Hi again. I have Grace F8c cart, and as of today, have the possibility of picking up one of either a Grace 707 tonearm, or a Grace 840f tonearm. Or both if the price is right
, and the guy indeed agrees to sell them
! I was corresponding via Ebay messages with this guy regarding the 840, which he had wrote that he had, in an Ebay ad for a Connoisseur TT he was selling, when he casually mentions he has all this other Grace stuff, including two complete 707's and two 840f's in pieces. I almost shat myself on the spot. I was suddenly dreaming of rare replacement styli for my cart, tonearm/s, other stuff....
So anyway, he has to rebuild the 840f first of course, and will get back to me soon re; styli and 'other stuff', but if I end up with a choice of either tonearm, any ideas which one would be best suited to the F8c? I think I read somewhere(it all becomes a jumble after awhile!
), that the 707 is for lighter cart's than the F8c, and that the 840f may be more compliant. Any opinions out there? PS: This all for my new project of restoring a CEC BD7000 TT that I hope to pick up cheap online, that I mentioned in the Turntable mod's thread. Fingers crossed! Cheers...
I assume the seller is probably something of an expert on this matter, but I suspect the 707 is better with a somewhat lighter/higher compliance cartridge than the 840F which has significant effective mass. (18gms)
A good resource for this sort of thing is Vinyl Engine - The Home of the Turntable , you need to be a member to access the library and database, but you will find answers to most of your questions.
The Grace arms, both the 707 and 840 are ones I've coveted at one time or another.. 😀
A good resource for this sort of thing is Vinyl Engine - The Home of the Turntable , you need to be a member to access the library and database, but you will find answers to most of your questions.
The Grace arms, both the 707 and 840 are ones I've coveted at one time or another.. 😀
Have checked VE and concluded the 707 is indeed the better option. He's priced me out of the sale though. He wants $400.00 for it, which is about right I guess, but I was dreaming of an affordable score. Thanks for your advice. Cheers.
Having just bought a Grace 840F ($300 shipping included), let me jump in.
Grace manual specs the effective mass of the 840f at 18grams with the original headshell AND F 8C cartridge mounted. (6grams)
Most companies and resonance tables spec without the cartridge mounted.
So that would make the tone are have an effective mass of 12 grams which is a solid medium compliant tone arm. Compared to the 7.5 grams of my thorens TP16 mkIII it will make cartridge selection a bit easier.
I plan on mounting it on my second TD 320 or TD 126MkIII. Still mulling on it
Grace manual specs the effective mass of the 840f at 18grams with the original headshell AND F 8C cartridge mounted. (6grams)
Most companies and resonance tables spec without the cartridge mounted.
So that would make the tone are have an effective mass of 12 grams which is a solid medium compliant tone arm. Compared to the 7.5 grams of my thorens TP16 mkIII it will make cartridge selection a bit easier.
I plan on mounting it on my second TD 320 or TD 126MkIII. Still mulling on it
You would only want the Grace 707 series II anyway. There were significant bearing problems in the first version.
This one is a Series 1, and he wants $400 for it, so I'm out!! He still might make up an 840f, but I'm guessing that one will be too expensive for my budget as well. I think I was dreaming! Thanks everyone for the advice, appreciated.🙂 If/when I upgrade, I'll let you know what I got. Cheers.
Interesting take on the bearings (707) as the one I used ( 80,s) and still have in a box somewhere, needed the bearings adjusted to sound right.
How do you tell what the versions are , Rayma?
They did fairly well with some medium Compliance MC,s as long as you have the slip on counterweight and a glob of Mortite on the head shell ( common mod in the day)
On adjusting we would use a piece of paper about the size of half of a fingernail ( dollar bill corner) and zero horizontal balance and place it on the headshell with twezzers to see if it would register.
It worked if they were not damaged and just loose. I think it was 1/2 or 1/4 gram weight. These didn't ship well as I recall and needed checking right away. You have tightly packed grouping of bearings and significant weight to torque them out easily if shipping is not done well ( Fragile )
Regards
David
How do you tell what the versions are , Rayma?
They did fairly well with some medium Compliance MC,s as long as you have the slip on counterweight and a glob of Mortite on the head shell ( common mod in the day)
On adjusting we would use a piece of paper about the size of half of a fingernail ( dollar bill corner) and zero horizontal balance and place it on the headshell with twezzers to see if it would register.
It worked if they were not damaged and just loose. I think it was 1/2 or 1/4 gram weight. These didn't ship well as I recall and needed checking right away. You have tightly packed grouping of bearings and significant weight to torque them out easily if shipping is not done well ( Fragile )
Regards
David
The MkII version had a decoupled counterweight, for one thing. I believe the bearings were different
in that one, not just adjusted in production.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.