What's the tonearm mass of the Premier FT-3

Loon,

The Benz MC20E cartridge on my arm weighs 4 grams and has a compliance of 8. You state that damping fluid is recommended for low compliance cartridges like this one. How would I utilize damping fluid with my older SOTA Sapphire table?

John
PS thanks for the data

I gave more than that for mine. I gave a little over $500 and got it from a discounter, as always. Anybody here not into discounts???

If you need actual info let me know I can scan and e-mail data sheets.

DATA

THEY ONYL RECOMMEND Cartridges of mass from X-14 grams if both weights are used or X-8 gms with the primary weight.
Over all length 305 mm
Effective length pivot to sylus 239 mm
Overhang 17.3 mm
Offset angle 23 degrees
Mnt distance record cntr to pivot 221.7 mm
Max back swing 54 degree
Cartridge weight up to 8 gms primary weight
uo to 14 gms with both weights
This comes with or without silicone damp
Damping fluid is reckomended only for cartridges with very low dynamic compliance below 10X10(negative 6) cm/dyne

It's a fine arm, leave the $$$ out of it.

Hope that helps,

loon

According to the A'Gon bluebook, the FT-3 retailed for $475. However, my dealer informed me when I bought the table and arm, that the whole package was from the mid-80s, so I would assume it would go for more today.

Sdcampbell,

I've been unsuccessful registering at the Vinyl Engine. Seem to be in a permanent Catch-22. I've registered and received a confirming email, but when I go to log in I get the message that I have specified an invalid userid or password. I've re-registered and get the same response. I can't find a way to bring this issue to anyone's attention. Seems you have to be registered and logged in before you can access anyone. If you have any suggestions, I'm open to them.

But is the FT-3 a good arm or not? Was it a $200 arm when new or was it $1,000. Donna from SOTA wasn't sure but guessed it was around $900 new. Does anyone know?

Rockyboy, thanks for initiating this thread, and Sdcampbell, thanks for posting that link. I just stumbled across this thread while searching for info on the FT-3. I have been searching for info on this arm for awhile - I bought a used VPI HW-19 Mk. III earlier this year, and that arm went along with it. While I had it set up professionally, it did not come with the manual, and I had gotten a little discouraged trying to get additional info. Now I can proceed with cartridge upgrade as well. Thanks!

Thanks much! I'll check out the site. Do you remember the list price for the FT-3 arm? I'm just curious. I bought a used SOTA Sapphire turntable over ten years ago and the FT-3 was on it. For some unknown reason, I assumed that the arm was probably an entry level arm; so I bought an entry level cartridge - Benz MC20. I probably should have stretched and purchased a better cartridge.

I used to own the FT-3 tonearm, and based solely on memory (which is a little faulty these days), I think the tonearm mass was about 10 grams. You might want to look at the web site called "The Vinyl Engine", which has a long list of downloadable users' manuals for tonearms, turntables, etc. You have to join the web site, but I think it's free. The site does have the owner's manual for the FT-3 available. Here's the link:
http://www.nakedresource.com/library_tonearms.shtml