Fidelity Research cartridges

The Stevenson alignment is generally regarded - on this forum and almost anywhere else - as inferior to Baerwald. Measurements seem to bear this out.

So why did one of the most revered cartridge builders stick to this inferior alignment? We would have to assume that Ikeda tried out all options before making his choice. Or was compatibility with SPU types perhaps one of his design objectives (SPU’s exactly fit the Stevenson alignment with FR-64 tonearms)?

My guess is that Ikeda was not of the ’compromising kind’ and must have had ’sound’ reasons for choosing this alignment. Obviously it’s impossible to make a comparison of both alignments with the FR-7, but I did try it with other cartridges without fixed headshell (using the FR-64 with either 230 mm or 231,5 mm spindle-to-pivot distance).

This remark will probably disqualify me as a serious listener, but I don’t find the Baerward to be sonically superior to Stevenson. If anything, the Stevenson has an edge in dealing with inner groove distortion. This is particularly helpful with classical music, as these composer guys usually liked to ’go out with a bang’.

So this question remains: was Ikeda a Wagnerite?

This month i have PMC-3 mounted on Lustre GST-801 tonearm on FR RS-141 headshell with FR leadwires (Baerwald geometry) ... and Ortofon MC-2000 on its dedicated headshell with silver lead wires on Sony PUA-7 tonearm. Both on the same Luxman PD-444 turntable, both arms connected to Gold Note PH-10 phono stage with Signal Cable Silver Resolution phono cables (Xhadow RCA). It’s so cool that PH-10 inputs can be adjusted for two MC cartridges (like no other phono stage) !

Sony tonearm geometry is not Stevenson or Baerwald, it’s something Sony prodived with its own protractor that comes with the arm.

I use Baerwald for Lustre GST-801 with FR PMC-3 cartridge.

Two different cartridges, two different sound signature. Ortofon MC-2000 still have some sort of background noise which sounds like tape hiss when the music is off (+6db on Gold Note), but when the music is on this cartridge is very special.

Fidelity-Research PMC-3 on Lustre GST-801 is dead quiet with Gold Note PH-10 + PSU-10. On this particular tonearm and with FR-141 headshell this cartridge is much better than on Sony PUA-7. Very interesting. This cartridge is not so expensive as the ortofon MC-2000 and less problematic with gain. But i really like the sound signature of its Air-Core.

P.S. I must say i’ve never had a problem with Stevenson geometry and my FR-7fz sound is amazing on FR-64fx tonearm. I have no idea why FR-7 owners should worry about Stevenson geometry on FR tonearms. Ikeda designed them to be used with Stevenson. Cartridge/tonearm designer’s opinion is much more important for me. First thing to do is to follow the original instructions like it supposed to be.

@chakster I agree that the choices made by the tonearm/cartridge designer are the most important and should not be disregarded. The FR-7 have the Stevenson alignment as part of their design criteria and the sonic results speak for themselves.

@nandric I doubt if this choice has anything to do with Japanese culture. Various tonearm manufacturers chose their own alignment, using neither Baerwald nor Stevenson. Not just Sony, I know from experience that Pioneer and Audiocraft used their own alignments as well. So I'm not sure what national custom you're referring to. Innovation is impossible without deviation from the norm and I think we all agree that Ikeda was some innovator.

I've seen some heated debates on this forum about Stevenson versus Baerwald. The 'experts' all claim that Baerwald is way superior. So it seems that some people do hear something special when the 'o' points are set to Baerwald. I just don't.