Product Description
Grado Labs, the family-owned American audio manufacturer founded in 1953, announces the evolution of its phono cartridge lineup. Spanning the Lineage, Timbre, and Prestige Series, the updated lineup introduces meaningful improvements to cartridge performance through refinements to the stylus assembly, coil composition, and housing geometry.
Phono cartridges are the foundation of Grado’s history.
For decades, they defined the company’s work in analog and were central to its early innovation. This latest evolution focuses on their performance. These refinements contribute to better tracking, greater control, and a more balanced presentation, while also improving consistency and ease of setup.
Refined Core Elements
At the center of the updated lineup are refinements to the elements that most directly influence performance. The stylus assembly has been further developed across the range, with diamond profiles and cantilever materials carefully matched to each model. Select models now incorporate nude Shibata diamonds, expanding beyond the elliptical profiles used throughout much of the previous generation, improving groove contact, tracking, and detail retrieval. Coil composition has been updated across all models, moving to OCC copper at varying levels of purity. These changes contribute to improved signal transmission, greater clarity, and more consistent channel balance. Housing geometry in wood-bodied cartridges has also been refined, with updated profiles designed to improve both performance and the setup process, allowing for easier installation and greater stability during use. Together, these refinements result in a more controlled, more consistent presentation across the entire cartridge lineup.
Prestige Series — Proven Performance and Stability The Prestige Series remains the foundation of the Grado cartridge lineup. With a design that has evolved over more than five decades, Prestige models continue to deliver stable, reliable performance with a focus on ease of use and long-term consistency. Built around elliptical diamond stylus profiles, aluminum cantilevers, and OCC copper coil composition, these cartridges provide strong tracking integrity, a full and balanced sound, and a presentation that remains true to the original recording. Grado’s moving iron design, based on its patented flux-bridger system, is carried through the Prestige Series, maintaining the same core design approach used throughout the lineup. A key element of the Prestige Series is its user-replaceable stylus system, allowing listeners to maintain performance over time without replacing the entire cartridge. Simple to install, easy to maintain, and consistent in performance, the Prestige Series continues to serve as both an introduction to Grado cartridges and a long-term reference for dependable analog playback.
