It’s a long story and even longer when I tell it, but I just discovered a ground hum in one channel of my Grado Opus3 Timbre-Series cartridge. With AI assistance, I narrowed it down to the turntable, and brought it to a technician who said it’s definitely in the cartridge itself. I contacted Grado and knew I couldn’t return it after 3 years, but they said I could use it in their trade-up program. So I’m sending it to them and upgrading to the Sonata4 of the Grado Timbre Series. I’m grateful to Grado for giving me 30% off the normal price, but also grateful to AI for helping me decide which in the Timbre series would make the most sense for my setup.I am genuinely loving AI (Gemini version) and how it can digest a lot of information on specific audio products, and synthesize the information specific to my needs. It speaks good audiophile!
For anyone thinking about upgrading from a moving magnet to moving coil cartridge, you really need to consider Grado’s Moving Iron cartridges, which offer much lower mass and other components for much less cost. The Timbre series uses wood-bodied cartridges - why didn’t they call it the Timber series? - that claim to make an audible difference. I can’t say for sure, but the sonics are phenomenal to my ears.
I’m a fan of Grado carts, but not a fan of setting them up. Most of them have that chunky body and that buried cantilever. Makes it a real PITA to set up!
I’ve run a few vintage Grado carts and a few newer ones. A cart can work with no hum with one TT and generate hum in another. Put on a different brand of cart and no hum. This is why I donated all my Grado carts 5 years ago. Never going back. THE GRADO HUM - not a great feature to sell carts.
Yeah, in my AI evaluation of the situation, it pointed several times to a “quirk” of Grado carts, that they can hum for several reasons, often due to shielding problems in the turntable itself. But it also pointed out that IF the cart doesn’t hum, its unshielded character is part of its overall sound. So if the cart plays nicely with the TT, you’ve got some magic there. So since I had no hum at all - dead quiet - until this situation, I’m pretty sure my upgrade will be back to the magic.
Interesting. I guess I had a good thing going with the grado and TT combo that didn’t hum. I should have quit while I was ahead. Sometimes my impatience and snap to judgment narrows my options
Umm, I’d rather read articles for myself or hear from actual people who have experience with Grado. I find no value whatsoever in someone cutting and pasting AI slop about a product.
I guess everyone’s mileage varies. What I like about AI is that it can pull data from hundreds of sources - forums, reviews, technical publications - digest it, then spit out what is the most agreed-upon result. For instance, when I was building my audio room 3 years ago, I had to consult several sources to determine the best route to doing something, weed through and determine the one that made the most sense. What did I miss? And AI shows its sources. Maybe if I could afford an expert who knows all of my gear intimately, my room, my listening goals, my budget, I could call them and ask a question. AI can do that. Sure I need to double-check, but overall, I haven’t been disappointed in the results. As with anything, I’m careful, and skeptical, but this is one AI application that really makes sense for me.
I’m not sure I understand everything you said. And since your message doesn’t show who you were replying to, I’m not sure who you’re saying sounds like your wife. Either way, I do not at all think your comments are useless or that you are wasting anyone’s time. As for AI and Grado, I sent what I learned from AI about my problem, how I chose to upgrade, etc. to my sales contact at Grado and he agreed 100%, so I’m pretty sure AI is getting its data also from true Grado users.
I think he was referring to my post about my disliking cut and paste AI. It was a bit much to have three long posts in a row with verbatim copy of AI regurgitation. He edited his three posts afterwards so my complaint now is very out of place. Using AI to get an analysis of available information is understandable - it’s when the post is nothing but AI is where it becomes unhelpful IMO.
But what exactly constitutes a “long post?” When I’ve used AI for a post, I’ve tried to include only as much as needed to make my point. One of the big problems with “everyone having access to AI” is that not everyone knows the best ways to use it. Over time I’ve found that most of the AI naysayers think it just grabs and dumps information on us, which it can. But using it to ask very specific questions, like “So given my top budget of $500, and my specific gear and what I’ve invested in my listening room, and the type of music I listen to most, what would you recommend of the 4 Grado cartridges available for trade-in?” Putting this question out on any forum might get some educated responses, but come on, who has access to the amount of data AI does - reviews, documentation, forums, with an ability to sift through and spit out a recommendation? Does this mean I’m not in the picture? Hell no, I’m even MORE in the picture. How long do you think it would take me (if ever) to get what’s below on the PS Audio forum?
(and I cut it off - it went on to explain its choice, and when I told it I had decided something differently, it told me why my decision was reasonable, then asked whether I’d like help finding a particular recording to use for evaluation.
Wow, that’s really strange because my browser doesn’t show anything besides 3 messages with the text: “Use Ai, plenty of infos!” Maybe he went back and edited it out? Is it there for you now?
No, it was originally three really long posts, 4 paragraphs each or so, about general specs and use of Grado MI carts. He then edited all three posts to what you see now. If you had seen the original posts my comments about AI would have much clearer context. I am fine with reading interesting AI analysis of specific topics when paired with the poster’s own perspective, but this generic cut and paste “here everything AI said about x” is pretty useless IMO. My comment was not pointed at anything you have posted.
My browser on my Mac updated to show you had deleted your posts, but my phone kept them, so I saw them. In my opinion your posts were fine, not too long, and I liked them. But that’s MY opinion. With regard to Tom’s preferences, remember that freedom of speech allows for ALL opinions, including his saying he’d rather we not copy long AI-created text. Tom is entitled to his opinion, and I don’t TOTALLY disagree with it - there are limits in my opinion to how much AI to paste in. But neither I nor Tom is the moderator of this forum, so if more of us post longer AI content than he likes, it is then his prerogative to take whatever steps he thinks he should. If enough people do it and enough people complain, the real moderator might get involved. But in my opinion, even if the post is long and full of AI, it’s pretty easy to scroll past. The way I look at it, in this hobby, the more the merrier - read what you want and skip what you want. But again, that’s only MY opinion.
Maybe someone should start a topic somewhere like “How Much AI to Copy into Forum Posts?”
