Grado
and Rega - for decades these names have been balm to the pocketbooks
of blue-collar vinyl lovers, providing high performance and terrific
value. Given the state of the world's economy, we thought it might
be a good time to catch you up on a few recent offerings from both
companies-no matter what color collar you happen to wear to work.
One
thing Rega and Grado deliver, and in my experience this is true regardless
of which of their models you choose, is that vague thing we call “musicality.” For
me, the term “musical” is not so much a matter of tonal balance -
cool vs. warm (though warmer is generally friendlier and hence perceived
as more musical) - but weather or not a given system of piece of
equipment grabs our minds and emotions and pulls us into a recorded
performance.
Grado’s
hundred-and-eighty dollar Prestige Gold cartridge has it’s flaws-a
lack of inner detail and audible grain being chief among them (the
latter brings to mind the tannic pull of a young red wine) but its
strengths are such that you can easily listen through them. These
strengths include a somewhat-too-warm yet very pleasant (and yes
euphonious) balance, a sweet if not hugely airy treble, a taut if
not especially layered bass, and a remarkably lively presentation.
Interestingly, these additions seem to compliment the sound of certain
instruments, like Stevie Ray Vaughn’s classic Fender Stratocaster/Super
reverb amp combo and Nathan Milstein’s famous Stradivarius (on both
of which the cartridge sounds sweet, warm and liquid, reminiscent
of what we hear with certain tube electronics). But that doesn't
mean the Prestige Gold will limit your musical enjoyment. I played
a wide range other LPs during my time with it, most memorably Acoustic
Sounds’ gorgeously produced set of Ella Fitzgerald’s George and Ira
Gershwin Song Books and two recent Sundazed pressings-Wilco’s Yankee
Hotel Foxtrot, and, for Dylan fans the must have mono-edition of
Blonde on Blonde. In both cases the Prestige Gold’s sound was readily
identifiable, but after just a few seconds it didn't seem to matter
much, so engaging were the results. With its narrow profile and metal
body, the Prestige Gold has classic Grado looks and sound.
Now,
if you can spring for it, let me tell you that everything the Prestige
Gold does well, plus a whole lot more, can be found in the wood-bodied
Grado Statement Sonata. Though it’s $500.00 retail is significant
leap up, so is it’s sound. Whereas the Gold sounds a little scruffy
and a mite too warm, the Sonata retains that model’s welcoming qualities
and sweet sounding treble adds far greater neutrality, refinement,
and resolution. The Sonata has an impressive top-to-bottom uniformity
of frequency response, rendering the complex harmonic structure of
Nathan Milstein’s Stradivarius as ravishingly as it does Ella Fitzgerald’s
honeyed upper register, slightly smokey middle, and throaty lower
range. Dynamics, too, are much improved over the Gold. Not only with
micro-level information-the small peaks and valleys required to convincingly
deliver Bach partita or those little trills Ella sprinkles into her
performances-but with large scale orchestral pieces, too, such as
Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 (Haitink/London Philharmonic, London)
where the last movement segues from full-scale crescendo to lilting
chamber symphony, Wagnerian quotes and all. This record also displays
the Sonata’s marvelous holography and transparency, with a gorgeous
orchestral spread and layers of depth. And though the Sonata showed
consistent excellence with stereo staging and imaging, one always
sensed a truth to the recording, without exaggerated effect.
The
phono preamp I used is Grado’s newish PH-1. Another wood-bodied product,
the PH-1 is the culmination of years of work in which Grado strived
to build a versatile phono preamplifier that would work equally well
with both high and low-output cartridges (from 0.4-4.5mv) with low
noise, wide bandwidth, high headroom, accurate RIAA amplitude and
phase coherence, and low output impedance. Installing the PH-1 is
simplicity itself. The back panel has input and output jacks, a ground
post, and a connector for 12V power supply, while the front has the
Grado logo and a red LED power-on indicator. Gain is switched via
a toggle on the bottom panel. (I had the chance to experiment with
both settings, as the prestige Gold is high output at 4.5mv and the
Reference Sonata is low at .5mV)
Most
outboard phono stages are sensitive to placement, and the Grado did
hum ever so slightly until relocated well away from associated power
supply transformers and system cables. Otherwise the PH-1 requires
no special install considerations Which
is a very good thing, because this is a very good phono preamplifier.
Its sound is open, airy, and easy, with a large, expansive presentation.
It can be delicate when required, and yet can scream with the loudest
rock playback-check out Stevie Ray’s Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” and
Tin Pan Alley’ from Couldn't Stand The Weather (Epic). The PH-1 shares
many attributes with the Statement Sonata; It’s holographic, laying
out a convincing soundstage in all directions, including height
(as heard in the Shostakovich No. 15); its warm, but not unnaturally
so; and it brings a lovely quality to lower octaves, rendering
them
with texture, tonal refinement, and, when asked for, power.
Grado
offers an awful lot of terrific analog at affordable prices- and
that’s worth a listen, even if you haven't been squeezed by this
economy.