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Latest Prestige Red Cartridge Upgrade for Heightened Performance
Grado’s Prestige Red3 phono cartridge use a four piece OTL cantilever that has a Grado specific-diamond mounted on a brass bushing. The Red3 cartridges are hand selected from Blue2 production runs, which meet higher test specifications. Approximately 10% of the run usually exhibits these specs and become a Red2.
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.
"A Great Value"
"For the money it's a great value. I replaced an old Ortofon FF 15XE MkII with the Red and there was an immediate noticeable improvement in clarity, punch and detail," notes reviewer Darrylizer, vinylengine.com.
"I recommend that you consider this $ensible cartridge, as it is good value for the price," urges James T. Frane in $ensible Sound magazine, writing on the original Grado Prestige Red and Blue cartridges.
"Very Capable and Resolving"
"Grado doesn’t promote the Red3 as much as the Black3 or Gold3, but it might be the place to start if you’re looking to upgrade the cartridge on your affordable new table or if you’re looking for something for an older vintage turntable," observes Ian White, ecoustics.com, December 30, 2023.
"The high output widens its appeal and it doesn’t fall into the trap of being really good at 1-2 areas and only average in the rest… It’s a very capable and resolving cartridge at the price and not coming off my SpinDeck Max anytime soon."
"Without Breaking the Bank"
"Continuing with our mission this week to help audiophile newbies join us here in the analog-centric listening family without breaking the bank, we now turn our attention to looking at cartridge-upgrade options — and who better to do that with than Grado Labs?" asks Mike Mettler, analogplanet.com, December 31, 2024.
"Red3 cartridges are hand-assembled by Grado in Brooklyn, and they add that some of their builders have well over 25 years of experience. Their coil-winding techniques use ultra-high-purity copper wire, something that was honed during the development of the company’s Lineage series."
Hand Assembled in Brooklyn
The Red3 is hand assembled by Grado’s team in Brooklyn, with some builders having decades 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 Red3.
Latest Series 3 Upgrades
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.
As in all Grado phono cartridges, the Red3 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 Red3 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.
"The Sound is Very, Very Good"
"This cart can really sound sublime, 3d imaging, very good tonal balance, let's you forget about HiFi and lets the music take over. Only rate it as 9/10 because it is not top of the line, but the sound is really very, very good," observes Vinuel, vinylengine.com.
