Grado TLZ ???

Hi,
I have a TLZ,it has not been made for 10 years,it was a $500.00 cartridge,the replacement stylus is still available for $250.00 from the needle doctor.Did you buy this new,you can call Grado for information on this.The gold is about $250.00 new.

I own a very old TLZ. It has a silvery body (probably aluminum) with a black stylus assembly. I am sure it is correct original, because I personally bought it new more than 2 decades ago. Rich, what is your question? I will try to help, but I am not sure I understand.

Yogiboy, thanks for the reply.
Lew, I am trying to figure out what I really purchased. My body is also silver. The box it came in is labeled Prestige Gold stereo pickup. The stylus on the cartridge is engraved TLZ v as is the replacement. I would like to know if all TLZ's are signature models or is the a non sig TLZ? Also what does the "v" designate? Thanks

I have been using Grado's for 30 years,so here's the scoop!
There was a signature 8 and 10 then they came out with the Z line which was the mcz,tlz,xlz,the v at the end of the number was the mark five version. If you have a gold with a tlz stylus something is rotten in Denmark!

yogiboy, I don't know that I truly have a gold. The box is marked gold, the cartridge itself is marked Grado on the mounting surface, JG on the silver portion of the body and on the front it is marked jg with Grado below it. The cartridge came with the tlz v stylus and a spare. I am just doing my homework. It was not represented in a deceptive manner. I suppose when I mount it and listen I will learn more. Thanks for your input and anything else you could share would be appreciated.
Thanks
Rich

Very simple. You have a Grado "Gold" with a stylus assembly that has been upgraded to that of a "TLZ v"; they are interchangeable. My guess is that performance-wise, you are not quite at the overall level of excellence of a full-fledged TLZ, but fairly close. Output of a Gold is 5mv, output of a TLZ was (if I recall correctly) 1.5mv. Output is determined by the body that you have, so yours outputs 5mv. The TLZ retailed for $500 when new.

I will go and take a look at mine. I still have the original cylinder in which the cartridge was sold, so I can also look at the label on that. Perhaps Yogiboy knows better, but I do think there was a "Signature" version of the TLZ. I never knew or bothered to find out if it was any different from the standard TLZ, nor do I recall whether mine is a Sig or not. Do not know anything about the "v" designation. Most likely, the seller stuck the TLZ in a box intended for the Gold, as you probably have already figured out. The TLZ originally came in the aforementioned solid metal cylinder with removable end caps that were held in place by a fancy elastic band. I think the TLZ has great potential and is head and shoulders better (faster sounding, better bass and treble extension) than the lower models in the Z series. Good choice.

OK, I just read your most recent post. I made my previous comments on the assumption that you had a "Gold" body. If the body that you have is silver and black, then you probably do have a full-fledged TLZ. It was probably packed in the box of a Gold. The TLZ came packed in those impractical little metal cylinders with end-caps that I always seemed to lose. Thing to do is to determine the output. Again, the TLZ was a 1.5 mv output, considerably less than the more usual 5mv of the black bodied Grado's. Shouldn't be too difficult to determine.

Lewm, there never was a "Signature" version of the TLZ, only a supposedly upgraded stylus assembly the "v", which is what the OP has. The TLZ was always part of the "Signature" line, which included the 8MZ, MCZ, TLZ, and XTZ.

Also there are numbers you can see looking at the rear, find the month and year; if you have that, you have a TLZ. The Gold body is gold not silver. Hope this helps.

From the Grado website:

Grado Signatures -- the 8, 8M, 8MR, MCX, 8MZ, and TLZ

Well I find it interesting that Grado does not identify their cartridges with some kind of marking and with that said how do you measure the output of a cartridge? I suppose you could get some idea with the cartridge set up and running but it would be nice to know beforehand.

There does appear to be stamped on the rear of the cartridge C60. I will research the Grado site and see what this means. Thanks to all who are helping with info.

Rich, No question that the TLZ has about 1.5mV output. You would need a phono stage with enough gain for the typical high output MC cartridge to get the most out of it. I am listening to mine these days using an Ayre phono stage set to lowest gain (for MMs) and I have to crank up the volume control (on my linestage) quite a bit to get adequate sound pressure levels.

Lew, I am using an Aethetix Rhea so that is not a problem, My question is and was do I have a Tlz cartridge? I will find out when I finish mounting it. I am in the market for another set of headshell leads and I find out that most all available online are 2" long. Both headshells I own are 1 3/8 long. One is a Nagaoka 10 gram and the other is a Beldrean. I am finding that I am spending as much time tinkering with my system as I do listening. Kind of an interesting change.

Frogman and others...

The Grado site did not mention the last one ever made. It was the XTC, and sold for a short time and only in limited numbers.

Also, I believe the site neglected to mention one of the white bodied ones. I'll need to check my collection to be sure, though.

Oops...maybe
Could it be that the XTC is the stylus assembly for the XTZ, or there is some other mistake? I have a Signature marked XTC, but not one marked XTZ. I thought I had all of them.

Mosin, I did notice that the XTZ was not mentioned. I owned the XTZ also. I am not aware of a XTC; interesting. As I recall, the XTZ had an output of .5 mv, no? Very refined sounding cartridge. I ended up selling it because it did not have enough output for the preamp that I had at the time. You may be right about XTC being the stylus' designation

I believe the XTC was indeed the last Signature. It was a line contact type, and maybe the first cartridge to break the $1000 mark. (at least that's what I read someplace)

I own several of the modern wood bodied types, but the XTC beats them all...in my opinion.

Thanks to Raul, I have been listening to my TLZ of late. I bought it new about 20 odd years ago (very odd, indeed). After cleaning and enhancing the contacts, it still holds up. I am not sure the XTZ was much of a real improvement. I don't recall the XTC at all. Maybe by then I had moved on to MC cartridges, for better or worse.

Measure the coil resistance. If it's a Prestige Gold it's going to be somewhere around 470 ohms. IIRR - the TLZ is way lower than that -around 70 ohms or so ?
You may have what I'm listening to right now - a FrankenGrado - a standard output (4.5 mV or a little less) body with a upgraded stylus assembly in it.If you hook this up it will be obvious - if it's Signature stylus in a Signature body - you'll have to turn the gain up quit a bit. if it's a Prstige or other "standard" body with TLZv stylus - it will be about as "loud" as any other mag cart.
Lovely sounding in either case.

I am now playing the TLZ and it is a 1.5 mV. This is a very enjoyable cartridge and to think I purchased the cartridge for less than a $100 including a new stylus. Finding these cartridges is work, I guess patience is a must.
Lew and anyone else using this cartridge, where is a good starting point for the VTA? I am level at the present time and the bass is not as good as I would expect. I only have a couple of hours of playing time and will experiment some more. Thanks to all who commented on this cartridge.

In general, lowering the pivot point will tend to favor low frequencies. But don't go overboard with that, because the cartridge will sound dull eventually. I am listening to the TLZ level with the pivot and have no complaints about bass response. However, mine has developed some distortion of late, for reasons that elude me. In fact, back in the good old days, I am pretty sure I used positive VTA (pivot up with respect to cartridge body).