Grado Opus 4 (Phono Cartridges)

The Opus4 opens Grado’s Timbre series, featuring wooden-bodied cartridges, one step above the plastic-bodied Prestige series. The body is carved from American maple, selected to damp resonances and preserve a natural tone.

Like all Grado cartridges, the Opus4 uses moving iron technology, based on Joseph Grado’s flux-bridger principle: the coils remain stationary, while a very lightweight metal piece at the end of the cantilever generates the signal. It offers the low moving mass of moving-coil cartridges, without their fragility. The cantilever is aluminum, the bonded stylus is elliptical, and the internal wiring is cryogenically treated and damped 5N OCC copper.

The range includes two stereo versions. The first, with high output level (4 mV), connects to a standard MM phono input; the second, with low output level (1 mV), requires a more sensitive preamp or a step-up transformer. Mono versions are made to order. Frequency response extends from 10 Hz to 60 kHz, and tracking force is adjustable between 1.6 and 1.9 g. With its standard half-inch mount, the Opus4 fits most current tonearms.