I haven’t been able to use my Grado Signature 8MX for a while because it was without a worthy stylus, apart from a refurbished but damaged 8MZ suspension: the sound that comes out of it is not great. Buying an 8MZ stylus today requires an investment of about 200e and it’s not easy to get it out of the household budget. I happened to see an ad for a Grado F-1+, a cartridge from the 70s, which today would correspond to the Prestige Silver (the G-1 of the time would be today’s Gold). I had heard very good things about it and expected higher prices. I offered 70e and took it home. I am finally back to the Grado sound. I understand that the later Signature 8 series by Joe Grado was superior. The top would be a Signature 8MZ which, I read, when compared to the G-1, is slightly better and both, with 8MZ or even better MCZ stylus, would be unrivalled by modern ones under $1000! In short, I expect great things from the F-1+ with its original stylus and just a few hours of use; woth noting is its nude mounted diamond, not bonded like even the 8MZ stylus is made today.

I don’t think the F-1+’s stylus can be used in a Signature 8 body, so to really listen to my 8MX will have to wait. Plus, the F-1+ specs say it requires a load of 10 kohm or more, not the standard 47 kohm. My Lehman Black Cube can provide custom loads as long as I buy the correct resistor. Apparently something around 14 kohm is optimal to get the best performance out of an old F-1+ (it would make the high range less harsh and the low range more accurate). We’ll see….