Price Paid:  $300.00 from Needle Doctor

Summary:
Great cartridge. I've used a lower end grado in the past and didn't like it.This is in another league though. Don't want to rehash what everybody has already said about this cartridge, except that I love vinyl bass, and that the bass of this cartidge on my Final Tool turntable is more then I hoped for. It's not how much bass this cartridge delivers, but it's the quality of it. The mid bass is never overblown (One of my pet peeves) and the lower bass has deep rolling quality to it. Difficult to explain and must be heard to be fully apprechiated. I only hear the faintest hum when I turn my amp way up, when the needle is not on the record. Never an issue when the record is playing even at very loud levels. Detail is astounding the sound has 3-demensionality to it that make you feel you can reach out and touch instruments and performers. Highly recomended.

Strengths:
Everything especially lower frequency reproduction (on my table)

Weaknesses:
Can't think of any.

Similar Products Used:
Signet, Audio-Technica, Ortofon, Goldring etc, etc...

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Brooklyn Audio

Summary:
The Grado Sonata phono cartridge is wonderful. It is smooth, detailed, dynamic, with the glorious midrange that Grado is famous for. It's high frequency response is smooth and extended. Overall it probably doesn't have the strongest bass reproduction available, though my system is not optimized for bass. I don't find it bass shy, It has all the bass I want, but I can imagine that some people might want more. It has a very short break in period. I have never had hum problems with it on my Oracle MkIII. I recently purchased the Grado PH-1 phono preamp. It really optimizes the Sonata, a killer combination

Strengths:
Liquid Mids, smooth overall character with extension that rivals MC cartridges.

Weaknesses:
Probably not the last word in bass.

Similar Products Used:
Ortofon OM-20

Summary:
Bought this Grado Sonata cart. when I bought a Rega Planer 3 turntable with an Aragon 47K phono pre-amp after 2 years of not listening to records (LP's) because my old Phillips turntable died a slow and painful death in 1998. The Grado Sonata cart. was chosen because it was $500.00, which was the same price as the Rega turntable ($650.00?) and the Aragon 47K phono pre-amp ($550.00?). In other words, I wanted to match the price range of the turntable and phono pre-amp in the hope that I would get something good. And I did, its fantastic!!! I never heard records (LP's) so SMOOTHHHHHH...in my life. I was forced into the Sony lie of the century that CD's were better in the late 1980's, when the record stores turned into CD stores. The problem was, without me knowing anything (as well as the public at large), that to play good music from a LP, you need good equipment. Of corse a $15.00 CD on a $250.00 CD player sounds better than a $10.00 LP on a $50.00 turntable. Now, I do have a small HUM problem at high volume, but thats due to the old 1930's wiring in my house, because I took the whole set-up (Rega turntable, Aragon phono pre-amp, and Grado Sonata cart.) back to the High-End store and they connected the whole thing to their system (Krell pre-amp and Amp...and it sounded PERFECT. Time for new wires in the house...Oh well. Thank you Grado for such a great cart.

Strengths:
Smoothhhhh....

Weaknesses:
No cover up like cheaper pick-ups. HUM...but I have a 1930's house with bad internal wires

Similar Products Used:
Who knows, it was years ago on a cheap Phillips turntable before I knew anything

Summary:
This cartridge is phenomenal. I've been using a benz-micro for almost a year and had a tradgedy when i was dusting-broke the cantaliver off. The grado costs less and sounds better. Yes its a fixed coil design but even stereophile says its class B while the benz is class C! Its wood body also protects the cantaliver from those dusting tradgedies. The sound is warm, spacious, and extremely clear. Some say they hear a hum from this cartridge but there is no hum in my system. Im using it with a basis 1400 and a rega 300 tonearm. The motor is externally mounted on my model so thats probably why there isnt a hum.
If your looking for an excellent cartridge you have to hear this one. NO weakness that ive found yet and i never even touch my CD's anymore.

Summary:
I returned a Sony DVD player right before the 30- day money back guarantee expired, and bought the Grado Sonata. I never heard it before, but I read a review, or two about it. I owned the $50 Grado for a few years and heard things about a Grado "house" sound in their entire line-up. Who cares? This thing is Fantastic!