Fidelity Research FR-7 Repair

letch, What do you mean with 'wacked in a move?'' Bent aluminum
cantilevers can be straitened. But if the stylus is wear off you can
retip your cart with boron cantilever + whatever stylus  you chose
for about $ 500. 

Look for perfectly working FR-7fz (instead of FR-7 or FR-7f)

@nandric 
Well, it's definitely bent. I would prefer a professional look at it. Sounds like Soundsmith is the way to go. I suppose they can tell me what's best for repair and possible replacement. Considering I got it used and then played it for many years before the damage, it might be a "let's fix it up to last a long time" situation. I'll contact Soundsmith and get ready to ship. 

letch, The problem with Russian people is their ''soul''. So sensitive
that they always complain. Our chakster is complaining about the
prices of new cartridges but owns an collection which must be
in contradiction with his ''income''. Curious expression if one has
no job. As paradoxical is his advise to buy ''an perfect FR-7fz'' 
instead of fixing your ''common'' FR-7 . He wisely deed not mention
possible price for ''FZ'' but also ''forget'' to mention where such
''perfect animal '' can be find. You should listen to his older brother
who knows better. FR-7 is excellent cart and certainly deserves
retip.

Well, I did think solicit possible advice on moving on up. However, looking at ebay, the cheapest FR-7fz is $1500. The problem for me is that I don't know how to find a "perfectly working" Fr-7fz. I'm a photographer and believe me, every piece of photo equipment on ebay is "mint" or "near mint" even when you can see scratches, dings and paint worn off. So, I take it with a grain of salt when people say whatever they say to make the sale. My concern is that for me, that's a lot of money and that I end up with a cartridge that needs repair.

In the current state of the world today, it makes more sense for me to send it in to Soundsmith. So, I pay out $500 to fix it up. The cartridge is a known quantity to me and I'm back in business. Then, looking down the road, I can start thinking about upgrading. In this case case I've gotten a tip from chakster that the "fz" is better than the "f" so I don't waste my time with an incremental upgrade.

Thanks everyone! I'll report back after I get the cartridge back. I'm hoping to get it out tomorrow.