Prestige Grado MI stylus replacement question

Chakster...see Needle Doctor and comments on other forums (e.g., Steve Hoffman). From what I've read Prestige line styli are interchangeable amongst all Prestige carts. There are replacement stylus options superior to the Gold that will also fit all Prestige carts. In my case, I purchased an 8MZ V from Needle Doctor and am using this in a Grado Prestige Black. At the time of purchase it was actually $50 less than the Gold replacement stylus. Price is now the same but reportedly the geometry is better than the standard Gold stylus. Again - I'm only reporting what I've read. Have not put the Gold and 8MZ styli under a 'scope to compare them though others I'm referring to claim they have.

This from Dialoum posting on Vinyl Engine (though he is NOT one claiming to have done the side by side visual comparison)...
http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=49447
"At the top end of the prestige stylus there are the following (in order with the best one last)

Gold1
8MZ
MCZ
TLZ

The TLZ is reputed to be on a par with the very best of the grado woodies, and some very high priced MC's - for $250 you can fit one of these to a Black1 body!!"

fyi...price of the TLZ is now $300.

Hope this is of use.

It a good news, many thanks Ghosthouse.
Needledoctor indeed stock 8mz, Mcz and Tlz now.

Actually my generator is "Grado DJ200i" in prestige line, i think it's the same as black but for professional use. Emailed to grado to confirm.

FYI: The shape of the stylus of the 8MZ is .2x.2,the shape of the TLZ and MCZ is .15x.09.

I own the 8MZ and the MCZ and you can replace any stylus with any cartridge.

Right, just received an email from Grado confirmed that all of them (Gold,8MZ,MCZ,TLZ) works fine on prestige line Grado DJ200i body. That's good.

The only problem is the cost of that styli, some of them cost exactly like a perfect vintage mm cartridge of another brand or very close to (used signet, astatic mf, audio-technica). Also Jico SAS upgrade of the stylus for other brands (used A&R, Shure, JVC) is more cost effective, no ?

It is more cost effective to buy a used Grado on Ebay for a few bucks and buy a new stylus. Why buy some vintage clunker?

Chakster (and others) FWIW -
Comments just received today from the place selling me analog gear indicate recent 8MZ styli might now be the same as the Gold1 stylus. A couple years ago the 8MZ stylus was a nude elliptical whereas the Gold1 was a bonded elliptical. More recently (perhaps as NOS 8MZ styli sold out) the 8MZ styli being supplied by Grado are reported to be bonded. Don't know anything about current stocks of MCZ or TLZ.

There is evidently another Grado stylus above the ones mentioned, the XTZ at $450.

Gosthouse, i just asked Grado Support today and this is the answer:
"the 8MZ is a nude elliptical"

I assumed there is no different old or new stock.

That's good news Chakster. I was only passing along the info relayed to me from
someone I consider a highly reputable source. I guess I'll have to get mine under
some magnification to see what it actually looks like. Certainly hope new and
old stock are the same! i.e., nude. Thanks. Let me know if you learn anything
more.

By the way, here's a link to that discussion I mentioned in an earlier post (on
AudioKarma)
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=399203

Cheers Ghosthouse

For everyone who would like to walk in the Grado Lab watch this short documentary: https://youtu.be/L2ZpJHGYMC8

Chakster - Thanks very much for that link. I knew they were in Brooklyn but great to see the actual facility and get a better sense of how much a "family run" business their operation really is. To me Grado is a throwback to a time of successful American entrepreneurship that stands in strong contrast to the publicly traded corporate business model where product is subordinate to stock price. Thanks again. I enjoyed it.