Grado Sonata Cartridge vs. Rega Ania


I recently listened to a friend’s new Rega P6 turntable/cartridge setup with the Rega Ania MC cartridge.
I was blown away by it’s definition compared to my setup. I use the Grado Sonata cartridge with a significantly modified RP3 Rega turntable, now roughly comparable to the P6.
Has anyone had any experience with the Ania cartridge? I’m seriously considering changing from my Grado MM to it after hearing my friends set. It’s output is 3.5 uV, compared to my 5.0 uV. I’m wondering if that’s too significant a drop in output.
I love the Grado, but I just don’t think it has the definition of the Rega.
Or, can someone suggest another excellent cartridge in the $800 price range?
rvpiano

Showing 2 responses by chakster

Can anyone suggest an alternate cartridge to the Sonata that is more detailed, yet good for classical? It can be a MC with transformer or any other type of cartridge in the $600-$800 range.

In this price range you can look for brand new Garrott cartridges. Something like P77i 

Vintage MM/MI cartridges are better, i would strongly recommend Victor X1IIe, Pioneer PC-1000 mkII, Joseph Grado Signature XTZ. For a bit more the Grace F-14 or LEVEL II are giant killers!  
@orpheus10 

Most people on this forum don't seem to like Grado, and that has to be because of their choice in music, and what they expect a cartridge to deliver.  

I like sertain models of Grado, for example Signature models made by Joseph Grado himself (RIP) in the 80s. They are the best and Signature Grado XTZ is top of the line MI ! 

The cartridge must play all genres of music, it doesn't matter which genre of music you like personally, if your cartridge can't play sertain genre of music this cartridge is not good or the user likes coloration of the sertain cartridges. 

The very best MM cartridges like Audio-Technica AT-ML180 OCC plays everything, it's all about the truth (amazing cartridge). Very high compliance Grace F-14 or LEVEL II plays everything. High compliance cartridges can pass through all 3 bands of extremely high groove modulation on Hi-Fi Test LP without any single skip! This is the ultimate test for cartridge suspension. It doesn't matter how complicated is the musical passages on vinyl, any good cartridge plays the most complicated grooves easily. This is a benefits of the high compliance MM/MI cartridges. They are great trackers and even Cannon shots on Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture LP is not a problem for them. Your Grado is about 30cu compliance, Grace is even higher.  

Why should we think about "Most people on this forum" if they never tried amazing cartridges from the past (from the golden era of analog) when they are talking about today's cartridges, tonearms, turntables?