Amp and turntable cartridge upgrade question

[EFanning]

What's up?

I have an early 1980s Philips GA 312 turntable with its original cartridge. It plays pretty pretty well save for a lack of strong high range sound. Sounds a little distant. I have Polk R50s and Monitor 50s connected to the A and B speakers of a late 1990s Yamaha R-V702.

Here are two simple questions:

1. Will a $60 Grado Black cartridge upgrade correct for the slight sound issue?

2. Will an amp upgrade, from a Yammie R-V702 to a Yammie AX-497 or a Marantz PM7001 also help? Well, yes. I guess the question here is, do you think these planned upgrades are prudent?

[Keiko]

Vinyl can be a very worth while venture IMO. Can't comment on the Grado cart, but I recently upgraded to a Denon DL-160 Moving Coil cartridge and have been enjoying it immensely. I had also considered the Audio-Technica AT440MLa MM cartridge. Haven't heard a 440, but I have read they are very good as well. The Denon cost me 180.00. The 440 can be had at around 100.00 if you shop around.

I have a Yamaha RX-797 receiver. I've been using this 2 channel powerhouse for 2 years now and have been very pleased with it's performance and sound quality. The AX-497 integrated is probably better though and has a dedicated phono input. If you can get your ears on any of these, that would be best to see if you like the sound quality before you buy. Good luck!

[mhardy6647]

The Grados and the low-mass arm of the GA-212/GA-312 are a pretty good match. What cartridge do you have now?

You might want to consider an outboard phono preamp. Can you solder? The Hagerman Bugle is a very nice entry level SS pre; the Bottlehead Seduction an even nicer entry-level tube phono preamp. The latter is what I use on the real hifi here.

www.hagtech.com
www.bottlehead.com