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I just finished rehabbing my 2nd AR-XA turntable this morning, and I may say it has turned out looking almost brand new, with brand new performance. I have followed the wisdom of Frank Van Alstine, of course, but I use the Chair Guys Slick 50 in the platter well. I have learned a lesson; to toss the Haydon motor from the AR as most that I have bought have lost their power or have one form of aliment or another. So, I have sourced the motor that is used in the VPI Scout. It's a big honker, fairly quite, well made and should last along time.Now the big dilemma is what cartridge? I was actually thinking of the Grado Green, but with what I'm reading here, I don't know. I suppose I could put another AT440MLa in this one, but I have been accused of being an AT440 pimp by someone at AC already, ha, ha I put a Shure m97xe in it for now, but what an unamusing cartridge, especially compared to the AT440. Of course, I want the best bang for the buck as that was the goal by the people at AR back in the late 60's, so what is a mother to do?I have noticed with all of the AR's that the tone arm is a slight bit sluggish in the vertical plane. I can tell when it's time to dial in VTF. Unlike my Empire arm which can zip all over everywhere (up and down, side to side), and maybe that's the problem with that tone arm...it's too loose!Maybe a Grado Green with a 2" Longhorn?
Well, it's playing better each day now...about 25 hours in on it.I don't at least notice inside groove distortion now....a combination of break-in and dialing in the anti-skate seemed to do the trick. This is really a fussy cartridge - waaaaaay fussier than it should be for $60.00. I mean, most folks spending $60.00 for a cartridge won't futz with it to get it right and will assume it's not that capable. Turns out it's very capable (at least, with the Longhorn attached and coils damped and all geometries right). Not that it's unusual for this cartridge to have a different setting than the tracking force (which is about 1.47 near as I can tell). I've never had cartridge that needed anywhere near 100% of tracking force, usually it's in the 60-70% area. The Green is about at 66.67% now and is spot-on.What a fussy beetch it is, tho, for $60.00...but worthwhile if you do
Steven, It's a long topic....but, on page 2 or 3, at about 25 hours on it, I noted that the the inner groove distortion that plagued the Grado Green earlier seemed to dissipate with a bit more jiggling of the arm geometry. It's awfully tweeky cartridge for one that is intended for newbies and it's awfully tweeky for one with an elliptical tip.Still, it doesn't quite measure up to the higher standards of resolution (it's a bit gritty), clarity and tracking performance of the AT440ML/OCC and ADC TRX-1 that I have. If you look under magnification at the stylus one can see clearly it's cheaper than the AT and ADC's. A cheap cantilever/bonded diamond could make a meaningful differnce and the Grado doesn't measure up in these key areas of performance perhaps becasue of it. The Red and the Gold, etc, have better stylus' and may in fact be larger step-ups in the line than I would have thought initially.I'll try it again one day and see if my tastes change any btw, I ran it in a JVC QL-A2 and JVC QL-F6 direct drive tables and there was no hum issue at all.
Some early, perhaps premature observations about 18 hours run in on it....1. VTF - I've never had any cartridge so finicky as the Green is about VTF (Vertical Tracking Force). 1.6 grams is too much - it deadens to presentation (like overdamping, but a bit different). 1.4 grams is, literally, too light a presentation, overall; dynamics are too lightweight. 1.5 about right...but about 1.46 to 1.48 is perfect. WTF - I've never had a cartridge so picky in any recent memory. 2. VTA - I've got it tail down a bit as I've read that's the best place for it. Beats me - I haven't tried it any other angle (no adjustable VTA on the JVC - too bad)3. Noise - It is a bit noisier in the grooves than other cartridges. Do ellipticals 'plow thru' where line styli and vdH/Geiger shapes leave less a bit less friction on the sidewalls of vinyl? Could be 4. Inner Groove Distortion - Almost disqualifies this cartridge entirely. The first 60% of each side sounds quite good - deteriorating slowly into something akin to hell the last tune or final 10-20%. It's quite noticeable - I only hope that I can jiggle some arm geometry or maybe the suspension still needs a bit more breaking it to be fully effective. Hope so, at least. Otherwise, it's a bit of hell as the side winds down each time. 1.6 grams VTF wasn't the answer either - it didn't help the end-of-record distortion....it just overdamped everything.Any of you Grado guys, or former ones, lend some guidance here on these matters - or others?Henry/ohenry, you out there
I've never heard about tweaking Grados. Who is this Frank? Van Alstine?Modifying carts is a new concept for me. What do they do in a mod?
Wait a minute... this guy is telling you to be content with what you like and own? That's just perverse. I have the 1.5mv version of the Platinum and it does reveal a little more information and seems a little quieter that the trusty Green. Is it worth four Greens? Nope. If I were doing it again, I'd probably look for a low output Gold and tweak it. No big regrets on the Platinum, it was only $80 bucks more than the Gold (I got a really good deal).These carts are a bit addictive after a while. They do so many things right, and Frank's tweaks make them even better. That's why I wonder if the tweaked Gold wouldn't outperform my low-end woodie. Wait another minute, that didn't come out exactly right!
However, with my new Harmon Kardon T25 turntable, the Grado Green Longhorn sounds fantastic. We were listening to it last night and damn. It's close to the Empire. I'm tracking at 1.5 grams as well.W
