Refurbish Fidelity Research Tonearms


Would like to refurbish my FR-64s .... Has someone made it? Experience? Who? 
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With modern technology, light armatures and rare earth magnets, stiff compliance cartridges should be a thing of the past as well as the heavy arms needed to hold them correctly. As far as audio is concerned I have no desire to relive the past. There is nothing special about it.


You have to try Miyajima Kansui as an example of modern low compliance design. About Miyajima Cross-Ring patent watch this. The rest in this cartridge is traditional (aluminum cantilever, shibata stylus, wooden body), even specs are “nothing special, but the sound is very special (reviews are crazy about it). Many of those super advanced cartridges with exotic parts and impressive specs in reality are just boring as hell compared to the Miyajima. Those Japanese designers really know what they are doing now, and they knew it 40 years ago too, they don’t need parts from Mars to make their cartridges exceptionally good.


Some of the best analog records recorded and pressed 30-50 years ago, old mastertapes still the best source for audiophile reissues today. The whole analog is technology from the past.

Manufacturers like Miyajima (Otono- Edison Lab.) follow the great Japanese traditions (in cartridge manufacturing), but with their own unique tweaks . They are absolutely fantastic modern low compliance MC with the most involving sound I have ever heard (from MC type)!

And heavy tonearms like FR or Lustre are great for those modern low compliance MC!


Miyajima-San is a big fan of Audio-Technica (Technihard) headshells - his best recommendation for Miyajima cartridges.

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BTW those old FR-7f and FR-7fz monsters are also amazing in my opinion. 

My old bearings vs new ABEC-9

( When the going gets tough, the tough get going...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB8bnc4zlSE


This is an interesting video - certainly the old bearings look pretty sick.

The video would have been better if he had shown the bearing motion and noise with the bearing pillar upright.

In actual use this is the bearing pillar for horizontal motion of the arm, and in fact the load on the bearing is the arm mass. The load on the ABEC9 ball race bearings is in fact sideways ( 90 degrees ) to what is being demonstrated. 

For example when I rebuilt my Dynavector 501, the same bearings were rattly when spun as in the video, however with the pillar held vertically and the arm mass sitting on the bearing the rattle disappears.

Notwithstanding that those old FR64 bearings looked knackered to me.

They sounded out of true in terms of roundness - hence the constipated motion.