Grace Level ll

@chakster : Too resonant.

Ceramics used in audio, sounds like a sexy idea, but every such implementation has been short-lived, so far.  This suggests to me that it doesn't work very well.  Kenwood made an optional ceramic mat for the L07D. They are VERY rare.  I think they are rare because they did not sound as good as the standard stainless steel platter sheet and were unloved.  But still sexy. 

Chakster, When you wrote the above post on the 29th, did you know there is a Level II Grace for sale now on eBay, and that the seller is Russian?  Asking price is way too high for a vintage cartridge that has unknown provenance and performance.  I say this as a great admirer of the Grace Ruby, both with its original stylus and with an SS OCL re-tip. (I own both versions.)

@lewm i would like to learn more about ceramic cantilever made by Grace. I know nothing about it. Hope someone can help.

It’s been said a lot about the other things in audio made of ceramic (mats, clamps etc). BTW i use very rare Noritake ceramic clamp and i like it on my Luxman PD-444. That company ( Noritake ) was the oldest state of the art ceramic manufacturer in Japan. Ebay prices can be strange, i saw this clamp sold for a grand this year.

I’m not connected to any sales from the local dealers and they are pretty far away from my town. The price might be high for those who are not familiar with performance of the Level II (it’s another level indeed), but look at the prices from the japanese sellers on ebay for Level II (even mono). This model rarely rurns up for sale even in Japan, it’s not like F-9 (even with Ruby).

I got Level II and some better Grace models with various NOS styli. I’m not intended to sell any of them in the near future (only if i will find spare one), i just love the Level II and several F-14 MM. All my F-9 are gone, i realized that they are not as good as the higher models of Grace made in the 80s with high-end cantilevers.

What i can say, if the mass market F-9 Ruby Elliptical easily goes for $500-600+, then rare Level II with its hollow pipe Boron Cantilever and Micro Ridge tip must be double in price (imo), especially if the cartridge is NOS in the box etc. It a luxury model, i just love it. I would’t sell much cheaper myself in the worst situation. So i don’t blame local ebayers who asking that much, i know that ebay/paypal cut 16% from their prices, they even charge sale fee from the shipping.

Dear Chakster, You may be correct about the excellence of the Level II Grace cartridges.  However, it is not always a good idea to judge a cartridge solely by the materials of which it is made or by the shape of the stylus.  My only point is that I would have to have heard a level II in order to throw caution to the wind and make such a purchase at the asking price.  Also, my reservations about the asking price of the cartridge on eBay are not only based on its age and unknown condition (although those factors are important, to be sure), but also on the fact that I have no opportunity to inspect the cartridge and no leverage on a seller who is 6000 miles away in another country, eBay rules notwithstanding.

By the way, the Ruby jumps up another level with the SS re-tip using their OCL stylus.  I own both an original elliptical one and a re-tipped one and have compared them extensively.  At first, I preferred the elliptical but not after the SS re-tipped one had about 10 hours of playing time on it.