Recommended FR 66 service

Not sure if Syntax is going to check back here, but his system page has his thoughts:https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/698

Hi Dover,
am very happy to share my experience of the the service/rewire.
it’s easy to get carried away, but the improvement is astonishing.
The specific reason my FR 66 needed attention was that it was starting to develop an intermittent channel cut out. This is apparently not uncommon and (as was the case with mine) caused by the old wire fraying at the 90 degree bend.
So I went for a rewire from the headshell bayonet all the way to RCA plugs, bypassing the din socket at the base of the arm, using Analogmagic silver tonearm cable. At the same time the arm was taken apart and the old lubrication (such as there was left) removed and replaced. The whole process is on the website referred to earlier in this thread.
My particular FR66 was not in bad shape relatively, bearings all fine.
The new wire was also “cooked” for 10 days by Analogmagic.
In terms of sound quality, well where do I start ? There is an immediate liveliness, considerably more resolution (as in hearing things for the first time on the most familiar recordings), more bass, higher highs, more image depth. But most importantly music is more musical, more emotional, more of an event.
Tonally I don’t hear a difference - except where there is more  “tone” in the music - I’m not aware of any tonal shift caused by the new wire. Which is not what I would have wanted.
This is the most significant realistic upgrade I think I could have made to the system and I’d have no hesitation in recommending it to others considering going down this path.

Howard, were you originally using a copper or silver phono cable prior to the re-wire?  I am a bit hesitant to go full silver, since I have seemed to like copper interconnects and phonocable in my system.

Hi,
yes I was using a Vertex AQ Hi Rez phono cable., who just has silver wire. In fact I still am - I had a weird set up involving a modified phono cable with capacitance matched to my London Reference (Decca) cartridge - which is still being used - I plug the “new” captive cable into one of the isolation boxes on the Vertex cable. I’m probably bonkers but it sounds great to me !
If you are having an FR66 rewired then won’t that already have silver wire - at least from the cartridge to the DIN socket ?

Correct, silver in the arm. The question is whether to go silver all the way to the RCAs vs the DIN socket. I seem to like mixing copper and silver.