Grado Timbre Opus4 Phono Cartridge - High Output

What You Need to Know

What Is the Grado Opus4?

A phono cartridge is the small device at the end of your tonearm that holds the stylus — the tiny diamond tip that rides inside your record’s groove. As the stylus moves with the groove, the cartridge converts that motion into an electrical signal. That signal travels to your phono stage, then your amplifier, and then your speakers as music.

The Grado Opus4 is a moving iron cartridge. This is different from the more common moving magnet (MM) or moving coil (MC) types. In a moving iron design, both the magnets and coils stay fixed inside the body. A tiny piece of iron at the tip of the cantilever moves between them. Because iron is lighter than a magnet, the moving mass is lower — which helps the stylus track the groove more accurately without working as hard.

Grado calls their version of this design the Flux-Bridge. It’s patented and has been refined over decades of production in Brooklyn, New York.

The Entry Point Into Grado’s Wood-Body Line

The Opus4 is the entry point into Grado’s Timbre Series — the company’s range of wood-body cartridges. Below the Opus4 is the Prestige Series, which uses plastic bodies and user-replaceable styli. Above it are the Platinum4, Sonata4, Master4, and Reference4, each stepping up in body material, cantilever refinement, and internal coil purity.

The Opus4 is where you make the jump from plastic to wood. That’s not just aesthetic. A wood body helps damp the mechanical resonances that build up inside a cartridge during play. Those resonances can color the sound. By absorbing them naturally, the Opus4 keeps the signal cleaner than a plastic-bodied cartridge at a similar price.

American Maple Wood Body

The Opus4 body is machined from American Maple wood. Grado selected Maple for its density and resonance characteristics — it’s stiff enough to resist flex and vibration, while its natural grain structure helps damp the micro-vibrations generated during playback. The housing geometry has been updated in the Opus4 generation to improve cantilever visibility during setup, making alignment more accurate and accessible.

5N OCC Copper Signal Path with Cryogenic Treatment

Inside the Opus4, the internal coil wire is made from 5N OCC copper — copper refined to 99.999% purity using the Ohno Continuous Casting process. This reduces the grain boundaries in the wire that can introduce subtle distortions. Each Opus4 undergoes cryogenic treatment and internal damping, further stabilizing the materials and reducing unwanted resonance before the cartridge leaves Brooklyn.

High Output — 4.0mV — Plug-and-Play With Any MM Phono Stage

The Opus4 High Output produces 4.0mV at standard test conditions. This is within the normal range for a moving magnet cartridge, so it works directly with any phono stage that has a standard MM input — including the built-in phono stages found in many integrated amplifiers and receivers. No step-up transformer, no special gain settings. You just connect it and play.

If you already have a phono stage and you’re not sure whether it has a MM input, look for an input labeled “PHONO” on your amplifier or a dedicated phono stage. If it says “MM,” you’re all set. If you’re not sure, call us — we’re happy to check.

Made in Brooklyn, by Hand

Grado Labs has made phono cartridges in Brooklyn, New York since 1953. The company is still family-owned, now in its third generation. Every Timbre Series cartridge is hand-built at their Brooklyn facility. Grado also supports existing customers through their Wood Cartridge Upgrade Program, which allows owners of Grado wood body cartridges to move to a new model at a reduced cost.

Building Your System? Here Are Some Great Companions.

• Phono Preamplifier. The Opus4 High Output works with any standard MM phono input, including built-in phono stages. If your amplifier doesn’t have one, we carry compact, affordable options. Browse our Phono Preamplifiers.
• Turntable. The Opus4 mounts on any standard ½” headshell and suits a wide range of tonearms. Browse our Turntables. Grado cartridges are known to work especially well on VPI and Clearaudio tables.
• Record Cleaning. A clean record protects your stylus and lets the Opus4 do its best work. Browse Record Cleaning Machines and Record Cleaning Solutions.
• Stylus Force Gauge & Alignment Tools. Proper cartridge setup rewards you with better sound and longer stylus life. Browse Turntable Accessories.

Features & Specifications

Moving Iron / Flux-Bridge Design

Grado’s Flux-Bridge keeps both magnets and coils fixed in the body. Only a tiny iron element at the cantilever tip moves. Low moving mass means the stylus tracks the groove quickly and accurately, with less mechanical stress on the record and the stylus itself.

American Maple Wood Body

Maple wood damps the mechanical resonances that build up inside a cartridge during play, keeping the signal cleaner than a plastic body at a similar price. The updated housing geometry in the Opus4 generation also improves cantilever visibility for easier, more precise alignment.

Bonded Elliptical Diamond on Aluminum Cantilever

An elliptical stylus makes better contact with the groove walls than a basic spherical tip, tracking more accurately and extracting more detail at the same downforce. The aluminum cantilever is matched to the compliance and mass requirements of the Flux-Bridge generator.

5N OCC Copper Coils with Cryogenic Treatment

Ultra-high purity 5N OCC copper in the signal path reduces grain-boundary distortions. Cryogenic treatment of the finished cartridge stabilizes internal materials and reduces unwanted resonance, preserving signal integrity from groove to output pin.

High Output — 4.0mV — Works With Any MM Input

At 4.0mV, the Opus4 High Output plugs directly into any standard MM phono input — no special gain settings, no step-up transformer. It loads at the standard 10k–47k ohm range. It is also non-sensitive to capacitive loading, so cable capacitance matching is not a concern.

Specifications

• Type: Moving iron (Grado Flux-Bridge)
• Series: Timbre
• Body: American Maple wood
• Cantilever: Aluminum
• Stylus: Bonded elliptical diamond
• Output: 4.0mV @ 5 CMV (45 degrees) — high output
• Frequency response: 10 Hz–60 kHz (controlled)
• Channel separation: Average 30 dB (10–30 kHz)
• Input load: 10k–47k ohms
• Inductance: 55mH (high output)
• DC resistance: 660 ohms (high output)
• Cartridge weight: 8.3g
• Tracking force: 1.6–1.9g (recommended)
• Compliance: 20 μm/mN
• Mounting: Standard ½”
• Internal wire: 5N OCC copper
• Treatment: Cryogenic
• Non-sensitive to capacitive loading
• Made in USA (Brooklyn, NY)

What’s in the Box

• Grado Timbre Opus4 phono cartridge — high output
• Stylus guard
• Mounting hardware (screws and nuts)

Why Audio Advisor?

New to phono cartridges or moving iron designs? Visit our Audio Advisor Learning Center for guides on cartridge types, phono stage setup, and how to get the most from your vinyl system.