I have no first hand experience with the Grado tonearm, but I doubt that it is much more of an antique than the SME 3009. Being "vintage" does not per se mean a tonearm is no good or irrelevant. Tonearm design really has not changed much in many decades. So, I would advise you to wait until your turntable is up and running, and then do your own A/B comparison between the SME and the Grado. There are many SME aficionados here, and the Grado wood tonearm is a rare bird, so I will predict that the sentiment will be in favor of the SME. But you are going to be the best judge. And that's the name of that tune.
Grado Labratory Wood Tonearm? 3 questions: Keep it? Sell It? Burn it?
Hello all,
I recently bought a great Thorens TD 124 off CL and attached to it was The Awesome looking Grado Laboratory Series Wood Tonearm (the one with all the extra adjustments)...I know there have been a few discussions here regarding this arm but those threads seem to quickly shift to what ever tonearm is someone's favorite...For this discussion I would like to know specifically what your opinion/experiences are regarding this arm and if you think it is worthy of its companion? I already have an SME 3009 series II unimproved waiting in the wings but I digress, so the 124 I have is still in resto so a listening test is not available. That being said the Grado was completely disassembled cleaned/lubed and wired from the board out to Cardas RCAs (not from the shell to the board) it is as good as this arm can get, It truly is a work of art! It looks very cool... But does it have any relevance in todays sonics?
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Dear @rikintpa: My experiences with Grado tonearm is this model, I owned for some years and it's a good tonearm. I don't know nothing about that wood model you are mentioned: https://www.vinylengine.com/library/grado/signature-laboratory-standard.shtml I agree with the @lewm advise, just follow it. Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R. |
My completely inappropriate advice, something you should NOT follow, is to consider the fact that straws are going to disappear. Perhaps it could be used as a straw replacement? Maybe remove all that expensive new wiring first... Seriously though, I doubt you will find someone with significant experience with both arms. Pain in the butt to mount them both, but your ears are the only thing that count. |
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