Grace Level ll

@wrm57

Now I find the F-14 to be a terrific performer, with all of the naturalness that I perceived in the F-9 but none of the drawbacks.

No doubt. Thank for your comment. The stock F14 is much better cartridge than F9 for sure and the price difference between those models today is huge, the F14 is almost 3 times higher in price than F9. I lost my interest to F9 when i first time auditioned F14 Excellent and LEVEL II BR/MR models.

But before you went to the SoundSmith CL replacement did you try any top of the line original styli from Grace? Probably not.

For my F14 (for example) i have various original styli with the best cantilevers such as Beryllium, Ruby and even impossible to find Ceramic.

For Grace Level II i have Boron Pipe, Sapphire, Ruby, and Ceramic.

Some of the original Grace styli comes with MicroRidge diamonds, so there is no disadvantages of the original top-of-the-line Grace in comparison to the SoundSmith modern replacement. Actually with a MicroRidge stylus and Boron Pipe cantilever the original Grace stylus is better than SoundSmith Ruby. Also the SoundSmith Ruby construction is different compared to original Grace Ruby construction if you will look under microscope.

I think SoundSmith replacement if for those who does not have the original Grace top models, and i’m sure it is the only alternative to pimp your Grace.

But the Grace made so many different styli for their best models (LEVEL II and F12 and F14) and the only problem is to find them :)) But if you can find them there are all types (Aluminum, Beryllium, Boron Pipe, Ruby, Sapphire, Ceramic).

I’m still trying to figure out how many different styli were made by Grace for LEVEL II models in the 80s, new one on my radar is orange square US-8MR, but this is not the one i have mentioned before. I thought there was only Boron cantilever BR/MR version of Micro Ridge stylus for LEVEL II, but there is an Aluminum cantilever US-8MR version with Micro Ridge stylus too! Same color and shape of the plastic insert (orange). I’m surprised. The only "US" stylus i’ve seen before is this (on the right).

Still in love with Grace in 2021:

Local folks are lucky because we can arrange a home demo of each cartridge from our vaults, except for sealed new old stock like these RS-8U blue Utility-4 styli (they are still factory sealed). Last night we checked some of the rarest LEVEL II (Sapphire and Ceramic cantilevers) mounted on Grace carbon fiber headshell (my favorite). Genuine Grace stylus with its uber rare ceramic pipe cantilever was by far the best sounding, I believe the diamond is MicroRidge!

** check the linked files before they are gone

As you might know the LEVEL II is natural progression of older F8 series, however, there is only one interesting model in the old F8 series in my opinion, this model is "F8 Custom" made in the 70s. The size of the cartridge body is the same as Grace latest LEVEL II from the 80s.

So the predecessor of gold/black LEVEL II is silver/black F8C ("C" is for Custom).

Two double pack sets of styli from Grace are different, round shaped inserts are old generation and square shaped inserts are next generation. Of course the new generation of styli are compatible with older cartridges in F8 series and it's a huge upgrade, because exotic profiles like MR and cantilevers like Boron, Beryllium etc appeared in Grace catalog only in the late 70s - early 80s. Here is something from my vaults (NOS). 

Long time ago I sold one F8 Custom with next generation of Grace RS-8U (Ulitity 4) styli, here is the image of this combo. An old F8C with latest LEVEL II stylus was great.

According to Grace catalog the RS-8U stylus is similar to a cutter stylus - a design based on extensive studies of record grooves and their relationship to an ideal stylus. This LineContact type of stylus (RS-8U) permits a higher range of frequencies to be reproduced (10Hz - 50k Hz ). The RS-8U (LineContact) is similar to RS-8F (Shibata), both styli are the best and most complex styli available from Grace at that time. The stylus assembly consists of a high energy rare earth cobalt magnet which is extremely compact. This new square shaped blue plastic insert replaced round shaped version associated with earlier F8 models. This particular RS-8U designed for the rarest Grace LEVEL II model in the 80’s, so the F8C (Custom) cartridge body can be upgrades to the highest possible level of performance with this latest LineContact stylus.

Good news is that "F8 Custom" is underrated, it’s still cheap compared to LEVEL II cartridges.

Anyone with "F8 Custom" here ?


P.S. It’s amazing how many different styli available for Grace cartridges (if you can find one). I don’t know any other company with such a wide choice of styli for one cartridge. From relatively cheap conical and elliptical broadcast and DJ styli to very expensive audiophile grade Ruby, Sapphire, Boron, Beryllium, Ceramic cantilevers and MicroRidge or Shibata diamonds. Using all those types I have never seen any Grace with weak damper!

Good new for all Grace owners or those who are willing to try them.

New line of SoundSmith styli for Grace F9 (compatible with F14, F12) available again HERE (choose your option). 

Sadly not for LEVEL II :( 

I got interested in Grace MM carts about 20 years ago and bought some used ones (no needle), F9 and F8. By chance I found a seller in Australia that had worked in Japan, He bought some needles from the "last batch" produced some 10 years after Grace production officially  stopped. Maybe made by Namiki with assistance from Grace knowhow. I bought needles for F8 + 9 (not cheap). Needle tip F9 clear, F8 sparkling blue. The audio quality is very good, no sibilance: They are about the same quality  I just hate to pay top dollar for retips. I do not spin many records so they will have to last, I am 77 years old!