Grado Red Cartridge

Want a Little More High-Frequency Extension?

Grado's affordable Red and Blue models use a four-piece OTL cantilever for quicker transients, faster response and increased extension. Both models use a four piece OTL cantilever technology, standard oxygen free wire in the coils and Grado's specially designed elliptical diamond mounted on a brass bushing. This Red model is selected from the Blue production run and meet higher test specifications. Approximately 10% of the production run will meet these standards and become Red models.

"The Grado Prestige Red is proof that one does not have to spend large amounts of money for good sound from a phono cartridge. More expensive cartridges may well provide incremental improvements in one or more areas, but the Grado performs at a level where such improvements will be small."
-- James T. Frane, Sensible Sound

The Prestige series of cartridges are designed for high output and excellent stability under severe use. A considerable tip mass reduction results in a frequency response to 50 kHz and beyond and tracking forces from 1-2 grams. Acclaimed by experts as virtually the finest pickups in the world at their price. All styli in the Prestige series are user replaceable.

Grado's Optimized Transmission Line (OTL) provides an ideal transfer of the signal from point to point, e.g., stylus to cantilever to magnet to coils, etc. This has been achieved by eliminating resonance at each of these key junctions. The transmission line cantilever consists of separate sections that are telescoped into each other. All sections are made of different alloys, some sections hollow, other sections solid. These sections are bonded together with materials that act as dampers, and are coated with a black proprietary material which controls and absorbs resonances that travel on the surface of the cantilever (known as skin effects). The OTL stylus/cantilever design will make your records sound quieter, improve the height, width, and depth of the soundstage, and offer more detail than previously obtainable.

The Pivoted Fixed Axial Cantilever Stylus-Generator is basically quite simple. The 'OTL' cantilever shaft is brought to a fixed axial pivot that supports the entire cantilever assembly. A miniature element attached to the end of the cantilever is allowed to move freely within the lines of flux of a stationary magnetand coil structure. This system of support is mechanically more accurate (more linear) than conventional 'teeter-totter' designs that utilize an iron armature to balance the mass of the cantilever. The teeter-totter design is supported in the center with a rubber donut mounting. The fixed axial design has a very low tip mass, which results in lower distortion, improved transient response, and longer record life.

The Flux-Bridger Generator System design uses four separate magnetic gaps that the miniature element of the cantilever bridges. The miniature element moves between opposing flux gaps creating an increase in flux in one gap while reducing it in the other. The four separate magnetic gaps create a highly efficient and perfectly balanced system. This design requires fewer coil turns than conventional designs. Fewer coil turns allow Grado cartridges to have lower mass and lower electrical inductance, making them insensitive to tone arm cable capacitance. The four gap design is perfectly balanced and eliminates magnetic residue which contributes to increasing distortion over longer time periods. Grado cartridges reduce distortions that cause listener fatigue.