FR64s & Orsonic Av-1s Effective mass ?

The FR64S is one of the great pickup arms of all time, so I'm not sure what Raul's trouble with it is. I sold mine - complete with adjustable VTA base - to a friend who still uses it. It still sounds terrific! Of course, not every arm is necessarily at its best in every table, so perhaps that's where Raul got confused about it.

Raul is actually the only person I've ever heard who didn't think the FR-64S was an outstanding pickup arm. I've heard the FR-64S on a variety of turntables and in a variety of systems and it has always sounded excellent. Perhaps he bought a used one that is defective. That might explain it.

lewm "As I implied in one of my responses to Raul, I think the coupling of the tonearm (any tonearm, but maybe especially undamped tonearms) to high mass is another form of dampening."

I agree absolutely. When I had the FR-64S, it was on an Oracle Delphi Mk3 with a special metal armboard that sounded way better than the factory-standard acrylic board. That combo, on the FR adjustable VTA base, was just incredible. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I sold the whole package to a friend who still uses it. And it still sounds great. The various Orsonic headshells were also a major improvement, and helped match the arm to the cartridge.

rauliruegas " ... yes I love distortions as you too ... I’m sure that you love diferent kind of distortions than me as many of other audiophiles ... "

Raul, it’s certainly fine that you love distortion, but it’s really presumptuous of you to speak for others and state that they love distortion, too.

Many of us have worked to minimize or eliminate distortion in our system. For some of us, that’s the whole point.

But this may explain why you don’t like the FR-64s pickup arm. It can be a very neutral pickup arm, relatively. You’re missing those euphonic distortions that you crave.

rauliruegas" ... As I said in my post till today we have no altenative but live with distortions. Like it this fact or not."

Pardon me, Raul, but you stated, " I love distortions as you too ... I’m sure that you love diferent kind of distortions." That is profoundly presumptuous on your part. Please speak for yourself. Please don’t tell me what to think, what to love, or pretend that you know me better than I may know myself. Please.

That fact is, Raul, that you have enough trouble here just explaining yourself. Perhaps you should focus on that, rather than trying to divine the positions of others who you know absolutely nothing about.

rauliruegas""Again, IT'S NOT."

Really? You're now shouting at me that it's not profoundly presumptuous for you to state, " " ... yes I love distortions as you too ... I’m sure that you love diferent kind of distortions than me as many of other audiophiles ... "

Ok, Raul. You insist so much that I love distortion that you'll resort to shouting. You must have some crystal ball. Why not tell me what else I love? What do I love most in wine, beer, cars, women and shoes? Go ahead. Tell me what I think, how I should think,  and how you have some special insight into what goes on in my head and my life. Go ahead. tell me.

What a freakin' jerk.

rauliruegas " ... Problem is that you can’t , not even in dreams, imagine ..."

Raul, you are amazing! Not only do you know what people think, we now learn that you know what they dream. That is truly remarkable and we are so unfortunate to have you in this forum. That you for conversing with us, and sharing your wisdom with us. We are all in such debt to you!

rauliruegas7,575 posts "As always dead silence/no answer. Have not any single argument/fact as all the other promotion’s gentlemans."


Your question was answered before you asked it. Perhaps you might consider going back and reading this thread more carefully.

Here’s a little tip, Raul. When you write, "... WHY that FR helps in better ... and WHY the damped tonearms are an inferior kind of designs WHY do ..." the use of all caps is considered shouting. That gives contributors here just one more reason to ignore you.

In any event, no one here in this group owes you an explanation for anything.

rauliruegas
" ...What do we in the audio world?, nothing but try to be " self  convinced ) through that: " I LIKE IT " and that's all and that's why one gentleman posted here:

" Raul is actually the only person I've ever heard who didn't think the FR-64S was an outstanding pickup arm. """

With that sentence he thinks is confirming he is rigth when in reality is wrong on that subject. "

Once again, Raul, you pretend to know what others are thinking when, in fact, you have enough trouble explaining yourself.

My remark that you quote means no more than it states: I've never conversed with anyone - other than you - that didn't get excellent results from the FR-64S pickup arm. And I allowed that, because you bought yours used, that might explain your confusion. When you buy used, it's difficult to know exactly what you're getting.

It's fine that you don't like the FR-64, Raul. I really don't care. But that others like it doesn't make them wrong. Your insistence that they are wrong is why I shall again return to ignoring you and the Pronouncements and Proclamations of Truth According to the Great Raul.

@lewm I'd purchased my FR64S brand new back when I also bought the Oracle Delphi Mk. III that I mounted it on. That was a great combination and, as I've mentioned, I sold it to a friend who still uses it. It sounds great in his system. As for what might be wrong with a used arm, I suppose any form of abuse could have a negative effect on it. I don't mind at all that Raul doesn't like the arm, only that he thinks those who do are somehow "wrong" and subject to his derision. It seems to me that it's really a matter of preference, so there can be be no "wrong" choice. And of course the sound of a pickup arm is highly dependent on what it is mounted on, how it is mounted and for that matter who mounted it - because it's easy to get pickup arm alignment wrong.

Raul has proclaimed earlier in this thread that he loves distortion, so that may be another explanation for why he doesn't like the FR64S, because it is a relatively neutral pickup arm ... or at least it is the way I set it up.

I notice that these arms command quite a good price on the used market. That suggests that others, too, find it to be a good pickup arm.

Like you, I think there's more than one kind of damping. I think it's not quite accurate to consider an FR64 that's properly installed on its heavy VTA base and then mounted on a serious armboard as "undamped," but I'm certainly not going to argue with Raul about that or, for that matter, anything else.