Tonearm recommendation

I have used a FR arm it is good. I have also used a couple of Acos Lustre GST-1 but they are WAY too cheap to consider here. I had the shorter version but they were avalible in 12" version also if memory serves. I saw one on EBAY for $ 140 so you could get one to throw at anyone who hasn't actualy had the arm they recommend. Stan the HI FI man

Raul I can't spell but even I would not write "the tonearm is totally builded at home" Lose the ded and save it for later. Add some T 

I commenced reading Rauls overly long passage ,got halfway thru and knew enough to know this is whats wrong with HIGH END AUDIO.Respectfully..Too many guys taking it to a level it shouldn’t be.....with turntables its quite simple..Get one with a 3 point suspension(preferable) for acoustic isolation from the main base and whatever the tonearm used(cost effective) high dollars doesn’t mean best sound!...Mate this tonearm with the proper cartridge/compliance per tonearm mass....and u will realize a resonant freq betw the 8-12 hz range resulting in a more balanced accurate sound.....period!.....Stay away from japanese turntables for critical listening regardless of any dampening system...Pick up an old ARXA table and put
an arm of choice in it and other upgrades,mate it properly with cartridge as stated above and you have everything you need for great sound...Keep your money in your pocket...past a certain point its all overkill and your mind will tell you your hearing something your not!

Wrm0325

Any and all thoughts and opinions are of course much appreciated.

Wrm0325
I can offer you some of my findings with an FR64s but first let me say it sounds like you have a bunch of really nice records , a system you are happy with and are about to retire. Why not just enjoy the music. Based on the limited info I would say - stay put with what you have. Enjoy life and music. So you listen through headphones? I was never able to get the hang of headphones myself.

This may be of interest as you brought up resonances.
Lyra cartridge designer J. Carr. - he has professional biases.
As you own the Arche headshell you are familiar with Dertonearm. He has a well known bias toward FR6* series tonearms.

Here is the thread.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1243274438&openusid&zzJcarr&4&5#Jc....

And the part I found intriguing.

See May 27th 2009 7:31am and 10:55am posts between JCarr and Dertonearm.

Jonathan Carr
I agree that the FR-66S would be somewhat better than the SAEC, but truth be told, I’m not overly enamoured of the "S" family either (and I say this as the long-time owner of a 64S with Elevation Base and Arm Stabilizer). The stainless steel is great to look at, but less great to listen to, and when I run mine I prefer to keep a compression wrap around the tube.

Dertonearm - you might - if you haven’t already done so... - give your Titan i a test in your FR-64s. The combo gives astonishing good results - despite the less great mass/compliance combination.

Johnathan Carr
Yes, I’ve already done so with the Titan i. Likewise the Olympos. I agree that the results can be quite OK - as long as you wrap a damper strip around the armtube or take measures to dampen it better. Otherwise the "fx" or "fc" variants are far more friendly to use. By the time Ikeda did the IT-345 and IT-407, he had gained a much better awareness of resonance control as compared to his FR days.

So what do I take from this? if I was curious I would try wrapping your armtube. Give it a shot - does it make a difference?

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My own experience is not with the 66 but the 64; and I have also owned a JMW 12 in the past like yourself. So I offer my findings.

Now we all know I hope, that this vinyl playing is a sum of the whole, and I will ask you how important is bass to you. The rest of my post goes into more detail on why I ask this. IMO -with vinyl the lesser design set up well, can outperform the better design, set up not as well. The better design should ultimately have more potential.

Better Design and Potential definition - well each audiophile’s view is different.

******************************

So during a past bout of Audiophilia.

I ran a TT with a Dynavector DV505 and FR64s - same cartridges MC and MM. I remember finding significant differences in Low Frequencies.

This was when running with a set of Quad 57’s in Room B, with and without sub. See my AudioGon virtual page for room descriptions.

The FR64s produced more low end grunt over the DV505. very noticeable with only the Quads running w/o sub - they are good to about 45hz. So in systems that are light in the bass - the FR64s tonearm can help - imo.

When the Quads were used with the sub I found I had to actually change the setting on the sub when switching between the DV505 and FR64.

Now the interesting part of the findings for me was when I inserted a 15 IPS Master tape dub; that extra bass the FR64 was producing, was not there with the tape playing in my own room. This led me to form my own opinion that the FR64 does produce some type of extra resonance which shows up in the (bass), which I am assuming is a LR resonance of the tonearm itself.

Now from the designer of the tonearm note the Owners manual cartridge mounting instructions.

The distance from the front of the headshell to the stylus tip should be adjusted so that it is 7mm.
If this cannot be achieved by sliding the spacer try attaching the cartridge in a different position (on the spacer) or turn the spacer around.
A difference of 1mm more or less will not present any practical problems.

This tells me that the tonearm designer was not shooting for ultimate accuracy in presentation ...
btw - My FR64s had what I thought was a great anti skating system .

Hope this helps. My two cents. Good luck in your quest and enjoy retirement.