LONDON Decca, Tzar DST and similar cartridges

@bydlo

Oh, i see
from your link:

Fidelity Research FR 7 fz not long returned from the Expert Stylus Company with a new cantilever and Paratrace stylus.

Another Frankenstein, not the original FR-7Fz but refurbished in UK cartridge, so i am not even interested to read more. I use only original cartridges.

What i am trying to say in the post above is that 7fc with Conical tip can’t surpass the 7fz with Line Contact for obvious reason. They are also different internally (impedance and output).

FR-7fc is indeed very rare, but only this model in entire FR-7 range has 0.65 mil CONICAL TIP at the same time higher retail price in 1981 according to this page. But the output at their comparison chart is incorrect for some models, so i will add correct info:

*The best cartridge in FR-7 series is FR-7fz (not 7fc)

The "fz" has a Line Contact stylus tip and 0.24mv output, 5 Ohm impedance.

The "fc" has Conical tip and 0.2mV output, 2-3 Ohm impedance

The "f" has 0.15mm square shank Contact Line stylus and 0.15mV output, 2-3 Ohm impedance.

My advice is to upgrade to FZ
When i did that from F to FZ it was noticeable.

For what its worth I’d rank the FR7fc as the second best, coming closest to the musicality of the LDR.

I believe you did not rank it as NUMBER ONE only because your FC has a conical tip, i'm sure when you will try FZ with Line Contact stylus it will be nearly impossible to find a better cartridge at any price if you have Fidelity-Research 64s or 64fx tonearm for this monster.  

@bydlo

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not into "mine is bigger" business :) I’ve been recently on the market for a cartridge after I had learned that my modified FR7f (boron cantilever + Shibata diamond) has been modified pretty poorly (deformed innards). FR7fz was a natural candidate but after some investigation, and more importantly listening (thank you Halcro!!), I’ve decided to go for LDR. I’ll be setting it up next weekend.

I have nothing against LDR, i have another cantilever-less cartridge, but it is LOMC Ikeda 9 III

I know many people on this forum that constantly re-tipping and refurbishing their cartridges, if it’s fine for them i have no problem with it.

Personally i collect NOS or Mint condition original cartridges only. I already have LOMC cartridges with Boron Pipe cantilevers (just different cartridges), so i don’t want to destroy a decent original design and transform it into something strange by adding to the Fidelity-Research a Boron cantilever or even different diamond. Same about any other cartridge from my personal collection. Maybe i am alone here, but in my vision a cartridge designer like Ikeda-San (RIP) know better which cantilever and stylus must be attached to his cartridge, seriously, he could add whatever type of cantilever, but his final decision was made already and we have FR-7fz.

I don’t buy broken cartridges, so i have no interest in refurbishing and re-tipping.

I can buy NOS cartridge, the original. Vintage cartridges are more affordable for me, so i am not interested in very expensive new cartridges they are not easy to replace with another sample for the price i can pay for a vintage NOS.

However, last year i bought Miyajima Kansui NOS for a funny price. This is probably my last new cartridge.

I think i will continue with vintage cartridges.

I have so many different combination of sound in my system (i have about 7 toneamrs, many phono stages, suts, headamps etc ... even 5 different turntables) that i will never take seriously is any online review or comparison of the carts in some other people systems 9different than mine) by videos etc. It is a tricky game. I know for sure that even if i will change one component in a chain (like phono stage for example) the sound coming from the same cartridge will be completely different. I only trust what i hear myself in my system. Because some of the components i am using are not conventional design (for example current source power amp from Nelson Pass, current injection phono stage from 47 Labs), also i am not interested in any system with crossovers or low efficient speakers, high power amps - this is all not my cup of tea, but it is ok for others. We are all different and each system is different.

FR7 series I actually have the basic FR7, the FR7fz (that  you refer to), a “one off “ which is stamped “PW-1” as well as the FR7fc.
In my system the FR7fc and the “PW-1” shade it ahead of the fz (which is itself a big upgrade on the basic FR7). To my ears the fc is just more musical, like an mc version of the London Reference.

Of course my ears could probably also do with an upgrade, but sadly I’m stuck with them !

Interesting, I realized you have all the big guns already, great!  
I gave up on "fc" since i have "fz" (and "f" before). 

My current injection phono stage transfered my FR-7fz to another level, compared to conventional pnono stages, hedamps and SUTs. 

Isamu-Ikeda made various cantileverless models in Japan, they are LOMC