Has anyone listened to the Grado Statement ?

I have a Grado "The Statement" sitting here on my desk. It's stated output is 0.5mV. So, the Statement won't work with your PV-5 without some form of stepup unit.

As for the sound, I haven't had the chance to cue it up yet because I just got my table going with a Denon 103D. I'd like to fine tune and get a feel for it's performance(over time) as a reference point before moving on to the 3 other carts I have.

Sometime in the next few months I'll be able to give decent opinion on it's performance against the legendary Denon, Music Maker III, and ZYX R100 Fuji FS (silver coil).

Hopefully, someone will chime in with an experienced opinion on the Statement's sound. There seems to be very few people who've taken the jump.

I'm starting out with the straight DL-103. Not sure where I'm going...

I have VERY pleased with the Grado Reference ($1200, 4.5 mV output version). Many of my friends get fooled into thinking it's a very pricey moving coil cartridge. I have heard the Statement, and in comparison to the Reference I don't think it's worth twice the money. Just a personal opinion, but before I'd spend the money for the Statement, there are other cartridges I'd consider (Shelter 90x, Lyra Helicon, etc.).

Thanks sdcampbell for your input.I'm certain I will be buying the Ref. Ref. High output with my CJ PV-5.
I have the Wally Tracker to get the Azmith and overhang
dead on the spot with my Morch UP-4 Arm and VPI MK3 Table.
I'm sure I'll be spinnig many records once I get the cartridge after the first of July.
My front end system should be really singing then.I'm currently using the Grado Prestidge Silver Cartridge with a
high input of 5Mv. and it works just fine with the CJ PV-5.
I don't think my preamp can even handle a 2.5 Mv. output.

Hey Doublebass,

I'll start out by saying that so much of this stuff is personal preference that it's hard to make an informed decision, especially on cartridges that you can't "take home for an audition". Having said that, I recently went from a Grado Statement/Reference (.5mv) to a ZYX Airy3-S. For me there was a pretty big leap in performance (OK, the ZYX does list for almost 3 times as much as the Grado).

You might want to consider an Airy 2 from Sorasound (Mehran). I think you can get one for roughly the same price as a Grado Ref. and they have a .45mv output version.

Just a thought..............

Chris