Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: Grado Statement Series Master Phono Cartridge by AnalogJ

Model:	Statement Series Master
Category:	Phono Cartridge
Suggested Retail Price:	$800
Description:	Low Output (.5mV) Stereo Cartridge
Manufacturer URL:	Grado
Manufacturer URL:	Grado

Review by AnalogJ ( A ) on December 22, 2003 at 13:40:47
IP Address: 152.163.253.3

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Okay, first off, I have NEVER heard a Grado cartridge sound good out of the box. The mid-range may be sweet, but the music is stiff, lacking dynamics and the bass lacks depth and definition. There is almost no soundstage to think of. ALL of their cartridges need a good 15 hours just to sound human, and another 20 or so to start sounding their best. Reputation has it that they really take their form after 50 hours, so my review may even be a bit premature, what with about 40 hours on it. Perhaps there might be a bit more refinement (not that it needs it) coming down the line and if this is so, I'll report back on it.
I listen to a variety of music, so this cartridge has been through the paces of classical, soft and hard jazz, rock and roll, electric blues and folk, as well as musical theater.
It's hard not to review this cartridge without the context of the other two Grado cartridges I have recently listened to, as well as the Benz Glider (.84mV) which this Master replaced. I have the pleasure of being an acquaintance of Harry Weisfeld and after recently purchasing one of his Scout tables, he suggested that I listen to one of the new Statement series cartridges from Grado, citing their superiority over the Reference models.
I got a hold of a Statement Sonata to listen to. While I will comment on the Sonata more in a separate review, I will give the short version here and that is the mid-range made particularly vocal music real and compelling. The mid-range detail was to die for and there was such humanity coming out of the speakers, almost no matter what kind of music came through, MUCH more so than what came through with the Glider. The Glider was fine, but could sound a bit etched and bright sometimes, certainly compared to the Sonata.
While listening to the Sonata, I could hardly tear myself away from my listening sessions. I don't think I ever quite experienced that with the Glider. The Sonata's weaknesses, relatively speaking, minor but were there. The message of the music always came through, yet THE most difficult and complex passages weren't always resolved with the most clarity. I heard this most with complex orchestral works, YET the humanity of the music always came through anyway. I remember listening to a luscious recording of the later recording of Boult and the LPO doing Holst's "The Planets." In spite of not resolving the most difficult of passages easily, the performance never felt pinched or compacted. The loudest swell of the "Mars" section blew me away emotionally.
Also, while there was great detail in the mid-range, always resulting in mid-rangy instruments such as vocals and saxes having a you-are-there-quality, the high-end lacked the same detail. This latter aspect meant that some of the ambient information didn't get conveyed. Additionally, some of that higher frequency detail which delineates one vocalist from another or one instrument from another didn't get conveyed. Listening to an original UK pressing of Peter Gabriel's "Us," the distinction between Sinead O'Connor and Gabriel on "Blood of Eden" wasn't as clear as I remembered while listening to it with the Glider. Also, while the soundstage was deep, it was not especially high. If you have ever sat in a theater under a balcony, have you ever noticed a vertical compression to the sound? Kind of like that. Like a bit of a lid to the height.
All-in-all, once I got used to the lack of the some of the resolving power and high frequency definition, I just let the cartridge do what it does best and that is communicate music. Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar sounded real and his playing compelling and musical on a US original press of "In Step." All vocal music had the vocalist not in my living room, but had me be in their engineering studio. The presentation was relaxed and laid back. Rather than the overly analytical sounding detail of the Glider, music just flowed easily. On a red/black label Impulse/ABC of "Johnny Hartman/John Coltrane," Hartman sounded real, emotional, whole and full-bodied, while Coltrane's fills sounded velvety and sang. Acoustic bass, rather than being propelled forward, just anchored the rhythm section near the back of the soundstage.
I give this background of auditioning the Sonata because I was thinking that if the Sonata was THIS terrific, the Master is probably AMAZING. John Grado told me that the Master's diamond is half the diameter of the Sonata's and the motor is superior. Harry Weisfeld surmised (he has only heard the Reference series Master) that the detail of the mid-range would extend higher and lower.
I can tell you that the Master does have that and more. Neither of these cartridges, once broken in, lack in transient speed or dynamics. I would have been absolutely happy with the Sonata, overall, It delivers a tremendous amount of musicality for the $500 list, but I could see certain audiophiles quibbling over the lack of high frequency detail. Well, you can't quibble about that with the Master. There is much more detail all over the spectrum, perhaps partly resulting from the narrower tip descending deeper in the groove, but the detail NEVER sounds etched. It has all of the Sonata's qualities plus more.
For whatever reason, this cartridge resolves much more, throws a higher and deeper soundstage. In that soundstage, there is a more sophisticated layering. While the Sonata's images were never Viewmaster flat (instrumental body always was palpable), the Master's soundstage takes place on an almost infinite number of planes. Clearly, there is also higher detail present so that the delineation amongst multiple instruments is clearer. You can definitely hear more clearly into crowded mixes. There is a top-end shimmer to cymbals which was not present with the Sonata. The Statement Master realizes the Grado mission to meld the best sonics of moving coils with the best of moving irons (the moving iron design requires neither the moving of coils nor the moving of magnets - it supposedly requires the least movement of mass for a stylus, hence its quickness.).
In the Master, the rest of the cartridge really matches up to the incredible mid-range, and if you have never heard Grado mid-range, you owe it to yourself to do so just to hear what the fuss is about. Add that to the deep, multi-layered soundstage and huge height, suddenly my small living room opens up into this huge space when required. Not only do instruments sound real, but they now sound real in their space, as the necessary detail and definition are there. I was listening to a blue/green label stereo of Milt Jackson and Ray Charle's "Soul Meeting." The bassist raps his knuckles on the bass and I swear I was right there and I saw him do it in the studio (no, I was not on any drugs). This analog setup opens up even more of a gap between it and my digital setup. Groan. A new focus for my limited budget.
Could there be improvements on this? Perhaps, and maybe I'll be even more amazed after another 20 hours of breaking it in. I listened to Bruce Springsteen's "Live in New York City" LP and perhaps would have liked the audience's singing along (they were wayyyy in the back) to Bruce to have been even a bit more separate from Bruce, but never were they unintelligible either. This wasn't like with the Scout where certain passages collapsed. Nothing of the sort with the Master. Any area of weakness is now a mere quibble myself and is more getting away from listening to the musical message. With the Glider, there were times that the album sounded congested and too bright (the acoustic moments came off best). With the Sonata, I didn't experience the brightness, but the most congested music came off that way. With the Master, I didn't have any problem hearing all of the instruments through the mix and the soundstage never collapsed.
So, high praise here. And with Michael Fremer's recent comment in his Blackbird review in Stereophile stating that those looking for mid-range above all else needing to look elsewhere, well, this might be where you want to start. This might possibly give you the Blackbird's sonic virtues AND the mid-range. This is one HELL of a cartridge.

Product Weakness: None for the money, but those preferring bright, overly detailed sound typical of moving coils will want to look elsewhere. Also, you'll need a very good phono stage to amplify an output this low.
Product Strengths: Real, palpable, holographic-like mid-range. Fine detail from top to bottom. Huge, finely layered deep and high soundstage. Great ambient detail. Great transients and dynamics. Most importantly: This plays music! All types!

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Unison Research Unico
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	VPI Scout/JMW-9 Tonearm
Speakers:	Castle Eden
Cables/Interconnects:	VPI/Discovery phono cable, Audioquest Type 4 speaker cable
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Various
Room Size (LxWxH):	12' x 14' x 11'
Room Comments/Treatments:	Roomtune Corner Tunes
Time Period/Length of Audition:	45 hours
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Monster Cable 2500
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	None for the money, but those preferring bright, overly detailed sound typical of moving coils will want to look elsewhere. Also, you'll need a very good phono stage to amplify an output this low.
Product Strengths:	Real, palpable, holographic-like mid-range. Fine detail from top to bottom. Huge, finely layered deep and high soundstage. Great ambient detail. Great transients and dynamics. Most importantly: This plays music! All types!