Cartridge quest

So I was not enjoying my vinyl much anymore,I had just upgraded everything else and it just seemed as if the vinyl rig was now lacking so hmmm what to do?
check tracking force yep,vta,yep,azimuth yep all good so wth is going on?
Well my cartridge (Grado Reference Platinum) is about 8 years old or so and has seen a LOT of action on all types of vinyl soooooo time for a change.
I call the semi local Analog Guy tell em whats going on, and he promptly suggests the Dynavector 10x5 so I agree and off I go, I drive an hour south and arrive just after he opened his shop at Noon or so he checks out the table (Pro-Ject 1.2) all is good remove Grado fit Dyna align and he says done after about an hour or so, I ask if he was going to check tracking force? he says don't worry its dead on but checks any way and its no good!!! way to heavy so after about 2 more hours he decides it cant be done without a new counterweight or rigging something up so he drills out another weight adds it on oops still no good too heavy.
So I now have literally been there about 5 hours and am back to square one and a little frustrated, as is he considering the amount of time invested thus far.
So we rummage about looking for ideas,when he suggests a Demo cartridge he has, A Dynavector Karat 19A MkII Black for a couple bucks more than the 10x5, OK off we go after about another hour or so it is installed balanced and tracking weight perfect. I must admit I was a little worried as I had not read up on the new suggestion and I knew nothing about it. So after about 7 hours or so at his shop I headed home filled with uncertainty and doubt.....

Now realize I had explained what table and arm I had before heading down to the shop. My arm and counterweight are setup for a cartridge of 5.5 grams or less and the Dyna 10x5 is 6.6 and i had mentioned my trepidation about this but was assured that it would not be a problem.........


Now the cartridge is settling in after about 5 hours or so of listening time all I can say is HOLY CRAP this thing is a monster this is what I was missing
extension is off the charts,detail is just liquid, just album after album goodness
Perhaps just a tad shy on the bottom or just not fat like the Grado tended.

Now I just got to ask myself was the Grado just shot or was it just so far below the Dynavector? Like the Owl says I guess we`ll never know

The Grado is a much more mellow cartridge than the Dynavector you just bought, even if the Grado was still brand new. And if your cartridge was 8 years old with heavy use, it was probably near the end of its life.

What usually wears on a cartridge faster than the stylus is the suspension, so I'd say 8 years is plenty!

tonepub said:

What usually wears on a cartridge faster than the stylus is the suspension, so I'd say 8 years is plenty!

Click to expand...

/me starts looking at his 15-year-old Lyra Parnassus suspiciously. Not heavy use, alas, but a much needed replacement can't be far off. Which means it'll be upgrade time again. What a shame!

also remember those tiny suspension components are like rubber suspension bushings, so they tend to deteriorate from just being in the atmosphere, like any other rubber or rubber like component.

One thing you may wish to consider is how long your typical listening session is. The old Grado Sonta I have has always taken an LP or two to sound it's best. This means by the time it's sounding great my wife comes home and I end up turning it down so low that I can't enjoy it, or I just shut everything down.

Something which sounds good cold right off the bat, might have an advantage over a better one which takes more time to warm up.