply another thread in the tapestry of vinyl replay, IMO. Pretty obviously they can't be that far from par to have stood the test of time. They are what they are, and have strengths and weaknesses like all carts. But pointing out potential pitfalls and downsides isn't really 'hate', it restores the balance from 'love' post ommissions. It would surely be misleading to read the OP in isolation, for example.

I agree , I love the sound of my 30 year old F-1+ , but I would not put my money on any of the newer ranges, there's far too many other good makes of cartridges out there for less money. I am not biased against the sound of Grado, I love it, I just think they are trying to get too much of a premium price for their products, they have seriously downgraded in the last few years. I also have some Grado SR60's which are wonderful sounding Headphones, so they are not far from the par in all areas .

Regards,
JohnG.