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Fidelity Research cartridges

Any FR cartridge experts out there? Raul? Dertonarm? Syntax?
I have had an FR-7 which I bought a while ago. I tried it ever so briefly when I got it on an arm I now recognize as not being able to handle that weight (close, but no cigar). I just now pulled it out for kicks and after getting it adjusted with the big counterweight, I am VERY pleasantly surprised. Actually, I'm feeling kind of bubbly. It does not dig out the utmost in detail, but it just sounds very right.

Are there any other FR carts out there which are real steals if still in good condition? I know the MC-702 and the FR-1Mk2 and Mk3f by name, with good reps being assigned to the Mk3 and the MC-702. Given that the MC-702 and the FR-7 look quite similar, and they were offered at about the same time, what is different? And is the FR-7 just an integrated headshell version of the FR-1Mk3?
t_bone
rauliruegas
13,125 posts
 
Dear Marco: The one " tool " that I'm refering in my last post ( I know that you are not asking me . ) and that I assume JC was using is a short piece ( around 35cms long and 1cm wide. ) of a clear/transparent stretch material ( it is not a hard material but a flexible one that is very light/weight. ) that serve to wrap in " helicoidal " way/form the tonearm arm wand.

This device help a lot to lower the resonances/distortions on your FR66 along that you use the FR-66 in static balanced way.

Due that the weight of the device is really small ( I think no more tha 5grs. ) it increment maybe the tonearm effective mass by around 2grs that can't alter dramatically the cartridge resonance frequency in favor of better performance due to lowering the toearm/cartridge " distortions ".

Now IMHO if you want to achieve a better quality performance from your 7fs the Micro Seiki MAX ( with J arm wand ) is a lot better than the 66 or even,like JC point out, the Ikeda 407 will make better, I prefer the MS MAX and certainly too the 66 is not the best match for the Titan's .

The commercial job for that arm wrap was made by Sumiko some years ago and today ( for what I understand ) is out of production.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
Well, probably it is depending on System colorations, but in my System I tried a Skala and a titan i with Triplanar, Phantom, Davinci, Kuzma airline and I got the best performance with FR-64s. By far. Now a Helikon is running and it is really good. Old Arms can have some merits, but I guess, my System alignment is better than others (heheh)
rauliruegas
13,125 posts
 
Dear Syntax: Maybe your system alignment like you say is better but IMHO I think that you like more the " higher " FR tonearm distortions.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
rauliruegas
13,125 posts
 
Syntax: and nothing wrong with that because that's what you like it.

R.
t_bone OP
1,182 posts
 
Back to our regularly scheduled thread derailment... an initial report back on the Micro LC-80W cartridge.

So far, with about a dozen sides under its most recent belt, I can say that it has a very smooth, and easy-flowing sound, and while some people will call that treble roll-off, I am sure that is not what I am hearing - the treble is really quite good. It gives an impression of a very, very small and delicate stylus (I have yet to look at it under a loup). It seems to have more detail than the DL103R and the FR-7, and the AT33PTG I recently purchased as a medium-high compliance cart, though it will not compete with the UNIverse for detail retrieval.

I will report back when I have a bunch more sides under my belt with it. In any case, it was a good way to spend $110 and I can highly recommend it at that price.
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