Sepia tinted mid-range, less than stellar treble extension and somewhat over-emphasized bass; what a fabulous sound.Made for Jazz. Listening to Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown and Mickey Roker: "The Gifted Ones" Heard it a dozen times with the Technics/Benz Ace combo. The Trumpet is less a Trumpet with it but overall, and especially the best cymbals ever, a gas!
I do miss the flexibility of interchangeable headshells and a higher mass arm but I can always make another armboard. Too, the HW-19 seems to store and release bass energy with a vengeance so the darkish Platinum may not be quite the best match on the bottom. But really, except further up the Grado line, what else is there?