Volume too low after installing Grado Black 2 cartridge

Pentotark

Active Member
Today I visited a near HiFi shop, they're really friendly and nice so, after I told them about my system and my desire to upgrade it, they recommended to upgrade my needle to a Grado Black 2 to make my system more even in quality.

Here my system before the upgrade:
20180115_165627.jpg

I installed the cartridge but in order to listen to the record at a decent volume I need to turn the knob all the way up! By comparison the ortofon om10 used to go really loud at less then half turn while the Grado doesn't get as loud even if I set the amp to max volume.

The preamp has a mm/mc switch (has always been set on mm) behind but I'm worried to touch it without knowing what I'm doing. Maybe I did something wrong with the cables on the back of the cartridge?

What could the problem be and is there anything I can do to make this needle work? Hope your experience can help me, thank you!
 
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Today I visited a near HiFi show, they are really cool and after I told them about my system and my desire to upgrade it they recommended to upgrade my needle to a Grado Black 2.

Here my system before the upgrade:
View attachment 1093082

I installed the cartridge but in order to listen to the record at a decent volume I need to turn the knob all the way up! By comparison the ortofon om10 used to go really loud at less then half turn while the Grado doesn't get as loud even if I set the amp to max volume.

The preamp has a mm/mc switch behing but I'm worried to touch it without knowing what I'm doing.

What could the problem be and is there anything I can do to make this needle work?

MM is moving magnet, and MC is Moving Coil.

The AKAI, does it have its own phono stage? Try running directly to your receiver.

Good luck with it!

Kind Regards,
John
 
It looks like the black 2 is a moving magnet cart so you shouldn't have to switch anything on the rear of the preamp. Some carts will have lower output than others but they shouldn't be that far off. Are you sure the wires are hooked up properly?
If everything seems ok you might have a faulty cart. Put your old one back on and see if everything goes back to normal. If so then you should probably return it for an exchange.
 
The AKAI, does it have its own phono stage? Try running directly to your receiver.
Hi John, I connected the turntable directly to the amps' Phono stage but the issue persists.
Are you sure the wires are hooked up properly?
I'm pretty sure I followed correctly the drawing in the instructions that came with the cartridge. I didn't find any pictures of the black 2 hooked up online but seems connections are same as the previous model and wiring seems same as what I did.
If everything seems ok you might have a faulty cart. Put your old one back on and see if everything goes back to normal. If so then you should probably return it for an exchange.
I put back my ortofon om10 and all works fine. It is frustrating to have a faulty cartridge, tho isn't it rare? I guess I need to talk with the people at the shop.
 
Tried to reseat it a few times but the problem persists. It really might be a faulty cartdridge...
Have you measured the resistance in each channel with a digital voltmeter (DVOM)? It's easy to do and will give you an indication of the cartridge's electrical health. I don't have a Grado anymore, but in reading the active thread about the Black2, it sounds like you should get readings of something like 475 ohms in each channel.

Testing a phono cartridge body | Shure Technical FAQ
 
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I have the Grado Green cartridge and it’s output is lower than the cartridge it replaced. With the old cartridge I would use the volume at 9 O’clock, with the Grado I would need to use 10 O’clock. Your cartridge seems to be worse than that and possibly is faulty since you checked everything out.
 
I installed the cartridge but in order to listen to the record at a decent volume I need to turn the knob all the way up! By comparison the ortofon om10 used to go really loud at less
Both cartridges are rated at 4 mV output so there shouldn’t be much if any difference. I would take turntable to dealer and ask them why the Grado is seemingly not meeting spec.
 
I have the Grado Green cartridge and it’s output is lower than the cartridge it replaced. With the old cartridge I would use the volume at 9 O’clock, with the Grado I would need to use 10 O’clock. Your cartridge seems to be worse than that and possibly is faulty since you checked everything out.

Both cartridges are rated at 4 mV output so there shouldn’t be much if any difference. I would take turntable to dealer and ask them why the Grado is seemingly not meeting spec.

Thank you both, I will bring my turntable to the shop tomorrow, they will help me and see where the issue is coming from.
 
Here is a dumb question. Does Grado make a LOMI for the European market? If your preamp has an MC setting for low output cartridges (.5mv), is that a possibility?

Grado does make this kind of cartridge, it is only available here in the US as higher end cartridges.........
 
Problem solved! I brought the cartridge back to the shop and they realized the cartridge was faulty. Got a replacement and everything works beautifully!

Thanks to everyone for the support and good advices! ^^
 
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Those Grados are the sweetest sounding budget cartridges out there! Glad you got the problem resolved. Enjoy!
I am really happy, it kind of "unveiled" the sound, removing that warm coat my system had using the om 10 cartridge. Now the sound is crisper and more open. Only thing is, the black 2 seems really sensitive to static, even a couple light wipes of anti-static brush can create quite a lot of distracting clicks, while keeping the vinyl "dirty" allows a cleaner playback. I just changed my habit of cleaning the record after playing it! XD
 
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