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Fidelity Research FR-64x

 Fidelity Research FR-64x.....(with silver wire ).  Is this arm still considered  viable today ?

offnon57
offnon57 OP
72 posts
 
poor man is ok with me ......with my FR 64 fx  I used a Grado cartridge that the guy I bought the arm from had mounted and what did I know.....not sure what Grado...black body with the JR logo. Thinking I paid $100 for it and new it would have been $200.
Many moons ago. I had a Hafler dh100 pre amp with phono.
A Hafler dh 220 amp driving Quad 57s that I bought for $700 from,as it turns out,Roy Harris   aka mr tennis .  According to my true audiophile cousin-of my- wife from whom I got the Haflers......I was 
very lucky that everything matched up. Not much more enlightened
today but have learned a little .....but what music I heard from it all
......a Pink Triangle turntable I got for $150....all this I'm repeating from earlier in this thread.....the arm was $150 .  Luck was with me.
   so now I spin cds happily on an Eastern Electric cdp, and my Pink and  Fidelity Research wait for the time I finally get up and get back
to spinning  records......one of these days. I am the op,so i thought I should jump in, but I'm keeping
a low profile in fear that my lack of knowledge and expertise will be exposed......and much respect to those here with the tech savvy ,
   I'm green with envy but it appears to be my lot in life. I never let it
stop me from enjoying the music .....  Hoping the response here will
give me analog inspiration once again . Lots of lps I'd love to hear again. 
tkr
55 posts
 
I own both the FR 64 FX and the FR 64 S.
Great arms, both of them. It seems that more and more people are aware of them, and the are becoming ever more expensive. I agree with @mulveling that a stone-body Kuetsu sounds great in an FR 64 FX, silver cable version.
I run an almost 40 year old Kondo Audio Note Io ii in my FR 64 S, and on many recordings it is pure magic.

nandric's avatar
nandric
3,263 posts
 

@mulveling , By the mentioned (German) Magazine the first

recommendation was to change Stevenson in Baerwald geometry.

I have no idea why the most Japanese tonearms followed

 Stevenson. To get Baerwald the spindle-pivot distance need to be

increased to 231.5 mm which result in eff. length of 246 mm.

You can ask Yip by Mint tractor to produce one for you. You

should also provide him with the exact spindle dimension of your

TT because those are not ''identical''.

The VTF adjuster by FR-64 S uses an spring which also provide

dynamic function. This spring is ''loaded with grease'' which can

harden in an cold surroundings or by lack of use. The best way

to cure this is to put the arm in the sun in the window

(aka''watchmaker method''). See btw the post by Lewm.

My own experience with headhells is peculiar because I own

many carts and need consequently many headshells. The

most I own are variations of Jelco ( Zuprime, Sumiko.etc.)

about 13 g , magnesium and with headsehll wire).

For my ''top carts'' I use Orsonic AV-101 (heavy kind), Clear

audio which is Orsonic replica but with very good wire and

the best clips I know. Then for the carts without screw threads

AT headshells with threads at the under side. Those should

have ''movable'' 4 pin connectors for azimuth and stylus

adjustment.

BTW any carpenter can drill the right hole for your B-60.

mulveling's avatar
mulveling
502 posts
 
@nandric 
Awesome info!! Thanks a million.
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
@nandric

... the first recommendation was to change Stevenson in Baerwald geometry. I have no idea why the most Japanese tonearms followed Stevenson. To get Baerwald the spindle-pivot distance need to be increased to 231.5 mm which result in eff. length of 246 mm.

In my case it’s the other way around, to set-up Baerwald (instead of Steventon) we have to move the arm closer to the spindle for a few mm (or to move the cartridge forward in the shell). Pivot to spinde distance on FR-64FX is 230mm, i use Dr.Feickert protractor, so i can chose Baerwald, Loefgren or Stevenson. Ikeda-San use Stevenson for this tonearm by default with correct pivot to spinde distande (230mm). The Stevenson points are closer to the spindle than Baerwald points. So when i put the needle to the Baerwald, without changind pivot to spinde distance, i have my needle a few mm behind the Baerwald points, which means the 230mm is too much (and must the shortened by a few mm).

You said it must be increased from 230 to 231.5 as your German reviewers said, but it must be shortened to about 228 as i can see to set up tonearm by Baerwald with Feickert protractor (which is a great, precision tool).


P.S. I use Stevenson by default with several tonearms, no problem with that.





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