APARTMENT SIZE APPLIANCES CANADA

Some of you may remember how we were fortunate to get one of the last Ekos Mark III tone arms. The Linn Ekos is the ideal platform for a good cartridge and after some saving time (well, actually; a lot of it) we made our dream come true and bought the Grado Statement Master.

It is a low-output cartridge (0,2V) that combines the advantages of a MC and MM cartridge, so it's sort of a hybrid.
Grado, from Brooklyn New York, is one of the oldest family-owned High End manufacturers in the world and has an impressive track record.
Each Grado cartridge is manufactured by hand and has a mahogany body made out of cured wood.
There is a high output version (0,5V) of each cartridge, called the Reference series, and a low output version, called the Statement series.
Low output has several advantages and the Statement series is slightly more expensive, but Grado recommends it.

After careful consideration, our choice was the Statement Master. There aren't any reviews on the net, so I'll give it a go:

Straight out of the box, into the arm, with no miles under its diamond, the Grado Statement Master immediately makes an impression.
I was up in the computer room when the first sounds from the cartridge flowed up the stairs. Even at a distance I was wondering if this was my version of I've Got You Under My Skin from 'Ol Blue Eyes I was hearing.
Yes it was.
The soundstage this cartridge produces is enormous, like every instrument in Nelson Riddle's orchestra was individually recorded.
It's hard to believe this cartridge needs forty hours of playing time to get into its own, but then it sounds even more detailed and harmonious than now.
Still, rhythm, detail, dynamics, warmth, a beautiful coloration of sound and an impressive bass, that is the hallmark of Grado; it's all there.

The Sondek really started to levitate when I put Eric Bibb's 180 grams vinyl, 48rpm recording of Good Stuff (on Opus3 records) under the needle.
At first I wondered if the needle had actually reached the record, or that my arm lift was broken. I had a lucky aim and placed the needle right in the groove, before Mr Bibb started playing Don't Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down. The Statement Master is so silent in running on the record, you'd think it isn't on the record.
You heathens who listen to CD would think the Grado turns a record player into a CD player (God forbid).
Now any of you who think its tracking qualities come at a cost of its dynamics, are wrong.
Mr Bibb plays nice and clean Blues, but here he started to sound raw, almost mean and evil. In other words; the Grados put some of the devil in Mr Bibb's Gospel.
Not too much, but enough to make you shout: "Good God"!

Next was a record by John Williams and Jullian Bream, called Together Again.
Classic Spanish Guitar in a small studio setting.
Here the Grados portrayed exactly the right intimate sound. The smallest details are there, like you're looking at their fingers while playing.
Obviously, the Statement Master has many faces.

Time to turn to Bernard Haitink's recording of Mahler's Third Symphony, with our own Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Massive, is the word that comes to mind. The Grado puts the entire Concert building into your living room and at this point you start to wonder if the speakers are going to take such a beating.
Large orchestral works have a live sound with the Grado, it never becomes clouded in its sound, not even at the loudest moments. Voices and instruments are exactly positioned and sound harmonious and life-like.

In short; If you are looking for a mid-priced cartridge, that has much higher priced MC cartridges for breakfast, lunch and dinner, buy a Statement Master.

Another of my high end retouching examples. This again was a few hours of work.

This is a stock photo I found and is not my own photography.