Anyone try the replica B-60 Fidelity Research VTA?

The basic principle of identity relation looks so obvious
and easy to understand: 'whatever is true about some object
will stay true by substitution of one name for the other
with the same reference'. For some reasons logicians an
mathematicians can't do without 'substitutio salva veritate'.
When I stated at school that 3+4 don't look
to me as identical with 7 my theacher responded with:'that
is because you are an imbecile Andric'. I learned (much)
later from Frege that different sense(s) (meanings?) may
have the same reference. While the ontological status of
numbers is not (yet) clear it seems reasonable to state
that 3+4 and 7 refer to the same, uh, object.
Even more tricky are the so called 'descriptive names'.
There are to many objects in the universe so we don't
actually have names for them all.
So 'the teacher of Alexander' or 'the designer by Lyra'
will produce true or false identity statment if we name
Aristoteles instead of Plato or J. Carr instead of,say,
Van den Hul.
Now what about: the replica B-60 from Hawaii, the replica
from Taiwan and the replica from Hong Kong? It looks as
if we moved from scarcity to a state of abundance. That
is when we add the new Ikeda B-60. Alas. The guy from
Hawaii (Syntax) is the same guy whom I moved to Tahiti.
'Our' Japanese Walter. I exchnged about 10 emails with him
and know that he made the drawings but the instrument is
made in Taiwan or Hong Kong. I also wrote to the seller of
the replica but got the wrong person answer. I at last got
the right person called Tien who was very kind and helpful.
He promissed to make for me this damn screw from
bronze. He also stated that the same B-60 is sold from
Taiwan as from Hong Kong. So we are talking about one and
the same replica.
Assuming that this one is made on the most modern CNC lathe
I am curious if the 'old-fashioned' made Ikeda B-60 is
better?

Dear Nandric, You have my email address. Would you be kind enough to send your photos to me? Then we can "know" whether you and I, at least, are talking about the same item. I put the word "know" in quotations so as not to provoke a philosophical dilemma for you. I think you are probably correct; there is probably only one replica, sold from several different sources depending upon the whim of its maker.

Dear Dover, Obviously, if the mount allows the tonearm to wiggle side to side or especially up and down during actual use, that is totally unacceptable. Obviously. However, I understood Nandric to be saying that his "B60" was not malfunctioning to that degree, but that's why I asked my follow-up question to his original post. I won't make a categorical statement comparing the DV505 to the DV501 (which I also own), or the DV505 to the FR64S cum B60 replica, because I think such comparisons are highly dependent upon the cartridge being used. The FR64S affords a much higher effective mass than does the DV501 or 505. What cartridge(s) did you use when comparing them?

Assuming that this one is made on the most modern CNC lathe
I am curious if the 'old-fashioned' made Ikeda B-60 is
better?

Well, in our modern time every product is made with the best machines, with endless care, ultimate brain and of course NASA Science. Sometimes you can add some guys from Stanford University, too.
Well, I think, Ikeda missed the holy water marketing but even without that, these items are done perfect. I own two B-60 (originals of course) and I can't count how many times I moved the arms up and down (really a lot) and they work the way they should. Some time ago I knew from someone who was really interested to copy the B-60 based on German Tooling Standard, - identical material of course - and he quit. Too expensive in the making and nearly impossible to sell, way above 1.5k...
When I saw the B-60 copy, I thought it is dirt cheap...and a chance to get something really rare...but who knows.
I hope you can get the result you hope for, the original B-60 are ultra rare, in the last 3 years I saw only 2 or 3, both in the area of 1300 Euros and sold after 2 days...

Dear Syntax, It was the very rarity and cost of an original B60 that prompted me to "take a flyer" (as we say in the US) on the reproduction B60. In quality of construction and materials, I am not disappointed; it's beautifully made. So far, mine does not do the bad things that Nandric reports. He sent me a photo of the damnable screw; I am going to find out whether mine is the same, or not.

I would never use an FR tonearm without the B60. It should have been standard equipment.

Lewm - I had a spring cleanout of surplus gear about 18 months ago. At the time I had sitting in the cupboard unused - Garrard 301/401, couple of Rowland amps, Quicksilvers, Dynaco Mk3's, various preamps and a pile of other stuff. I was also sitting on a Klyne system 7 phono, Exposure phono in addition to the other stuff.
I also had the following arms - Eminent Technology ET2, Naim Aro, FR64S ( with original B60 ), FR64S, Helius Cyalene, Helius Omega & Hadcock ( and a couple of vintage SME's 3009/3012 ).
Cartridges owned at that time Ikeda Kiwame, Dynavector Nova 13D, Koetsu Black Goldline, Denon 103D, Fidelity Research FR1mk3, Shure V15vxmr, Shure V15vmr.

When the Dyavector Nova 13D came back from Dynavector ( they rebuilt it for me ) I decided to test all my phono gear and arm/cartridge combinations.

In terms of phono stages both my tube Marantz 7's ( 1 std and 1 heavily modified ) and Theta B Revised blew away the Klyne & Exposure so the Klyne and Exposure were sold off along with the Rowlands, Quicksilvers, Garrard 301/401 and other surplus gear..

I then tried the Dynavector Nova 13D, Koetsu Black & FR1mk3 on the Naim Aro, FR64 & Dynavector 501 arms - all mounted on the Final Audio VTT1.

Koetsu Black - on the Aro the sound is quick and lucid but fragile on piano. I do not think the Koetsu is a good match for the Aro, despite being Martin Collins reference for a number of years. On the Dynavector - less information, forshortened soundstage, very good lateral precision within the forshortened soundstage. Not as transparent as the unipivot Naim Aro. On the FR64, this is much closer to the Aro in speed and transparency, and the fragility on solo piano/guitar etc disappears. A more stable sound.

Dynavector Nova 13D - on the Aro - easily the best, fast lucid, transparent and excellent timing, this combo will track severe warps without missing a beat - it is very stable. With the FR64 & Dynavector the same differences as with the Koetsu - the FR64 resolves more than the Dynavector, presents a much more accurate soundstage, the Dynavector forshortens stage depth.

Fidelity Research FR1mk3 - very good on Naim Aro, ok on FR64, less than average on Dynavector 501.

Lewm, I do agree arm/cartridge combos are critical. For example I still think the best arm for the Koetsu Black was my old Zeta ( after I had the bearings replaced ). In terms of the stone bodied Koetsu's ( Onyx Gold vdh ) the Sumiko The Arm is the best combo I've heard. The Koetsu Reds are more variable, but I had excellent results with an Alphason/Koetsu Rosewood.
However, the general outcome of more speed and transparency on the Aro than the FR64 is consistent across all cartridges. Similarly the lack of transparency as regards the correct presentation of soundstage of the 501 compared to the FR64 is consistent with all cartridges.

From using the ET2 for 30 years with much experimentation on mass, electromagentic damping & decoupling of the counterweights, my gut feel is the Dynavectors electromagnetic damping is too severe and is killing the arms potential.

In general terms the Dynavector Nova 13 has considerably more resolution than any of the other cartridges except for the Ikeda. At present I am running it straight into my Marantz 7 tube preamp @ 47k - no step up required, the Marantz has plenty of gain for LOMC's, even the low output Dynavector. Step up devices I have to hand, but not used, are various vintage transformers including Altec 4629, Music Ref tube head amp modified, Blue Audio Systems solid state head amp ( built by Reto Andreoli of Magic Diamond cartridges ). Rest of system is power amp by Richard Brown and Tannoy Monitor Golds with my own crossover, all wired with MIT - Oracle power & interconnect cabling, original double shotgun 750 for speaker cable.