LONDON Decca, Tzar DST and similar cartridges

HowardAlex, my tonearm must be better!

FR7 series I actually have the basic FR7, the FR7fz (that  you refer to), a “one off “ which is stamped “PW-1” as well as the FR7fc.
In my system the FR7fc and the “PW-1” shade it ahead of the fz (which is itself a big upgrade on the basic FR7). To my ears the fc is just more musical, like an mc version of the London Reference.

Of course my ears could probably also do with an upgrade, but sadly I’m stuck with them !

Interesting, I realized you have all the big guns already, great!  
I gave up on "fc" since i have "fz" (and "f" before). 

My current injection phono stage transfered my FR-7fz to another level, compared to conventional pnono stages, hedamps and SUTs. 

I'm after my first date with LDR. It replaced a (modded) FR7f on my FR64s arm.
Well...
At some moment I've found myself standing and conducting together with Zubin Mehta leading Israelis...to my memory this has not happened to me before....;) Very direct, with a huge emotional potential, can go from soft sweet whisper to absolute drama in nanoseconds. Listening briefly to Bruckner 8 under Wand I got really scared. Bass....haven't heard such a powerful bass control before, fabulous heights (Joan Sutherland singing Haendel is the best test). Unlike some report, soundstage, or rather headstage in my case as I listen on headphones, did not get narrower. Its there, as big as the recording calls with great 3D imaging. But the girl is moody as hell - any mistake (scratches, dirt, dust, surface noise, etc) is immediately thrown into your face. Did mistrack once (buzz in the right channel) but surprisingly not on a loud and complex passage which it handles easily and emotionally. To the opposite. Collects dust like if it was a jewelery. These are my initial impressions after only about 3-4h listening.

Problems so far:
i) hum - not annoying but clearly there; comes from the EMT930 motor and (to a lower extend) the strobo lamp; with the TT off all dead quiet; I run TT ungrounded, probably grounding it could help; in general EMT930 is not a quiet TT, I think I also slightly hear the platter rotation
ii) a slight feeling sometimes that the right channel is a bit deadened; the balance does not shift to the left but the right channel a bit "sleeps"; my setup is v crude so probably VTA/anti-skate needs more play (azimuth measured v good).
The setup (1st attempt):
FR64S on EMT930, Orsonic AV101 headshell with Ikeda silver wires, AQ Leopard into DIY EAR834 phono.
1) Vertical geometry: VTF at 1.85g, VTA -  the cart top parallel to the record surface (set by eye, waiting for a VTA block to do it better). This resulted in the arm back going quite up and giving me a headache to properly set the height of the EMT arm lift that I'm using (that was the biggest pain in the whole setup!!) The London leaflet says to keep the arm parallel but then the cart top surface is quite slanted.
Azimuth set using a mirror and then 800-20k Ortofon Test LP sweeps.

2) Horizontal geometry: Although completely unsupported by alignment tools I know, I followed the crowd and aimed at the alternative 231.5mm P2S distance. Getting it off EMT930 is tricky, I have a custom made collar with an off-center hole. After much sweating I was able to come close, some 231mm probably. The best what could be done. The P2S was set using Nerve Audio copy of the Dennesen protractor.
The overhang was set using both Dennesen and custom made MINT (for 231.5mm of course). Orsonic headshell did not make my life easier as it has v short slots. Pulling the cart all the way back and removing the rubber gasket of AV101 (anyway recommended by FR64s manual) made it possible to be spot on with both Dennesen and MINT. Angular alignment was done with Dennesen and sort of cross checked with MINT. In lieu of the cantilever, I was aligning the stylus image with the MINT cross lines.Anti-skate - first set to about 2g, then decreased to 1.5g without much effects. Have to learn and experiment more. Especially to improve tracking and perhaps that slight right channel "sleeping".

3) Electrical: 47.5k standard load. I'll wait some 20h to beak in and then play with the load. Now it sounds very good, perhaps I wouldn't mind having a bit more body but that can also be my electrostats.

All in all I'm very happy with this "drama queen" :) THis is what I've been looking for - a direct, hard reading no-mercy cart

@bydlo Good read. Congrats. I tweak VTA by ear and lock it in when it sounds best - and I usually end up with the arm higher at the back. It will snap into focus within a small range so don't be afraid to experiment. My records must be clean because I do not get much fluff on the stylus. I drop and lift a few times into a Mr. Muscle pad every side. Pays dividends in diamond life.

@noromance  Thanks! I have to learn properly how to set VTA by ear.  It's a pain in my EMT setup but looks like I cannot avoid it. Is LDR very sensitive here? BTW confirmed with Brian that cart top should be parallel not the arm.

My vinyls ale cleaned with both ultrasonic and suction plus I brush before dropping the needle, but it still catches longish thin dust "hairs". Good to know Mr Muscle (aka Magic eraser) can be used with LDR, thanks! Was asking Brian but he mentioned only soft brush. Do you know if ultrasonic cleaners like AT637 can also be used?