Posts: 11 Location: Israel Joined: August 30, 2006
Hi For a Garrard 301 restoration project as a left arm (right arm will be Ortofon 309 and SPU Meister silver cart), I bought a Fidelity Research fr24 arm and I'm into a MM cart for it. Any recs of a cart that will be simple to adjust and will match the fr24? Thanks in advance.
RE: MM cart for a fidelity research fr24 arm, posted on December 17, 2014 at 06:08:21
Posts: 4594 Location: north central AZ Joined: July 9, 2005
You don't mention how much you want to spend but I vote for a Nagaoka MP-200. About $250.00 on Ebay. It matches well with my Jelco SA-750D tonearm and is great. For a budget cart. it sounds lovely......
RE: MM cart for a fidelity research fr24 arm, posted on December 17, 2014 at 20:40:49
Posts: 4279 Location: New Jersey Joined: March 22, 2006
Just a guess but the Fidelity Research arms are pretty high mass and most MM pickups are not low compliance. But I used a Shure V15 5 with Jico stylus on the slightly lower mass FR64fx and had no problems But, of course, I used it with the damping brush down which minimizes any record warp problems. And it's a pretty nice cartridge also.
RE: MM cart for a fidelity research fr24 arm, posted on December 17, 2014 at 23:56:22
Posts: 2287 Location: Missouri Joined: August 8, 2005 Contributor Since: June 5, 2007
I had both the 3XX and 4XX Acutex cartridges you mention below for some time and enjoyed them on a lighter Micro Seiki arm. Because of their relatively high compliance I don't know if they would be at their best in a heavier arm. And they are much harder to find now.
One thought you might consider in addition to the lower compliance Nagaoka choices is a vintage broadcast cartridge such as the Stanton 681SE or 680EL. These can sing in a heavier arm, tracking at about 2.8g. The SE was a specially selected and calibrated 680EL that was used extensively on the production side of things as well as the broadcast side. I have an example of each and they sound virtually identical in my system. In a heavier arm I actually prefer them to their more famous calibrated brother the 881S in a lighter arm. They also provide a compelling contrast to my wooded and soundsmith'd DL103. They show up NOS and used on that auction site, and while finding additional styli requires patience it's not impossible.
Just a thought for that wonderful arm you have :)
PS please pardon the edits, not enough coffee yet this morning...
"Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Igor Stravinsky