Fidelity Research cartridges

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.

Okay, sorry for my misunderstanding: "o" point taken!

Recently discovered this vintage Fidelity-Research catalog from the 80’s. This is the best illustration of LOMC cartridges designed by Isamu Ikeda for Fidelity-Research.

page with tonearms: FR-64fx, FR-64s, FR-66fx

page with SUTs, headshells like RS-141, N-60 nut, W-250 counterweight and accessories ...

page with Cartridges: FR-7fz, FR-7f, FR-7, PMC-3, FR-2, FR-1 mk3, FR-1 mk2, PMC-1

page with top of the line cartridges in order from the best models to lower models: FR-7fz, FR-7f, FR-7, PMC-3, FR-2, FR-1 mk3, FR-1 mk2, PMC-1 .... including MM models too.

Looking at the specs for each cartridge in the catalog you see that PMC-3 is the closest to FR-7 series. But the PMC-3 has higher impedance, lower tracking force, lighter mass, higher compliance. There is a tiny difference in frequency response only at high register, but i can assure you that the bass is tight and the highs are crystal clear.

Fidelity-Research PMC-3 has one serious advantage compared to the FR-7 series: the PMC-3 can be mounted on modern mid mass tonearms (on conventionel headshell). Fidelity-Research PMC-3 has its unique Air-Core Coil and Refined "Vital" Contact Line stylus. So the PMC-3 is more user friendly on wider range of tonearms than FR-7 series.