Fidelity Research FR7F history/changes

I know this is a hot and controversial topic, but I have never owned a vintage phono cartridge that actually had insoluble problems due to aging of the suspension. In my experience, a few spins on the break-in bands of the Cardas test LP have always worked to bring a long dormant cartridge back to life. What we can never know is whether it then sounds the same as it did at birth. For sure, there may be changes due purely to aging, but the nature of such changes is lost to the listener. The cartridge can only sound good, great, mediocre, bad, etc, with the attendant faults and virtues. I take them at their "here and now" value. I guess you could conclude that bad sounding vintage cartridges may have got that way due to age, but it’s only an educated guess. I can only think of one or two out of dozens that fall into that category, and those one or two were "pre-owned", which means they could have been abused by a previous owner.

I have never owned a vintage phono cartridge that actually had insoluble problems due to aging of the suspension

Cant dispute that statement - perhaps you could try cleaning your cartridges in an ultrasonic bath.

@totem395
You have to understand that in Russia nothing ages. When @chakster looks in the mirror each morning he sees a young 17 year old man, hasn’t aged a bit in 50 years.

Of course on the several occasions when Dynavector rebuilt my vintage Karat Nova 13D for me they replaced everything - generator, suspension, cantilever and stylus. but then what do they know - they have only been producing cartridges for 50 years.

And when you send your precious stone bodied Koetsu back to Koetsu for new tip, yes they replace everything, like Dynavector, but then again what would they know, only been making cartridges for 50 years like Dynavector.

And of course, if you are in the business of peddling NOS vintage audio gear through audio forums to Billy Muggins then it goes without saying, all NOS audio equipment remains perfect forever - caps dont dry out, no corrosion, rubber lasts forever, micro seiko copper mats never warp, ..

I’m thinking of putting an old Grado GT into a time capsule so in 1500 years, long after we’ve gone, the next species will be able to enjoy Song of the Volga Boatman and my favourite Postman Pat album on a vintage Linn and marvel at what might otherwise have been lost.

Hey Dover, I realize that you live to skewer, but the Oxford English Dictionary gives 2 definitions for “insoluble”, one of which is a synonym for unsolvable or incapable of being solved. If you want to argue on the subject at hand, go for it. Otherwise bugger off.

Our former member dertonarm ( Der Tonarm) or Dietrich 
Brakemeir owner and designer by Acoustical Systems was
long term admirer  of FR-7 fz cartridge . He retipped his
sample 4 times in Japan. I think he uses at present his
own cartridges. But he is also interested in Ikedas cantileverless
kinds so he got my REX to investigate. I assume he will try
something in this ''direction''. But my intention in this post is
to ''refute'' chakster ''prejudice'' against retips (grin).