I originally took your Thread at face value as someone, although not at novice stature....seeking the advice of more experienced audiophiles.
But your answers on this Forum, and your descriptions of your equipment and experiences display the fact that you are way beyond novice stature and appear in fact. just as experienced as those to whom you address your query...
And then the question arises.....who on this planet owns a Fidelity Research FR66s tonearm (which today, costs in excess of $8,000 used...if you can find one) other than an experienced audio connoisseur..❓👀
Are you having a lend of us...because if you own an FR-66s, you KNOW how good it is⁉️
Despite my doubts....I will still continue to treat your Post as legitimate for the time being 🤓
It is impossible today, to audition all the equipment one is considering purchasing, in one's own system.
This is especially so with tonearms and cartridges, and we all become more reliant on Reviews and others' experiences to help guide us to a 'Short List'.
The problem with Reviewers is that with Analogue in particular...there are only one or two who have heard the very best turntables, tonearms and cartridges in their reference systems. And even then.....it is only the latest and current equipment which they have heard because of their employment conditions with Audio publications.
This means that the great vintage analogue equipment of the past 40 years is generally unheard by these two reviewers...and let there be no mistake....the greatest turntables of the past (like the Garrards and Thorens, the EMT idlers, the Micro Seiki heavy belt-drives and the classic uber Japanese direct drives) have not been bettered by modern decks.
The same situation exists for the great vintage Japanese tonearms and also the great vintage cartridges like the Ortofon SPUs, EMTs and Fidelity Research FR-7 series but especially the MMs which reached their zenith 35 years ago and are generally forgotten....not only by reviewers...but also by the great unwashed masses 😂
So who can one rely on for advice about tonearms and cartridges...?
A successful professional tonearm designer/manufacturer would be one I would heed, as he would have listened to many in his pursuit for excellence. That's why Harry Weisfeld's advice to keep the FR-66s speaks volumes despite his understandable attachment to his own brand.
Another course...and one I have followed....is to find an audiophile so dedicated and unrestricted in his pursuit for the 'best'..that he has listened to (and owned) ONLY the very best audio equipment from every age and manufacturer ever made 👅
And if you find two or three such fanatics via the Internet, you will see a general thread of agreement in their ultimate choices.
http://audiocirc.com
This is the Blog of Thuchan who is a Bavarian audiophile who currently owns 71 cartridges, has literally owned dozens of tonearms and even dozens of turntables.
A close examination of the equipment he owns (and has owned) is convincingly mind-boggling.
He has no agenda other than the pursuit of excellence....and as far as I am concerned, he has done a lot of my audio 'sifting' for me.
There is no possibility that I will ever have the opportunity to hear all the tonearms and cartridges that Thuchan has...so why not take advantage of his experiences.
If you want good objective experienced advice Crazy Bill....you should find yourself a Thuchan 👍