40 grams effective mass arm?

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Fidelity Research FR64S = 35g

I've owned the FR64S at 35g effective mass, despite its cult reputation I would not want to use it again. Even the FR702 and FR7 seemed to be distressed by the sheer mass. I think mass in the horzontal plane is beneficial but vertical mass should be matched to the appropriate cartridge compliance.

Cue Flames!
RC
 
I can't see it deforming cantelevers, far more likely to wreck the cartridge innards unless it has a fairly low compliance. You've got quite a lot of momentum, however, so the tracking weight would have to be high in order to avoid skating problems - especially with concentric or warped disks. Is the mass uniform throughout the arm, or is it mainly near the bearing? what is the bearing(s)? how old is the arm? got any pics?

Cheers - Jezz
 
Look at how small the Denon 103 compared to the headshell.
 

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Gorgeous! - How does it sound?

Another factor to consider is how much extra friction the mass causes on the bearing; what's the tracking like? any skating? what kind of bearing is it (i.e. uni-pivot/gimbal etc)?

The increased mass should be quite useful in extracting more information from the groove, although I'd expect a fair amount of colouration from the wood; so long as you don't use warped or concentric records I'd have thought you'd be fine - carefully check the position of the cantelever in relation to the rest of the cartridge body when playing at the outer an inner grooves of a record - see if the angle changes noticeably from it's "free air" position.

Cheers Jez.
 
Thanks for the comments. The woods act as a shell. The bowl plinth is actually a salad bowl. It's the lead and other damping materials inside that determine the sounds. I can emphasize the low, mid, or high frequencies by changing the inside mixing materials. Learning to tune and match turntable with tonearm is a never ending vinyl journey.
 
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