I got that info personally from DJ Harvey via Francois K (who was in the booth every week)... and here is Larry himself talking about Grace carts:
“I’m going to get two more turntables so that as the night goes on, I can upgrade the sound. So I use cheap cartridges in the beginning and upgrade – I have $150 Grace cartridges which I’m really into but you can’t backcue with them. At five AM you’d say ‘what is that?’ because a record should sound as good as a tape.”
@au_lait Thanks for the link, very nice! It could be Grace F8 or F9 then, but as you can see on the
actual images from the DJ booth at P.G. there are only Stanton cartridges in use. But I’m glad to read than Larry was familiar with Grace, maybe he’s been using them later when Thorens were replaced with Technics turntables? I have nearly all best Grace models in my collection with too many NOS styli, I love this brand!
BTW I have never seen DJ Harvey or Francois K with some nice cartridges in use, like most of the DJs they are using average modern DJ cartridges (nothing special). And Francois K is digital now (not even vinyl).
For the record... Grace Disco stylus has nothing to do with DJs. It was marketed to audiophiles. It is a high quality nude diamond. I assume the name comes from the fact that it is spherical.
@fsellet Grace DISCO was made for Radio and DJs, there is no other meaning for term "disco" when it comes to the cartridges, they are for professional use, remember radio djs ? Even top of the line Grace model such as LEVEL II had a "disco" version with Beryllium cantilever. This is a truly High-End Disco cartridge, not like today’s cheap DJ cartridges with bonded styli, but Grace is from another era, quality was very important for DJs back then.
The F9D, which I own, has a recommended tracking force of 1.2 g, the same as other Grace F9 models (F9P has a significantly higher VTF because it was meant to be used in heavy professional arms, i.e. radio stations). the F9D is a very good sounding cartridge.
The best in F9 series are RS9F and RS9U styli (Shibata type and line Contact type).
Even RS9 Ruby has an elliptical tip just like RS9E stylus.
The High-End styli starts with
F12 and F14 models and this is where you can find exotic types like Ceramic Cantilever, Boron, Beryllium, Sapphire, Ruby ... and finally MicroRidge diamonds. I have them all in my collection. Grace LEVEL II series is not compatible with F9, F12 and F14, but LEVEL II is my favorite series (same type of styli/cantilevers available for LEVEL II).
I don’t like spherical diamonds, the life span is too short, but they are very cheap and for professional needs they are OK, but not for critical listening (imo).
