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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
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rauliruegas
12,786 posts
 
Dear @knollbrent : The F9 is a winner.

R.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
F9 is not a winner in the Grace line, it’s a good cartridge, but only a STARTER for those who’re looking for a magical Grace Sound. The best are F14 and LEVEL II series, only those top of the line models i can call the best MM. Grace has improved everything, for example the coil wires in LC-OFC versions, then gave us the best cantilevers (such as BR/Boron Pipe and BE/Beryllium) and the best styli (such as MicroRidge / MR). The F9 (designed in the 70’s) is a joke compared to the LEVEL II or F14 (designed in the 80s).

There is an interesting model between F9 and F14 and LEVEL II, this is F12 MM 
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

My prejudice is that MM styli with tension wire are special.

J. Carr ever explained the function but i forget his arguments.

Anyway those Grace , AT's , Technics 205 , some Jico ''SAS''

 and some other use tension wire which is usual by MC kinds.

Their function by MC carts is to connect moving parts with the

generator.  

knollbrent's avatar
knollbrent
491 posts
 
I have not heard anything in the Grace line other than the F8 and F9 which I find better than the two modern carts I have. I find the F9 quite detailed, a fine overall cart. I'm told that with the right phono pre my F9 can possibly sound better yet.  For those of us just starting out, this is a great place to start. For us beginners, carts like the F9 are winners. 

I'm sure the F14 and Level II series carts are fantastic, probably stellar, but extremely rare too and difficult to find in NOS condition. I'm sure they're on another level compared to the F9 but I'd like to think that the decisions I'm making so far are in the winning category, not the losing category. 

I'm a photographer in my spare time, and I've got some great, epic equipt in my opinion. The Nikon D7100 is a great camera, a real winner BUT is it as good as the D500 or the D850 with 49 megapix which I too own. Hell no! But is it a joke? I don't think so, I consider it quite good, a real winner. 

I rely on Audiogon members for most of my guidance at this point, as I haven't found anyone locally that can provide me with products and information I need. Modern retailers aren't dealing vintage carts from the 70's, 80's and 90's. God I hope my cart collection to this point isn't full of a bunch of jokes. If it is, I need to do more research before my purchases. 
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