This sounds rather familiar! When my London Reference went off for a rebuild I thought it would be the last ever. Thank goodness John Wright found someone to take over! Anyway, I bought three moving iron pickups to see what might make a replacement. The Grado Statement3, Soundsmith Sussurro MkII and a Nagaoka MP-500. My conclusions are to be found online. Of relevance to you is to treat the Grado as an MC as far as your phono stage is concerned. I have used a Quad 24p and a Musical Fidelity NuVista Vinyl with the Statement3. Its output at 1mV might be treated as an MM or as an MC by a phono stage. Using it as an MM with 47kΩ loading (capacitative loading made no difference as advertised) was awfully boring. Once I connected it as an MC and started to play with resistive loading I was amazed to hear how it came to life with lower loading. 400Ω seemed accurate, and 100Ω was most musical and entertaining. Now I am enjoying it as much as my Reference on my other table. I assume the Epoch3 is somewhat similar in phono stage settings. As far as comments about tonearms go, I am no expert but use an SME Series V for the Reference and an SME M10 for other carts on the second SME table - I found myself buying a second SME turntable so as to be able to use a good cartridge to spin out what I thought was the last gasp of life of the London Reference! And now I know the Reference will be able to be rebuilt in the future I have found myself adding two more tonearms to these two tables via tonearm pods machined in the UK. Ignore all that; play with resistive loading for the Epoch3! I think you might be amazed.
Grado Epoch 3
I have been shopping new cartridges for my Artisan Fidelity (henceforth AF) NGS SE. My table started life as an AF NGS. I had Chris convert it to the four arm capable ~350lb variant now sitting on my stand. I currently have the table outfitted with two Kuzma 4 Points, an 11" and a 14". I am still awaiting the update of my third arm which is a Technics EPA 100 MK 2. The technics will hold the London Reference and is having the bearing replaced with lab grade saphires. The 14" 4 Point is awaiting delivery of the Ortofon MC Diamond which replaces my former MC Anna. I was really interested in the Epoch 3 based on my own intuition and the description of the motor. I was not terribly moTved by the reviews I've read.
I spoke to Todd of Todd the Vinyl Junkie fame concerning the Grado line of transducers. Todd is very knowledgable and a real audio enthusiast. I have bought several far less costly items from Todd in times past so I was familiar with his company. Todd graciously offered to allow an audition of the Epoch 3 which he had on hand, but John Grado found out about this and arranged for me to get a new unit for audition. Talk about service!
This is my only experience with Grado Labs. The cartridge arrived in a short period of time, and I set it up on the 11" arm using Analog Majik 2, my SmarTractor and MY EARS. Initially it sounded very nice. It has a weight to it much like my former reel to reel. It was exciting and very impressive the first 26 hours but then it started sounding kind of boring to my ears. I changed the VTF from 1.8g to 1.65g and this was part of the problem. I should have been running it in at the upper limit of the specified tracking force range. I set it to 1.854g and let her go.
The cartridge started to open-up and now showed more vigor and life, it was energetic but not as airy, or bright as some MC's I have heard. Once I hit 57 hours she was singing again and only got better up to about 67 hours. The highs were all there as I used my AMR CD 77.1 as a reference on certain pieces of music including vinyl, I had digitized to 24/96. The highs were there, just not the way my former MC Anna did highs. The Grado has a weightier center of gravity if you take my meaning. As the cartridge continued to run in between 67 and ~97 hours it waxed and waned from good too great to, "I don't like what I hear and I am walking out of my man cave and going to bed". I am now at 104 hours, and it sounds glorious.
I used my DartZeel NHB-18NS and AMR PH 77 phonostages with the cartridge and it sounds fantastic with both units. I have settled on leaving it connected to the PH 77, the combination is really special. The Zeel sounds a little more romantic, which is counterintuitive as the AMR is tubes and Zeel is all SS.
I used the London Reference with the SW1X LPU III Balanced phonostage for comparative purposes. The LPU III Balanced is a wonderful full sounding end of road stage with 48dB of gain. Joe over the Lotus Group was kind enough to hook me up with the LPU III. It's a real shame this piece is not talked about more, it would put some pieces that magazine reviewers pump-up to a flat out shame. It was perfect for the London. The LPU III does not have enough gain for the Epoch 3 therefore while I did listen to both cartridges on the 4 Point (love the 4 Point and its removable headshells) I optimized each cartridge with the stage that best fit its specifications. Both cartridges are super-fast and I mean fast!!! The Grado has a wider soundstage and is simply more luxurious. Don't you hate car analogies? Well TOO BAD, here's another one LOL. The Grado would be an AMG S65 while the London is Porsche GT3. Both fast and agile but they do it differently.
On piano the Grado is big and real sounding, the London is not quite as big but on some pieces the London has a transient speed with respect to hard percussive hammer strikes that no other cartridge I have heard can match. I have decided to keep my London.
The Epoch 3 It is one of my favorite pieces of gear and it makes music like very few other cartridges I have heard. The highs are all there, they just don't slap you in the face. It sounds ridiculously good on classic rock and jazz and even classical. I have read that it probably won’t be fully run in until about 150 hours so I still must see what more there may be to come.
I did hear some hard sibilance with the Grado and that concerned me quite a bit. The little pamphlet that comes the Epoch 3 states that the front of the cartridge should be 90 degrees with respect to the surface of the vinyl or 2 degrees down at the back (lower the tonearm). Analog Majik 2 also showed the best IM distortion number when it was lowered. Problem is, I found it lifeless and boring! I ended up with the front of cartridge 2 degrees forward (tonearm a bit higher). The sound was spectacular but then I started noticing some sibilance. Did I have to endure sibilance in order to get the life I wanted out of the cartridge. This was the dilemma.
I spoke to John who is just about one of the most unpretentious and nicest guys in audio you will ever run across, and he mentioned the cartridge should be 2 degrees forward before I ever told him that is where I had my unit. John is revisiting the pamphlet which may be old material from another model or a misprint. So then, what about the sibilance. I recalled that one of the biggest offending albums was my copy of Jennifer Warnes The Hunter. I played it again and there it was, slapping me right in the face, HARD! I then recalled that some years ago I'd digitized that piece with my 4 Point 11" running the Ortofon MC Anna on my NGS using the ADC built into the AMR PH77. These files are on my HDD and part of my Roon Library. I did this to quickly reference what a tonearm/cartridge/stage combination sounded like for comparative purposes. It was fortuitous that I had done so. I played the same MC Anna digitized piece back and bam, slapped in the face again by sibilance. Problematic vinyl was the culprit.
One evening while I was listening, the system was sounding so real and fantastic, I found myself happy and upset at the same time. Happy because of how convincing this cartridge makes music sound real, upset because right then and there I knew I would be out $12K.
The Grado Epoch 3 is one of the finest cartridges I have ever heard and I am glad it is resident in my system.
Showing 11 responses by dogberry
@audiofun must be other differences in my system, but there again, I have the Statement not the Epoch! The successor to John Wright now has a very basic website up at londondecca.com but it doesn’t say who is behind it. John has said:
I did hear a rumour that it might be Northwest Analogue, but nothing definite. |
Talking here about my experience with the cheapest member of the Lineage series, the Statement3. It is easy to sort out if you are able to set it up as an MC. The resistive loading is pretty much like a tone control that tries to flatten the response curve. 47kΩ lets the high notes predominate, so the cartridge is detailed but scratchy. As the resistance is lowered (or the loading raised if you prefer to follow @audiofun’s terminology) you tame the highs and reveal the bass. I wrote in another thread how I like to use Elgar’s Sea Pictures for this, as there are kettle drums and a pure contralto voice to balance up. It might be my phono stage, or maybe my bass-shy Quad ESL speakers, but I find myself enjoying the Statement3 loaded at 100Ω most of all. It’s nearly as good as the London Decca Reference! 😉 |
My Quads are the ESL2905 models, so they do have two extra bass panels, but even so, it isn't their strong point. I doubt my relatively new SME tonearm has worn bearings. The problem is more likely in my one remaining ear (lost my left and half the sensitivity in the right when I was eight and was given streptomycin - which it ototoxic - for, ironically, ear infections). But I can't help what I hear. The Statement3 sounds best balanced between the tympani and Dame Janet Baker at 400Ω, and exudes some lushness at 100. Maybe I am doing it all wrong, but if it sounds the best to me that way, then that is what I'll carry on doing! I had been very disappointed with it when I used it as an MM with 47k loading. It was accurate, honest and boring. There was no joy, no foot tapping, no life. Those were the qualities I was trying to find as it looked like my Deccas were on their final rebuild. The MP-500 produced them, though not quite like a Decca. I bought a second SME table for it. The Sussurro MkII also disappointed me until again I connected it as an MC (I should have read the manual on the little USB 'key'! PL recommends connecting it as an MC and setting load at 470-1000Ω). I settled on 400, I don't have the option of 470 with the NuVista Vinyl. It's nearly as good as the Grado. When my tonearm pods arrive from the UK my intention is to run the Reference, Statement3, Kontrapunkt C and MP-500. Fortunately the NuVista has five inputs and each can be set for MM or MC and all loadings and other options are remembered for each one. One thing I believe we can all agree on is that these Grado cartridges are getting far less attention these days than they deserve.
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No problem, my friend! I have confidence in what I hear and what I enjoy. My wife, an excellent classical guitarist who laughs benevolently at my appalling attempts to sing, has no issues with the hi-fi. The fact one can listen to the Reference on one table and the Statement3 on the other (same model) table and look for relatively small differences tells me it is set up correctly. I can't wait to enjoy the variety of four cartridges, all of them chosen more for their similarities than their differences. I recently wondered about a dedicated mono cartridge for the 3 or 4 dozen mono LPs I have. I'm being held back by my reluctance to remove any one of my four chosen stereo cartridges. So I decided to wait until all four are available at once and see what happens over a few months. If I find myself ignoring one of them because the others attract me more often, it might have to go away and be replaced by a mono cartridge. I'm trying not to be in a rush, but there are reasons why I have hurried along so far, as I don't know how long I can trust last year's bone marrow transplant to last. Leukemia tends to turn off the music before it has finished. |
OK, chaps, I value honesty above pride. I may have been wrong. This evening I played two albums I regard very highly, and thus usually play on the table with the London Reference. Both are Fairport Convention original issues, 'What We Did On Our Summer Holidays' and 'Unhalfbricking'. I do have reissues of both, but prefer to play the originals as they are in good condition and have an awful lot of memories behind them. I know Sandy Denny's voice inside out, and how each note must sound. It was far from right with the Statement3. A very muffled voice at first, but on changing the loading those 50+ year old LPs came back to life with the loading at 47k. Maybe the moral of this is not to set loading with one recording alone. No matter how much I love Elgar/Sargent/Baker/DuPré, it might just be a recording that varies from the norm. Sorry if I misled anyone, and thanks to those who have corrected me. I was always a fan of the story told by Richard Dawkins of the professor who had his life's work destroyed by new evidence, and who congratulated the person who had corrected him, saying "Thank you, I have been wrong this last fifty years!" |
@mijostyn TKRs are rather painful, so I hope you will soon be able to be home and soothed by some excellent music! |
@mijostyn if by
you mean bone marrow aspiration/biopsy I know exactly what you mean. |
Autograph or autograft? I know about allografts, since I now have German blood (I feel an urge to mimic Dr Strangelove there). Whichever matters not. I don't think I'll ever hear an Epoch 3, I only know that the cheapest member of the Lineage series, the Statement 3, hasn't done it for me. If I'm around long enough, it may come back out when the Decca Reference and Jubilee are done, and I'll give it my best try. |