Grado Prestige Silver Standard Mount Turntable Cartridge Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this cartridge for my Technics 1200 turntable, having already owned the budget Black model. The Silver does everything the Black does but better. It is fuller sounding with deeper bass and a more articulate midrange. More importantly, the soundstage is wider and deeper.
In my review of the Black, I felt it was like a low cost moving coil with excellent presentation of small details and a very neutral balance.The Grado sound is natural, warm yet detailed. There is no brightness. And while the Black can sound a bit small and lean the Silver serves up a bigger fuller sound while retaining all of the positive virtues of its less expensive stable mate. My listening includes jazz, classical and rock. I think the Grados are good with all kinds of music but I am most impressed with their natural presentation for classical and opera records.
At the price of the Silver, only the Denon DL110 offers actual high output moving coil performance. Ortofon has one for slightly more money. The Silver is actually a special moving iron design which Grado has used and refined for decades. The Grados are made in the USA.
Visually the Silver is identical to the Black except there are two silver dots on either side of the stylus holder indicating which model it is.
One thing I must warn about however is that this cartridge can hum on certain turntables that use unshielded motors. There are no hum issues on my Technics or Pioneer direct drives or my old Thorens 166 but it is a slight issue on my Rega. The Grado sounds fine at normal levels on the Rega (so not an issue for me)but hums when the cartridge gets close to the end of the side and near the motor (when played at very high volumes). It also hums noticeably on my older 1979 vintage Toshiba Direct Drive. This cartridge is also only an average tracker and certainly no match for the likes of a Shure or Nagaoka. However, I prefer the sound of the Grado Black and Silver to either of those cartridges.
So a strong recommendation for those with a compatible turntable. Grado also makes these in Pmount (T4P) so good for those sleek tables from the 1980s as well. I intend on trying a Grado Blue P mount for my other Technics table which uses that style of cartridge.

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