Grado Timbre Series Master4 MI Phono Cartridge
Full Details
Engage Your Senses with the Grado Master4 MI Phono Cartridge: Wood-Bodied Design Specializes in Tonal Character and Alluring Clarity, Features a Nude Elliptical Diamond Mounted to a Boron Cantilever
Master4 is part of the Grado Timbre Series, offering a balanced and engaging presentation built on decades of cartridge design experience. It is designed to deliver clarity, control, and musicality while maintaining the tonal character that defines Grado cartridges.
Utilizing Grado's moving iron design, Master4 provides a stable and consistent signal with low moving mass and long-term reliability.
Offered in both stereo and mono configurations, Master4 continues the tradition of Grado's wood body cartridges.
Master4 is available in both high and low output configurations, allowing for compatibility across a wide range of phono stages.
Its presentation is balanced and controlled, with clear detail and a smooth, natural top end. The midrange carries presence and body, while low frequencies are defined and well structured.
Recordings are presented with stability and coherence, maintaining separation and imaging without exaggeration. The overall character remains consistent, allowing the recording to define the listening experience.
All Grado cartridges utilize a moving iron design built on Joseph Grado's patented flux-bridger principle.
This approach allows the cartridge to generate a precise signal with extremely low moving mass, while keeping the coil structure fixed. The result is a presentation that combines speed, control, and harmonic integrity without the fragility often associated with traditional moving coil systems.
Master4 features a nude elliptical diamond mounted to a machined boron cantilever.
The elliptical profile provides effective groove contact and detail retrieval, while the machined boron cantilever—known for its low mass and responsive behavior—contributes speed, stability, and a controlled, natural presentation.
The internal signal path is built using ultra-high purity 6N OCC copper, selected for its conductivity and consistency.
Each cartridge undergoes cryogenic treatment and internal damping to reduce unwanted resonance and preserve signal integrity.
The Master4 is housed in an American Osage wood body, selected for its ability to help control resonance and contribute to the cartridge's tonal balance. The reshaped housing improves visibility of the cantilever during setup, allowing for more precise alignment while supporting compatibility across a wide range of tonearms.
Specifications
- Body: American Osage Wood
- Cantileaver: Machined Boron/Elliptical Diamond
- Output
- High 4.0mV @5 CMV (45)
- Low 1.0mV @5 CMV (45)
- Inductance
- High Output 55mH
- Low Output 6mH
- Resistance
- High Output 660 ohms
- Low Output 70 ohms
- Input Load: 10k-47k ohms
- Cartridge Weight: 9.6 grams
- Tracking Force: 1.6-1.9 grams
- Compliance 20μm/mN
- Channel Separation: Average 30db - 10-30k Hz
- Controlled Frequency Response: 10-60 KHz
- Non-Sensative to Capacitive Load
- Builds: High Output, Low Output, Mono






