Best Tonearm and Cartridge for 4K or under for restored Garrard 301

I have Reed 3p "12, Ikeda 345, Fidelity-Research FR-64fx and FR-64s and i can highly recommend any of them for LOMC cartridges.

If your budget is $4k for both then look for FR-64fx with B-250 counterweight and FR-7f or FR-7fz cartridges. It’s a killer combination!

I also like Lustre GST-801 with Miyabi MCA cartridge in my system, this combo is under $4k

Another option is Miyajima Kansui if you like modern cartridges.

Reed 3p is excellent for modern MC cartridges, but you have to pay attention to the mass of the armtube, mine was the heaviest (18-19g) "12 inch Cocobolo.

In my opinion it doesn't matter what genre of music you are spinning, because a decent cartridge can equally play any genre of music. 

I am looking for low compliance high mass tone arm as everyone suggests for the 301.

Used Ikeda IT-345 and Fidelity-Research FR64s are the best you can get! They are probably the highest mass tonearms ever (over 30g). FR-64fx with W-250 counterweight and headshell integrated cartridges like SPU or FR7 series is an excellent high mass tonearm, with lighter stock counterweight and conventional headshell the mass of FX version is much lighter. Ikeda and FR are the best for the money, definitely (if you need high mass high-end tonearm).

For much lower price you can look for Thomas Schick "12 inch

Reed from your list can’t be higher than 19g as far as i know (for "12 inch version with Cocobolo which i have).

P.S. Kuzma and Triplanar are not high mass tonearms!

And you can't change the mass with Kuzma, because you can't change a "headshell". 

@chakster which TT do you use? Thanks for all the suggestions and combos. I will start looking for them on hifishark

All linked pictures above are my own, so i use all those tonearms.
Reed 3p "12 and Schick "12 was on Technics SP-10 mkII as you can see.
My main turntables right now are two Luxman PD-444, here you can see FR-64fx with FR 7fz on the right side.

Most 301 users suggest high mass and low compliance carts. If they are cheap and best, then its a win win.

It’s a classic combination for Garrard, Ikeda and FR tonearms are about $2-3000 each depends on condition. For low compliance cartridges i doubt you can find anything better even for higher price.

But i think Tomas Schick "12 is under $1500 new, very elegant tonearm designed for low compliance cartridges like SPU.

finding a really good Fr7f/z will take some hunting. I have a regular fr7 and its nice but not fantastic. I’m not afraid of vintage carts but you cannot ignore that they are old...

Regular FR-7 and FR-7fz is day and night difference.
I have compered these two FR-7f & FR-7fz versions and "fz" is much better.

This particular series (if the stylus is not worn) is the best investment because sealed suspension never fails. No one never seen any FR-7 sample with weak suspension/damper. This is just a proper design by Ikeda-San. Loads of fans here on audiogon.

Another killer Japanese LOMC is Miyabi Standard and Miyabi MCA from Takeda (Legendary cartridge designer). 
Those vintage MC cartridges are pure magic! 

Fidelity-Research FR-64fx tonearm with stock counterweight is not heavy, but with this optional W-250 counterweight (double size) and heavier headshell (or over 30g SPU alike cartridges) is heavy. The 64s is heavier by default, because the armtube alone is heavier, but two counterweight cab be used for different cartridges.

OMA plinth is Pennsylvanian GRAPHITE, not Granite
and now cast iron too 

@lewm

Chakster wrote that Oswald Mills Audio plinth is made of graphite. That is incorrect. They are made of Pennsylvania slate. Slate and graphite are two different things.

Wow, so it was my mistake then, mainly because those slate plinth looks identical to OMA graphite mats and shells. I watched a video how it was made (the plinth). Seems like they do not make any slate plinth anymore, now only cast iron.


OMA Graphite mat and graphite headshell

"The OMA graphite mat is precision machined from an extremely high grade of polycrystalline graphite, not amorphous carbon, which is graphite dust in resin." -OMA

Also, perhaps paradoxically, use of a heavier counterweight could have the effect of reducing the effective mass of the tonearm overall. This is because the effect of the counter weight on tonearm effective mass is proportional to its distance from the pivot-squared, times the weight of the CW. Thus the distance from the pivot is dominant. And substituting a heavy CW for a light one will bring the CW closer to the pivot, all other things being equal.

This is where you are wrong, because IKEDA-SAN designed OPTIONAL W-250 counterweight for FR-64fx tonearm for use with his FR-7f series cartridges. Cartridge alone is over 30g and counterweight is located very close to the pivot when i’m using FR-7fz on my FR-64fx. As you can see in the catalog W-250 counterweight comes with FR-66fx tonearm, the 66 is higher mass arm.

To use FR-64fx with FR-7f series (or SPU) every owner need a heavier counterweight (W-250) for optimal performance on this particular tonearm. Bacause the stock counterweight for FR-64fx toneams is much lighter and smaller, to balance FR-7f it must be far away from the spindle which is NOT optimal for high mass low compliance cartridges. This is why W-250 was made by Ikeda. And it is very close to the pivot when FR-7fz is mounted and adjusted. W-250 is bigger than heaviest counterweight you have with your FR-64s.

My comment was given for Fidelity-Research tonearm "FX" series.

Now i have two FR-64fx tonearms, one that i use ONLY with my FR-7fz with W250 counterweight and it’s optimal for this combination according to Ikeda-San.

And another NOS in the box with stock small counterweight for conventional cartridges on conventional headshells that i’m gonna try on this tonearm in the future (Miyabi for example). "FX" series is so beautiful and i love it! I wish i could have black B-60 base for it. But now i have two N-60 for my FX beauties.  

Anyway, my FR-64s with b60 is next to it. 

In my defence it has been increasingly hard to tell the pair of you apart at times though but no excuse, I screwed up badly on that accusation.

hahaha, almost every thread on here going crazy after first 5 posts or so

Nanda you have to decide for yourself after your own experience with those tonearms and different cartridges. FR66s is not $4k tonearm, it’s twice as much in price. This is a high mass tonearm for low compliance cartridges. If you already have 64s in perfect condition then try Ikeda (short of long). You can pimp your 64s by sending it to Ikeda for rewire and maintenance (if your 64s is not perfect).