Grado Stylus Upgrade

chakster....I am most interested in your statement about removing the existing stylus. When I bought the Grado Gold cartridge from my local dealer and their turntable expert installed it on my table I asked him the question about removing and reinstalling the stylus. He demonstrated by removing and replacing the stock stylus in a matter of about 3 seconds, Would any of these stylus upgrades be any more difficult to install?Thanks for all advice.

@boxer12 Thanks :)

pryso, I went through almost every “Signature” Grado back in the day. I suppose the 8MX could be considered an “earlier version of the 8MZ” and it did precede the 8MZ. However, as I recall there was a fairly significant uptick in overall sound quality with the release of the Z “series”. If memory serves there was an upgrade in the quality of the internal wire and magnet material as well as other “improvements” to the stylus assemblies. The 8MZ was to my ears a better sounding cartridge than the pricier MCX which was a better sounding cartridge than the 8MX. Perhaps that puts things in a useful perspective. All fine sounding cartridges with that wonderful midrange.

8M, 8MR, 10MR, 8MX, MCX, MCX II, 8MZ, MCZ, TLZ, XTZ, 8MZ v, TLZ v, XTZ v.

I owned every one (!) except for the “v” versions of the Z series. All fine sounding cartridges with that great Grado midrange. The Z’s struck me as a significant step up in sound quality; especially the XTZ.

Can you put a MCZ, TLZ, or XTZ stylus on a grado black 1 cartridge???

Yes