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MC suggestions

I have long been a Grado fan.  Currently running a Statement Reference v2.  I love it, but.  I auditioned the Ortofon Quintet Black and the Dyna 17d3 and the Benz Glider and while each were excellent in their way, the overall feeling, despite being faster and transparent left me wanting, I was happy enough with my Grado. Id like to take another crack at this now. What I am looking for at this point and I hope you guys can make some suggestions, is a cleaner, and more live sound. This combined with a nice sense of space and width to the soundstage.  Is this asking a lot in my price range which is 2.5k(ish)?  I am of the opinion after spending sometime trying to figure this out, that an el34 based tube amp combined with the Grado cart are just too similar in voicing(warm).  I had hope that running a ss phono stage combined with the low output statement would be just the synergy.  It definitely moved the needle in the right direction and I could live happily if I didn't think I could push it a little farther in the detail direction without losing what I love about the Grado sound.  That is primarily it is not brittle, its natural sounding, nice soundstage all around.  Perhaps if I had solid state amplification it would be a synergistic match made in heaven.  Some carts I have been thinking about are VAS, Miyajima, Dyna(I did really like the 10x5 I listened to at one point).  Not to rule out Lyra but would be worried about the thinness I've read about from some users.  Grado fans seem a little few and far between and I wonder if there are previous fans who have moved on.  Maybe I just need to have a couple carts around and their is no one right cart. I have hesitated pursuing a cart change because my system has been tuned to Grado's sound but if I can get close with another company making MC's that wouldn't call for recalibrating my rig that much would be great.  Thanks for reading and sorry to be so long winded.
128x128fourwnds
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Ortofon MC2000 is spectacular if you have an appropriate high gain phono stage or dedicated SUT for it. I’ve been able to find unused NOS (New Old Stock) and the package is very impressive with invitation to the ortofon Golden Ear Club. This is a high compliance and extremely low output MC (can be used on the same tonearm with your grado). Ortofon MC-2000 is full or details and really a mind blowing presentation. The NOS unit can be very expensive, but cantilever and tip is so special, do not expect any re-tipper can replace it with something equal. Only the original worth the effort and money.

If you’re considering the low compliance Miyajima, which must be very interesting cartridge, you can look for Ortofon SPU Royal G mkII with Replicant-100 profile and very special coil. The Miyajima and SPU can be definitely grouped together, while the Miyajima has Shibata profile the SPU Royal G has Replicant-100 profile. However, for both cartridges you need much heavier tonearm than for your Grado. SPU and Miyajima are Low Compliance cartridges and highly regarded for their organic presentation! But with Replicant-100 profile on SPU you will get more details, really nothing to miss. And life span of Replicant-100 is up to 2000 hrs !

A good Miyajima (Kansui or Madake) is much more expensive than your budget BTW
johnss
575 posts
 
what are you using for a phono stage. May be better to spend some dollars on that first...the grado is a pretty nice cart.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,939 posts
 
Grado fan for sure :-) they do have an organic midrange magic about them. I have a REF Platinum in a FT3 on a SOTA Sapphire into a CROFT RIAA-RS, quite nice....but get the MC itch....like stevecham I have a Delos ( on a Bardo / Triplaner into a NOVA II ) and I find it very transparent....
for fun I have the above mentioned Nak 110 on a Denon, might switch it into the SOTA but my sense is the NAK punch far far above weight class...

have fun !!!!

Jim
fourwnds's avatar
fourwnds OP
277 posts
 
Hey all, 

johnss, my stage is I think a nice one, its the LKV-2sb.  Dual mono, outboard power supply, decent amount of gain for a lo-out cart. Usual options for loading and gain.  I'm not sure about changing that out, it'd be a pricier proposition.

Chakster, thanks, I thought my arm at 15.5 grams would be alright for low compliance Miyajima but perhaps not.  I'll look into the Ortofon you mentioned. Do think there would any synergy issues w/my arm. 12" Ace-Space with any of the other carts mentioned.  If so how heavy an arm would be appropriate?  Not that Id go that far but I'm more curious what you think.  There is used w/200 hours,  Miyajima Madake for sale(2500) a short drive from me. Buying a used cart though has never been something I've felt comfortable with.  At least not at that price point. But those reviews are pretty stellar.

Steve, thanks for chiming in on your Lyra experiences.  Being a Grado cart user yourself it's nice to hear your feedback and suggestion of the Nagaoka's.  I'll be sure to check out the mp200 you mention! Would you describe the Lyra having standard width in terms of a soundstage?

Spatial King, another Grado fan! Thanks for chiming in!
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,926 posts
 
Here’s a dark horse: Shelter Accord. Not sure if they just discontinued this model, as it was recently removed from their website, but you can probably still find it right about your price range if willing to buy direct from Japan.

A bit warmer and more musical than Ortofons. Much better than the Benz Glider L2 I once owned. Good marriage of technicality and emotion. When paired with the right phono stage (Herron VTPH-2A is superb here), it’s a step above the also-excellent Ortofon Cadenza Bronze (and I like the Bronze because it’s more musical than the higher-level Ortofons I’ve heard). Beautiful midrange, stopping just short of a Koetsu stone body. I really like this Shelter and it’s big brother Harmony. It takes the Koetsu Coralstone Platinum on an FR64S arm to beat them in my system. My Accord is still burning in, and it’s come along very nicely. It doesn’t complete the audiophile checklist - i.e. nude elliptical on aluminum cantilever - but from what I hear that doesn’t matter. The body materials are relatively exotic with titanium and high-quality dry carbon fiber, and of course the "magic" comes from the coil windings. It looks like virtually nobody else has tried this model, so it gets no press, unlike the Harmony.

Or you can get out cheap with the Ortofon Kontrapunkt "h" that was posted for $575 here recently (I don’t know the seller) - and run a 2-cartridge setup for the 2 flavors. The Kontrapunkt series became the Cadenza line, and the "h" should be comparable to the Cadenza Red in performance. I’ve owned Kontrapunkts "a" (Red) and "c" (Bronze) to go with my Cadenza Bronze. I like them all a lot, but the Shelters are better (for more money). I was kinda tempted by this "h" too, but had to remind myself I have way WAY too many high-end cartridges already!
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