Warning - Grado Statement Sonata 1

[OldiesButGoodies]

This cartridge will make you forget you paid $500+ for it.  It will addict you to vinyl.  You know how you feel after buying something expensive that turns out to be less than satisfying?  That is not what happens with this cartridge.  I bought it thinking I would use it for 20 hours and so,  report on it and sell it on.  Not going to be the case.

The Grado hum issue some fear never materialized.  The bass is solid but not exaggerated.  The midrange is sweet and mellow but with more information and detail; compared to my Denon DL-110 (now on ebay) it is less strident/metallic.   

Highly recommended - if you happen to have a few extra Cs lying around,  this is not a bad place to throw them at. 

As reference,  my previous benchmarks are the the Denon DL-110 (mentioned earlier), the Rega Bias 2, the Shure V15vxmr,  the Shure M97xe, and an old Shure M92,  a Grado Gold and a Grado Black.  This cart is superior to all of them by a decent margin but also costs a lot more.

The test equipment is in my signature.

OBG

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

The "Grado hum" is a direct drive issue.   Your belt drive keeps the motor far from the cart.

[Anders]

I learned a long time ago that expensive moving coil cartridges are much better.
With a lot more high frequency detail and a much  more musical mid range.
Most are worth the high cost.
But you have to have a good system to appreciate it.

You know I used to have a lot of experience in audio as I worked in High-End stereo stores.

[OCCD]

The "Grado hum" is a direct drive issue.   Your belt drive keeps the motor far from the cart.

Here is a belt drive exception.  Dual CS-5000.  Hums like  ^%$^%^%4.  They will also hum on the direct drive VPI Classic.    Keep away from the direct drive  Pro-Ject's also.  The  prestige series of carts have the most problems with hum. The wood puppies... I am yet to have one hum on anything I have put one on


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AplB4xn4xqlMcFptMDhBcVlBV0dKUU1fWVdSSk1uUFE#gid=0

If it is gonna hum, it will hum without the motor running.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

That Dual, even though the motor is on the other side, has a couple large caps right under the arm pivot, so I'm not surprised.   Like any rule of thumb, there are exceptions.