"Harder" cartridge recomendation

Ok, it seems that there would be a precedence on 3012R + FR-7: A fellow called T_bone mentioned that

"I have not found an FR-7fz, but I am happily using an FR-7f on an SME long arm now. "

Would be interesting to learn what longer SME he used/uses and what the combo was able to offer.

Also someone on hifiwigwam, post #287

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?19878-T-Table-picture-thread/page15

and the same person on AA

http://db.audioasylum.com/mhtml/m.html?forum=vinyl&n=964798&highlight=SME+3012&search_url=%2Fcgi%2Fsearch.mpl%3Fforum%3Dtubes%26searchtext%3D302b

So at least some people did try it...

Hello Bydlo,

Since T-bone was living in Japan and his real name is Travis ........

BTW, if T-bone says it's a good combo, it is. Maybe he will see your question and respond.

Good luck in your search!

While there are different 'series' of the SME 3012 version one can always find extra weights on ebay.uk. So whatever of Ortofon SPU carts or the FR-7 kinds , the cart weight should cause no problem.
My advice would be: buy the cheapest FR-7 you can find and post this cart to Axel and ask for the line contact stylus pressure fitted in the (new) aluminum cantilever. To 'retip' an old FR-7 means to glue whatever stylus in the existing cantilever. Whatever glue between the stylus and the cantilever is a suboptimal solution.

Nandric, "some LOMC's are better than whatever MM cart there are".

Would you let anyone else get away with such a permeable blanket statement? I think not. Anyway, in defense of Henry, I am sure he means that among cartridges he owns or has heard in his system, he prefers one or more MMs to any of the MCs. This does not rule out the proposition that there is a superior MC somewhere in the universe. In defense of myself, I never made any statement at all regarding the universal superiority of MM/MI cartridges (or if I did, I was insincere). Still, my question is: has anyone compared Technics 100C MkIV to FR Mk7f? I am sure Raul has done this comparison and would likely go for the Technics.

On a serious note, what is "Takeda's Miyabe Standard"? In the US, I do not recall that there is a Miyabe referred to as "Standard". You must have come upon it recently, since you were heretofore immersed in the MM world.

Can anyone direct me to the post by T_bone (Travis)? He and I were in direct email contact for a couple of years. Last year, he told me he was moving to Hong Kong from Tokyo. I was in touch with him during the moving process, and now he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. For the past several months or maybe a year, I have had zero response from him, nor has he been posting either here or on Audio Asylum. If the post about 3012 + Mk7 is old, it probably would not help to find him. There is another guy who calls himself Tbone, without the underscore. On one or the other site, he used "Travisty".