[jmpiwonka]

hey, i have a grado silver cartridge that i got used off audiogon. supposed to only have like 15hrs on it...if that was true it's probably around 150-200 hrs now.
well it has much more surface noise than my grado black i have, it's annoyingly loud.
i got the silver because when i was using the black with an nad preamp that had phono built in, the treble was really bad. well the treble with the silver is ok but it just has too much surface noise.

i built a bugle preamp and the surface noise just got too annoying with the silver. i put the black back on and it's nice and quiet...now the treble sounds much better too vs. the NAD preamp.

i'm wondering does anyone think replacing the stylus on the silver might make it quiet?

[JCC]

I have had excellent results with the Soundsmith. If you get their contact line diamond, it matches the cutting tool and goes deeper into the groove. It often makes noisy records sound better.

I recently had my ZYX retipped by The Soundsmith, and the results are amazing.

[Wayner]

Cartridges can only be "noisy" if they are influenced by outside sources. They are just a bunch of coils. Too much surface noise can be caused by several things. First I would check VTA. If the tail is too high, the cartridge rake angle will be wrong and sound trebley, picking up more surface noise. I'd also be suspicious that the stylus had more hours than the ebay seller stated and perhaps the stylus is worn out..or damaged. A real good magnifier or scope should prove that right or wrong. Third, what VTF are you running? Too light of a VTF can tend to reveal a bit more surface noise.

Wayner

[jrtrent]

I can't speak from any experience with the Grado Silver, or even the Black for that matter (my local dealer only stocked the "select" line from each of the three pairings, so he had the Green, not the Black; the Red, not the Blue; and the Gold, not the Silver), but one of the things that impressed me about the Green was its handling of surface noise.  Maybe the lower-cost model is simply better at that than the more expensive ones.

I have had excellent results with the Soundsmith. If you get their contact line diamond, it matches the cutting tool and goes deeper into the groove. It often makes noisy records sound better.

I recently had my ZYX retipped by The Soundsmith, and the results are amazing.

My experience with line contact or microline styli has not been very positive with respect to noisy records. I think the problem is that they have so much vertical contact that no matter where the damage is, it's sure to hit it. This footnote from a Stereophile article matches my experience:

http://www.stereophile.com/reference/170/index7.html
Footnote 12: Changing to a different cartridge can sometime work sonic wonders with old records, due to the new stylus riding on a different, relatively undamaged part of the groove wall. On the other hand, changing to a cartridge with a long-contact profile, Microridge or van den Hul, for example, can often increase surface noise and the reading of groove damage due to the stylus's being in contact with more of the groove wall.—JA

[jmpiwonka]

Cartridges can only be "noisy" if they are influenced by outside sources. They are just a bunch of coils. Too much surface noise can be caused by several things. First I would check VTA. If the tail is too high, the cartridge rake angle will be wrong and sound trebley, picking up more surface noise. I'd also be suspicious that the stylus had more hours than the ebay seller stated and perhaps the stylus is worn out..or damaged. A real good magnifier or scope should prove that right or wrong. Third, what VTF are you running? Too light of a VTF can tend to reveal a bit more surface noise.

Wayner

i moved vta around alot, from barely up to barely down to level, i have a pretty good adjustment via screw on my arm. none made any difference.
i messed with the setup of that cartridge for along time. minor tweaks here and there and it never really made a difference.
i had tracking force at 1.6.

i put the black on, did the setup thing, didn't touch vta, vtf stayed the same, a minor tweak of the angle of the cartridge a few sides in and it sounds pretty damn nice. the black is also less sibilant.

oh according to this thread, mr lin second post from last, the grado silver just has a bit more surface noise...
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=153252
found that searching for prices on new stylus.

[Wayner]

Good deal.

The cart is responsible for most of the apparent sound while the arm and platter tend to muddy and smear things up. If changing the arm VTA and VTF didn't do a thing, you are probably right. Are you curious to see what the stylus looks like (worn, not worn)?

Wayner

[jmpiwonka]

Are you curious to see what the stylus looks like (worn, not worn)?

Wayner

yes i am.
there is a shop here that could probably look at the tip and tell me if it looks worn. i'll probably run it by there in the coming days.
i also have a 20x jewelers loupe so i'll see what i can see with that. probably not much but i'd like to see what it looks like up close anyways.

[jrm]

Aren't all Prestige body styli interchangeable? Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they are. Why not put the silver stylus on the black body and see how it sounds, works. If the same problem comes up replace the stylus.

[Wayner]

I believe you are correct.

Why didn't I think of that? 

Wayner