Free Shipping on US orders above $49
"Currently My Top Choice" – The Absolute Sound
Newly upgraded to the latest Prestige 3 series, Grado's Prestige Gold3 phono cartridge use a four piece OTL cantilever with a Grado specific elliptical diamond stylus mounted on a brass bushing. With the Gold3, a machined turned generator is used to achieve a lower distortion and greater transparency. The Gold3 cartridged are hand selected from Silver3 production runs which meet higher test specifications. Approximately 5% of the run usually exhibits these specs and become a Gold3.
Grado's OTL, or optimized transmission line, technology provides an ideal transfer of signal from the surface of the LP to the generator of the system. This technology rejects unwanted resonances and lowers distortion preserving the fundamental and harmonic frequencies of the music. This also helps keep noise generated by the motor system in the cartridge to a minimum.
Grado's OTL stylus/cantilever design makes records sound quieter, improves the height, width, and depth of the soundstage, and present more detail than previously obtainable.
"Crazy Good Sound at an Entry-Level Price"
"After enjoying the Gold3 for several weeks, my inescapable conclusion is that it is a brilliant musical performer," raves Dick Olsher, The Absolute Sound magazine, September 6, 2025.
"It currently fills a much-needed void in the p-mount cartridge genre. To echo Robert Harley’s sentiment about Grado cartridges: the Gold3 offers crazy good sound at an entry-level price. It is currently my top choice in p-mount cartridges."
"Gold? Smooth? Mellow Yellow!"
"I've always found the sound of cartridges other than moving coils to be unrefined by comparison; in particular, the top end of high output designs never quite matches coils for speed, clarity and grace," notes Alan Sircom in Hi-Fi Choice magazine.
"The Prestige Gold, however, seemed to be sweeter than most. It was lively and detailed but never edgy on vocal sibilants, and didn't over-emphasis leading edges on acoustic guitar. Gold? Smooth? Mellow Yellow!"
Hand Assembled in Brooklyn
The Gold3 is hand assembled by Grado's team in Brooklyn, with some builders having over 25 years of experience. With the recent development of the highly received Lineage Series of cartridges, Grado was able to have a trickle down of technology and bring a new technique to the Gold3.
Latest Prestige 3-Series Updates
This updated series of cartridges offers excellent tonal balance, dynamics, and realism, for a most rewarding reproduction of vocals and instruments. Grado's coil winding techniques, using ultra high purity copper wire which were honed during the development of the Lineage Series, have let the electrical circuits achieve unison between the four coils in each phono cartridge. This allows for a precise balance between channels and accurate stereo imaging.
"Very Smooth and Natural"
"Bass range is firm, tuneful, and composed, midrange even balanced, and detailed, all instruments and voices are emerging from a wide, stable, and deep soundstage, with emphasis on inner detail resolution and naturalness at the same time," notes Danko Šuvar, enjoythemusic.com, November 2020.
"Vocals have good projection and sound very smooth and natural. Gold3 is an even better tracker then Gold2, despite bonded stylus there is no noticeable penalty in the tracking of transients."
Powered by a Twin Magnet System
As in all Grado phono cartridges, the Gold3 is powered by a twin magnet system that optimizes the balance between stereo channels. All internal magnetic circuit parts are held to extremely high tolerances creating the desired stereo imaging. Grado's patented Flux-Bridger design allows the Gold3 to have one of the lowest effective moving mass generating systems while creating an excellent balance throughout the full frequency range.
The development of the Epoch in the Lineage Series gave Grado an in-depth experience with using an outer housing as a damping device. This led to the creation of a process which de-stresses the chassis and dissipates unwanted energy and resonant frequencies, allowing the desired signal to travel freely.
"Delivers the Warm Sound of Vinyl"
"The Grado Prestige Gold has a special sound that will be highly appealing to some listeners. Its lush presentation with a forward bass and delicate treble certainly delivers 'the warm sound of vinyl,'" observes phono-cartridge-reviews.co.uk, November 2020.
