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Grado Stylus Upgrade

I currently am using a Grado Gold cartridge from the Prestige line. The cartridge was bought new about a year ago and has not seen heavy use. Basically, still like new. Although the Gold is not anywhere near the top of Grado's line of cartridges it is still decent with my system. I have read numerous forums and almost all Grado users recommend upgrading the standard Gold stylus to the 8MZ stylus for superior performance. That stylus goes for $150 which is more than half of what the Gold cartridge with standard stylus costs. I am not interested in a complete cartridge upgrade at this time but am curious if the 8MZ stylus upgrade is worth the expense? I guess that any users that have this cartridge and have done the stylus upgrade consider it a worthwhile upgrade.
  
jrpnde
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@stringreen 

nice, i have posted this video before, but for those who missed it
https://youtu.be/L2ZpJHGYMC8 

This is a tour to Grado Lab 
jrpnde OP
271 posts
 
Thanks to all who have responded to my original post regarding a stylus upgrade from the original stylus of the Grado Gold cartridge. Certainly, most of you have much more experience with the Grado brand. Sure, better sound can be obtained with a complete cartridge/stylus upgrade. But, my original question was if the 8MZ would offer an improvement. If the Gold isn't capable of noticeable sound improvement with just a simple stylus upgrade then I will just wait until a later date and upgrade everything.There were styli mentioned besides the 8MZ. If those other styli are superior that is of interest. My phono stage is a Graham Slee Reflex with it's PSIU. It is only capable of support for MM cartridges. I know Slee has an extra piece (Elevator) that will provide increased settings for a MC cartridge but I'm not yet ready to make the change.As far as the Grado Gold cartridge goes....will all of the styli mentioned in this post fit into the Gold cartridge body?Thanks to all.

yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,653 posts
 
All will fit the Gold. You will be wasting your money replacing the Gold stylus with the 8mz stylus. You should try to find a used Grado cartridge or body from the MCZ and up. These all have a lower output ( 1.57 mv ). If you want to change the stylus on the Gold you should start with the MCZ not the 8MZ. Here are all the specs on Grado cartridges!

https://www.lpgear.com/category/GRA.html
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,306 posts
 
FWIW - some additional info I finally recalled having.  Excerpts from a Jan 2017 personal email exchange w/Rich Grado about differences between Grado Gold vs 8MZ stylus.

Me: I’ve read conflicting info on line about whether the 8MZ V is superior to the Gold or just a relabel of the Gold stylus. Would appreciate any clarifying info you can provide.

RG: The Gold and 8MZ are not the same stylus, they use different generators. The 8MZ is meant for a JG Signature cartridge, but of course will work in any [ ]. Diamond shapes are the same. Preference is in the ear of the listener.

On the strength of that reply, I tend to agree with Yogiboy to go "up line" stylus-wise or cartridge-wise if seeking a significant improvement over the stock Gold cartridge.

boxer12
8,656 posts
 
Just ordered the XTZ today. Should be a couple days before I receive it. Any recommendations on switching the stylus's out? I can't seem to find the nifty tool that came with the signature cartridge (for this purpose) when new.  
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