Anyone try the replica B-60 Fidelity Research VTA?

Dear Syntax, That is why I love my German group. They
always agree with me. There is, alas, no such thing
as the category 'wanted stuff' on our A'gon market.
So I was forced to use the 'selling category' as if my
intention was to sell the original B-60. There were
more as 250 viewers in the first day of my 'listing'.
There are more as 13 days since and I got not one single
offer. If you had not mentioned your anticipated price
I would write an very charming and polite email to you
but for this kind of money I can get the new Ikeda B-60.
I hope that my naming J. Carr next to Aristiteles may
have some influence on his reaction to my request to sell
to me the 'old-fashioned made' B-60 which he still owns.

Dover,
That's a very interesting summary, and you certainly do have a lot of listening experience that enables you to speak with authority on the products you've listed, or at least it qualifies you to have an opinion. Did you sell the Klyne 7 phono? (I'd be interested, maybe.)

Your choice of the Marantz 7C "uber alles" is a big surprise to me. Has yours been modified/upgraded/etc? It almost certainly cannot be all original, since any electrolytic capacitor made in the 1950s or 1960s is dead by now. Also, the germanium diodes used at that time are probably kaput. It's been decades since I owned a 7C, probably pre-dating the hegemony of MC cartridges, so I cannot recall whether it would have had sufficient gain for a true LOMC, but has yours been modified for more gain than original? The 7C was a wonderful piece of gear that I often regret selling, not because its sound quality was transcendent but because of its historical significance and the perfection of its design, the same reason I have kept my Leica M3 and its lenses. (Same reason I should never have sold my Porsche 550RS Spyder.)

Nikola, As I think I said by private email, I don't have issues with my faux B60, yet. There is no horizontal "play" in the mechanism. I agree the lubricant used is annoyingly "sticky", but I will leave it alone. It's really a simple device, and even the reproduction is overbuilt compared to some other devices that accomplish the same end for other tonearms.

Dover, you wrote that the Marantz 7 tube preamp @47k has plenty of gain for LOMC's.
Are you referring to the heavily modified one or stock

The load resistor might affect frequency response but not gain. However, I too am wondering about Dover's claim that his 7C has adequate gain for "any" LOMC cartridge. I tend to think his unit must be modified, but he will tell us.

Back to the B60 : Alternative VTA adjuster

An alternative solution to easy and fine VTA adjustment is to tap a machine screw into a block of aluminium or bronze that slides under the arm lift cradle. I had one made years ago with a fine thread : 1/4 turn equated to 1 thou of an inch. You then unwind the screw until it just touches the underside of the arm lift cradle. From there you can easily remove it, adjust the screw up or down ( 1 turn is +-4 thou ) and then all you do is loosen the arm pillar screws, place the VTA measurer under the arm lift, and then drop the arm down to the new position. This little gizmo gives you complete control of fine VTA without the need for the B60.

My concern with most arms is that the arm pillars are secured by one or two grub screws - this is not particularly rigid. With the Helius tonearms the arm pillar is secured with a compression grip - this is far more rigid.