NOS Grace F9E question


A friend of mine gave me a Grace F9E to try on my 1200G.  He thinks it may be a good fit.  It appears to be brand new and never used.  It has a plastic protector that covers practically the entire cartridge.  I cannot get it off as it is on there very tight.  Is there any special way to get it of and not damage the cartridge?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
tzh21y
Dear @lewm : """  is that the proof of the pudding is in the listening. """

could be but this depends of the quality level performance of your room/audio system and your main music/sounds priorities. What for you can sounds great for me or other person can sounds " terrible ".

R.
Dear @tzh21y @knollbrent : The F9E will perform with better quality performance levels if is loaded at 100kohm and remember that capacitance load has " something to say " with MM cartridges.

R.
@tzh21y — The F9E is a wonderful cartridge and you’re fortunate to have it, especially if it’s NOS with years of beautiful music ahead of it.

Chakster doesn’t consider it a "winner". Maybe he means "winner" must be "the greatest", he doesn’t define the terms. If only the absolute best will do, he’s probably right. I wish I had his collection.

Even Muhammad Ali admitted he wasn’t "the greatest" — he gave that title to Sugar Ray Robinson. But Ali was pretty great, definitely a winner — and Robinsons are hard to find these days.


Dear @lewm : ""  Grace Ruby with SS OCL retip? ........ Only that it is very good in its own right. """

I never heard it but I can tell you that each one of my cartridges that send for a " refresh " or or changes in cantilever/stylus tip all of them improved  by a wide margin over the stock designs.

Today boron/jewel cantilevers and different type of stylus shapes ( line contact. ) as Micro Ridge or VDH and the like always change for the better those vintage very good cartridge " motors ".

Only to remember that mine cutex or Technics when return from VDH its performance grow-up lmost " orders of magnitud ".

I just can't imagine how good the Grace 9 " motor "  could be with the VDH chnages.

R.