Thanks for this advice.
Grado Platinum 3 Low Output and McIntosh C11 Preamp
I have a VPI Scout Junior turntable with a gimbal arm and a factory pre-mounted Ortofon 2m Red cartridge which I use with my vintage McIntosh C11 tube preamp. I am thinking of upgrading my cartridge and I have read a lot of good things about the Grado Platinum3. I wrote the company and they suggested I go with the low output version which is 1.0 mV. The C11 has about 60db of gain in the phono stage and currently if I crank the volume knob up to the 12 O'Clock position (way beyond any reasonable listening level) I can hear hum. When I have the knob at the 9 O'clock position (my normal listening level) there is no hum. What I worry about is if I buy the low output version of the Grado, will I potentially be running into hum and other noise issues if I have to crank up the volume to hear music at my normal listening level? I was considering the Ortofon Bronze first, which I feel won't have this issue, but I am so curious about the Grado.
Any help would be appreciated