How good are grado cartridges

I was looking in the $600-$1000 range. I had a Shelter 501 MkII on it for a year before the cartridge failed. Axiss refused to warranty it so I won't deal with them anymore. One of the best sounding cartidges for the money. I had a Benz ruby II which sounded a bit thin and lacked dynamics. A bit overpriced but aren't they all. The dealer recommended the grado sonata but it seems I should go a different direction.

Snook2, if you could move to the wood bodied Grado Reference Reference ($1500 retail), that would be a nice improvement from the Shelter 501 MkII in respect to reproducing the natural timbre of acoustic instruments and tonal quality through the midrange. The Shelter may still be quicker and more detailed.

The Grado Sonata is a very nice cartridge as an alternative, but would probably not offer you a satisifying improvement over the Shelter 501 MkII. Although the Sonata has a lovely midrange and tonal balance, you are likely to find you've given up too much in resolution and quickness compared to what you were experiencing with the 501. The Shelter 501 is a good value and a very nice match in the VPI Scoutmaster tonearm -- very difficult to match, let alone beat, at its price point.
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I second Rushton's advice, just adding I would opt for the Statement Reference version (.5mV outptut) or the VPI voltage Reference (1.5mV output). I have had a BenzL2, a Shelter 501, now a Celebration v2. I have a good friends Grado VPI output Reference (1.5mV) on a supervised! loan LOL; that is his back up to his Dyna xv-1s, and it is all the Celebration v2 is and then some for me! Now set up seems to be very audible (more so then with the Celebration), VTA, VTF,antiskate (less the better with the Grado), azimuth - assuming you have good cart setup tools(wally tools here), tractors and VTF scale... that curved Grado cantilever is a bit harder to line up than the straight cantilever's of my previous LOmC's with the WallyTractor. Just a little bit off alignment,or overdamped VTF and antiskate, or VTA, and you loose some excitement/vividness the Grado can give(or get too much bass!). I am SO shocked by the Grado holding its own, and then some, I am asking how good the Statement Statement is!

The Celebration does seem to layer better, more depth?,it is definitely a more forward cart; but the Grado digs more info out, tracks way better, way better bass and more fleshed out midbass (the Celebration's weakest atribute IMHO). Big Symphonic works illustrate these differences the most. The Celebration might be more exciting, but the Grado might sound more like the real thing for me. The Celebration you see into the recorded event more. With the Grado, you see through or see-around the players more (which can be overwhelming, challenging, and exhausting with Big Symphonies - as you are in for the ride!). Meat on dem bones!

Basically, The Shelter bettered the Benz here(just a shorter lifespan for me - same as snook2), then the Celebration was a leep forward from the Shelter, and the cheaper Grado Reference seems to at least be on par with the Celebration. (on my Rega, and Basis arms; and my friends SME 12" arm).

I don't plan to move from my Celebration anytime soon, but the Grado Statement Statement might be next for me!