Picked up one of these almost 4 years ago after a better-left-unnamed domesticquadruped roached the stylus of Blue Point Special. It was Christmas time, so I
didn't have the bucks to retip the BPS. I picked up the Signature Jr. from Audio
Advisor for $99.00 to tide me over, not expecting much.
I was pleasantly surprised! Higher output than the BPS-no surprise there.
What startled me was this thing was producing more natural timbres, and more
details than the BPS that it replaced. It sounded so much more natural that it
still has pride of place in my turntable-the BPS sits languishing. I'm sure I'll
upgrade to the Platinum eventually, but until I do, this puppy stays. Already
discontinued, but I'm sure a similar if not identical design is to be found in
one of the Prestige series. I like the Grado "house sound", especially with solid state electronics. I can't imagine this thing disappointing anyone for the money. 4 for sound, 5 for value...round it up. We all know it doesn't equal
the kilobuck moving coils-like I care!

About the most musical cartridge at any price, much less for one around $100.00.

...are sins of omission, rather than commission.

Just an update...I did "upgrade" to the Platinum. With my tonearm, it was NOT an upgrade. Couldn't get rid of mistracking in the inner grooves of some records, after optimizing all settings to the nth degree. Out went the Platinum, back in went the Sig. Jr. Know what? I like it better! Smoother, more musical, easier to listen to, and NO mistracking. In fairness to Grado, they do NOT recommend the Platinum with low mass tonearms, like my Well Tempered.
But the mystery is...why does the Sig. Jr. track just fine with that arm? The guts of both cartridges are about the same. I've heard several of the Grados in this arm, and the Sig. Jr. outdoes 'em all...maybe that's why Grado discontinued it? Nah...mustn't be cynical! You ever find one of these new, its hard to see how you can go wrong.

Similar Products Used:

Grado Z1+, Grado Platinum, Shure V15 VMR, Sumiko Blue Point Special