Pls Recommend Grado Green vs. Red P-Mount for Me?

So, to repeat the question once more, it is worth it, then, to pay extra for a Red P cartridge, vs. a Green P in such a humble TT?

I'd say you'd hear the difference and it would be worth it. The money it would take to go to the Gold would be better spent on a better table though.

Thanks. That's still only $110 for the red, vs. $400 for an entry level Rega TT. Unless I decide to start investing in vinyl again (mine is old and in horrible shape), I think the new cartridge is the better value, given my listening habits.

I would get the best cartridge I could afford. You will always hear a difference - even if your turntable was a Webcor. You have to make the decission if audio quality means anything.

No manufacturer has 0% defects, and no mail order house, no matter how conscientious, achieves 100% customer satisfaction. Should one bad experience with one bad cartridge with one mail order house knock Audio Technica out of the running altogether? Especially since they make such a price and quality range of P-mount cartridges.

I don't know who your errant online vendor was, but LP Gear has quite a selection of P-mount cartridges here. Notice that they have 5 Audio Technicas all the way up to $160, the Grado P-mount Prestige line, the Ortofons (though you can also get P-mount OM-10 and also replace the stylus with even nicer OM stylii), and even two from Shure, including a NOS Shure V15 for $399.

That all said, I'd say go for the Grado Red. The Red/Blue group use a much nicer cantilever than the Black/Green level, and the internal wiring uses better copper than the Black/Green ones. And if the stylus on your Red wears out, you can keep this same level of performance by getting a replacement stylus, which currently retails at $55. So think of it as a savvy investment.

Grado is particularly good about keeping replacement stylii available through the years. The Prestige Gold stylus ($90) is the official replacement stylus for Grado's top of the line cartridges from the early '70s, such as the Z2+.

I started out with a P-mount turntable I got at a garage sale this year, and frankly, I was put off by the snobby attitude of some analog vendors when I wanted to upgrade the cartridge from the conical-stylus Yamaha-branded cart that came with it. Good is good, and the Ortofon P10 I replaced it with sounded noticeably better in every imaginable way. I am sure you will get a similar or better improvement with a Grado Red.

And who knows? If you like the improved sound enough, you may play your LPs more than you do now.