Grado Labs Prestige Black2 phono cartridge coming to me for review. List price, $75.00.

This is where all Grados have been produced since 1953: 4614 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY.

This building has been owned by the Grado family since the early 20th century, and they used to operate a fruit stand on the first floor. The Grado family used to live upstairs.




The people who make each one by hand:




Grado Laboratory founder Joseph Grado was one of the original hifi golden age visionaries. Joe invented the moving coil cartridge in the '50s, but eventually focused his attention on developing moving iron cartridges, which is what Grado Laboratories continues to produce today.



Joe retired in 1990 and sold Grado Laboratories to his nephew, John.

John and Jonathan Grado:
Grado Laboratory's second and third generation.

 

I love Grado and the Grado story and vibe. I own a blue and two pairs of the headphones. I'll likely buy a new Prestige2 cart in the next few months, just because.

 

Back in the 1980s I had a Grado MCX and then a MCZ. I really liked them so am curious how the Black sounds.

 

Considering a cheaper cartridge while I ponder what to do with by busted Benz... Look forward to your impressions Steve!

 

A couple of years ago, I bought a used Grado Red 1. It played fine for awhile and then dropped a channel. I contacted Grado and they ask me to send it in. Not too long thereafter, I received back a brand new cartridge, which I still use. Service like that makes for loyal customers (at least for me).

I'm very curious about the "2" line of cartridges as well.

 

This anecdote is consistent with others I've heard about Grado's customer service. It's not unusual to get a return call from John Grado himself.

 

Cool. Is Grado an Italian name? And I always pronounced it Gray-dough is that the correct way?

 

Yes, it's an Italian name. I believe the Americanized pronounciation is indeed "Gray-dough."

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1533910076911420

 

Thank you for sharing these pictures. It is great to see such a down to earth company and the people working there. I have never owned anything made by Grado but have always liked their stuff. I particularly like the old photos of Joe Grado. I really hope that this $75 cartridge turns out to be far better than it has any right to! All of my daughters' friends have vinyl and they are on tight budgets at their age. I hope this is one that I can comfortably recommend to them.

 

This makes me think of the amazing warranty that Bryston provides. Yes their gear is more expensive, but when asked about how they can afford to provide such a warranty that is not restricted to first owner, James Tanner stated (paraphrasing) that it had provided them with far more business and loyalty than if they hadn't. Good spirit goes a long way!

 

Awesome history lesson! I’ve never owned a Grah-doh (as I would pronounce it) nor can I recall hearing one. But I’m immensely appreciative of knowing this history. You made my day.

 

Well I just looked closely and there is RS II on the silver part of the body on the the underneath side. I must not have paid attention or simply forgot.
I also have an old one that is tan somewhere stored away. Not sure I ever tried it and I can't remember the model.
Both of these came from turntables I bought used and resold, but kept the carts because of the unique colors. Figured they might be something special, but never really researched it. It sounds like I should not only keep them, but have at least one in use on one of my tables all the time. The great thing if I did buy a 150.00 stylus and the cartridge went bad (bet it won't) I could always use the needle in a diff Grado I have. Or even a brand new one. That is called practical. Maybe that is one reason the Grado business has lived on. Hope they do for a long time.

 

Yes they have great customer serice and a nice trade up program. Fine company imo.

 

And nice to see Mr Hoffman reviewing some stuff at the other end of the price spectrum.

 

Well said, all of that! I have to say that I am really happy that Grado has become inspired once more to move forward - but without failing to look back and remember the aspects they are famous for. Anyone else feel like we really are moving into a second Golden Age of analogue?

 

That photo is just plain HOT!

 

I've found that using a thin, metal ruler to "extend" the GeoDisc's sight line makes the process MUCH easier to get through.

 

Can you post a photo of this please?

I gotta say, the old wooden Grado arms from the early '60s are excellent once restored and paired with a good set of interconnects. Much to my shock, it outperforms my Jelco SA-750D.

 

I love playing around with cheap cartridges. Looking forward to the review on this one. The redesigned '2' line intrigues me.

 

I just found some info about the RS-II (Reference Series II?), and it indeed corresponds to the modern Silver, but with the "old style" Grado soundstage that many of us prefer. Score!

This model was produced for overseas markets, and not retailed in the US.

This one has a date code of August 1981:

 

Cool thanks. No unfortunately I cannot post pics. I can send via private email though.

 

Hey Steve, you gonna slap that bad boy on the Avenger?
-Bob

 

I have a Grado Black I used with my Harmon Kardan HK720 with great success. Still have it in a desk drawer.

Liked it so much I moved up to their intro woodie model the Reference Sonata.

Frank van Alstine up in Minnesota has a customized Grado for which he attaches a brass bar to the front of the cartridge. It's called The Longhorn.

Longhorn Phono Cartridges

I had one years ago. It sounded great and tracked everything. My system at that time was Pioneer pl12-d, dynaco PAT-4 pre Sony 3200f power amp and ESS7 speakers.

 

That’s ok, I figured out what you have!