Thanks! Some more things to think about. I've heard about that Miyajima product. I'm sure it's good at what it's intended to do and has great build quality, but the main practical problem as an archivist is that it only works well if the groove width is exactly 3 mil. If not, you're better off using a cheaper cartridge with a custom stylus that's 2.5 or 3.5 or 4. The best 78 stylii are truncated, too, to eliminate the pickup of noise in the bottom of the groove. A further consideration regarding mono cartridges in general is that surface noise is best removed in stereo before summing to mono, and archival transfers always need to be done in stereo. For casual listening, my preamp Timestep T-03EQ A+ sums to mono.
I hadn't heard about the Fidelity Research, Lustre or Technics arms, and I'll have to give them serious thought.
Right now, the SME 3012-R seems like a good mixture of flexibility, price, availability in good condition, and performance. But how much better would performace would I be if I stick my neck out and drop $5k-10k on a Kuzma? It's generally difficult to decide, largely because everyone hears differently and it's hard to figure out the marginal returns of a $2,000 arm vs. a $5,000 arm or even a $10,000 arm.
The FR-64s seems good but a bit quirky and demanding of a certain setup, being heavy. It seems like it has its own sound and isn't the most neutral.
The Technics EPA-100s sound great overall, but possibly lacking in bass. I saw one reviewer rank it above the SME V, which is a high compliment. Overall, I'm still far from decided...
I hadn't heard about the Fidelity Research, Lustre or Technics arms, and I'll have to give them serious thought.
Right now, the SME 3012-R seems like a good mixture of flexibility, price, availability in good condition, and performance. But how much better would performace would I be if I stick my neck out and drop $5k-10k on a Kuzma? It's generally difficult to decide, largely because everyone hears differently and it's hard to figure out the marginal returns of a $2,000 arm vs. a $5,000 arm or even a $10,000 arm.
The FR-64s seems good but a bit quirky and demanding of a certain setup, being heavy. It seems like it has its own sound and isn't the most neutral.
The Technics EPA-100s sound great overall, but possibly lacking in bass. I saw one reviewer rank it above the SME V, which is a high compliment. Overall, I'm still far from decided...