Decca London Reference- SME V, FR 64s or FR 64 fx?

@noromance:

A great idea. I will try that out.

@invictus005:

Thanks, the London Reference sounds pretty good in the SME V . With a bit of tweaking with vta, damping and stylus pressure, the harsh sibilants are gone and the bass is formidable. A really fun cartridge!

Use heavier headshell bolts or add washers to balance arm. I use brass. See Virtual System.

SME V is a great choice. 

The best tonearm for the Decca might be the Sony Active Arm - it can compensate for the different vertical and horizontal compliances of the Decca better than any conventional arm! It can tame the wayward tracking inherent in the suspension design!  

Thank you.
The FR 64 S will have to wait. Wrong counterweight, too heavy , can't get the cartridge balanced out. Mounted it in the SME V, and it sounds very good there.

Not sure either arm is doing the London Reference any favors but I'd think the Fidelity Research would be the better choice.

Thanks for the info!
I would like to limit the choices to one of the arms mentioned, as I already own them.
What confuses me is that everybody seems to recommend a well- damped medium-heavy arm, and that sounds like the SME V to me, and the FR 64 s doesn’t really fit that bill at all.
I guess that the answer to my question will be "try it out, and see what you like the best", and that I will.
Still, any input will be appreciated.

The old Deccas were known to mate well with the FR arms, as well as the Zeta. Current Londons are being used on arms ranging from the Helius Omega (a fantastic, though low-profile arm. Robert Levi at Positive Feedback preferred the sound of his Reference on an Omega to that of his SME V) to the TransFi Terminator arm, a straight-tracking air-bearing made in the UK. The designer/maker has used the two together himself.