Grado Reference Sonata

Wooden bodied wonder

By Michael Jones

June 2005

Grado Reference Sonata phono cartridge. $649

Part of my job as the editor of AudioEnz is to talk to hi-fi retailers about which products are particularly good and might be worth attention in the pages of this magazine. Being "on the coalface" gives a good hi-fi retailer an unique insight into the various pieces of hi-fi equipment that any reviewer simply can not have.

I'm regularly told about speakers, amplifiers, CD players and even AV receivers that are particularly good performers or have something of interest about them.

But I can't remember the last time any hi-fi retailer mentioned a phono cartridge to me, until recently. Peter Munt, manager of Eastern Hi-Fi in Newmarket, Auckland, started raving to me about the wooden bodied Grado cartridges, particularly the Sonata. I had been impressed with the cheaper Grado Prestige Gold and made a note to see if a Sonata could be made available for review. It was, and a couple of months later it arrived.

While the Prestige Gold used Grado's standard plastic body - in use since Adam was a young audiophile - the upper ranges of Grado cartridges now use a wooden body. The Sonata is made out of mahogany. The cartridge body is threaded, which can make it easier to mount the cartridge on the tonearm. The non-parallel sides don't make it easy to align the cartridge though.

Upper and lower

There are two wooden body ranges in the Grado lineup, both - in the interests of confusing the public - have models with the same name. The Reference range is high output, either 4.5mV or 5mV output, depending on which piece of Grado literature you read. The Statement range is low output, at 0.5mV. So the Reference Sonata (the one under review) is a high output cartridge, while the Statement Sonata is a low output model. (And I won't go into how Grado's naming system leaves us with models called the Statement Statement and Reference Reference...)

The Reference Statement weighs 6.5g and has a compliance of 20CUs. It wants to see an input load of 47Kohms - the standard for moving magnet phono inputs - and is, according to Grado, insensitive to cable and input capacitance. The recommended tracking force is 0.75-2 grams, according to one piece of Grado literature, and 1.5 grams according to another. I used the Sonata at 1.6g.

Unlike previous Grado models - including the more expensive examples - the stylus is not user replaceable. This allows for a "redesigned one piece magnetic circuit and a reduction in chassis resonances". Grado, in their USA factory, carries out cartridge retips.

I listened to the Reference Sonata mounted on a Rega RB300 tonearm. The Rega is mounted on my modified Thorens TD150 mk2 turntable - still going strong and sounding great after years of service. Amplification, including phono equalisation and amplification, is through my Plinius 8150 and speakers are the classic Epos ES14.

While the Prestige Gold is a great cartridge for the money, the Sonata is a great cartridge full stop. And, particularly here in New Zealand, it is great value for money.

Bass through the Sonata was particularly good, I found - solid and powerful, with very good pace and timing. The broader midrange was simply wonderful. Vocals in particular came across very well, both tonally and very articulate. The higher frequencies do sound different to many moving coil cartridges. The Sonata doesn't have the sheer transparency in the treble that some coils can achieve, mainly at a higher price. I suspect that this might be the reason that some will reject the Sonata.

Tonally, the Sonata was a little warmer than is the norm for systems set up around CD, so trying to balance both vinyl and CD front ends could be difficult. I found that I was aware of the slightly warmer balance, but as music through the Sonata sounded so enjoyable and more-ish, this worried me far less than I thought it would.

I must admit that my reaction surprised me. I've long beaten the drum for ensuring that CD and phono front ends have the same tonal balance (otherwise one will sound right with the other wrong in a system).

That "more-ish" aspect of the Sonata shouldn't be underrated. The ability of a piece of hi-fi equipment to involve the listener in the music and want to continue listening is priceless.

The only negative I found with the Sonata is that the ticks and pops on some records were more audible than I'm used to. This surprised me, as I'm used to better cartridges, tonearms and turntables reducing the audibility of record noise.

Above all, the Sonata brought out the best aspects of good analog reproduction. The sense of momentum in the music, the sense of involvement, the sense that there were real people playing and singing - all areas that CD can struggle with some two decades on.

The Sonata is a refined and dynamic cartridge. It offers performance ahead of what you might expect for the price. Above all, the Sonata encourages you to play more of your LPs - and what greater recommendation can there be?