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Tonearm recommendation

Hello all,
Recently procured a Feickert Blackbird w/ the Jelco 12 inch tonearm.
The table is really good, and its a keeper. The Jelco is also very good, but not as good as my Fidelity Research FR66s. So the Jelco will eventually hit Ebay, and the question remains do I keep the FR66s or sell that and buy something modern in the 5-6 K range. My only point of reference is my old JMW-10 on my Aries MK1, so I don't know how the FR66s would compare to a modern arm. So I'd like to rely on the collective knowledge and experience of this group for a recommendation.

Keep the FR66s, or go modern in the 5-6K range, say a Moerch DP8 or maybe an SME.

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

Cheers,      Crazy Bill
wrm0325
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 
Rauliruegas
ET still rides in the " air ", right?


Raul this is not correct. To ride implies to sit on and control movement like someone on a motorcycle. An example of this could be the Transfi Terminator tonearm. In forum talks with Dave G, I believe it rides on a type of sled. I remember this comment from him on my system thread because it reminded me of my ski doo racing. Maybe Dave or one of the other owners can talk to that tonearm.

The ET 2.5 is a captured bearing and the air bearing spindle is completed enclosed by air at all times inside the large stationary manifold. The differences between air bearing designs are huge even though they can look similar and for this reason one can not make general statements about them. For example. Consider Kuzma Airline which came after the ET 2.0 was introduced.

See this pic.

https://goo.gl/photos/cNxKtgbTLamJ6WR96

Similarities are obvious to the ET tonearm however look carefully at the red circles.
The Kuzma (left) needs the air tube and wiring to keep the armtube in check as a form of damping.
Would not advise using a high compliance, lower vtf tracker cartridge on it.
The ET on the other hand is friction less, like a free bird, The ET tonearm does not need its wiring, and the air tube is connected on the stationary manifold casing.
But that damn cartridge needs the wiring. So with the ET 2.0 and 2.5, for long time advanced owner setups, it is like trying to learn how to best walk a bird. Do you know why the ET2 thread has over 1.2 million views. Good Bird Walking Stories....

The best way to set up the ET is without the wiring **FIRST**. Then add in the wiring. Some people have come up with some really cool wiring arrangements. Factory basic setups were meant to sell tables/arms and had the wiring go through manifold down into the plinth for simplicity.
This is discussed in the manual and is a sub par setup. Even Bruce does not run his own arm this way. You can run a Sonus Blue 50cms/dyne x 10-6 1 gm, or a low compliance heavy MC on both the ET 2.0, 2.5. But the ET 2.0 or 2.5 tonearm needs to be setup differently for both. Different armtubes, and in advanced setups that no professional reviewers ever got to Single, double and triple leaf springs with good knowledge of the weights placement. This knowledge can only come with time, learning and experience.

btw - I happened to see your post this morning before AudioGon removed it.
don_c55
1,025 posts
 
Here is what you should know as basis for an arm decision
Absolute “must have” mechanical adjustments for a SOTA arm!

1) Micrometer arm height adjustment that has index marks for VTA/SRA. Index marks are needed to ‘fine tune”, and go back to a previous setting, when the last setting was better.
2) Fine azimuth adjustment with index marks. Azimuth is as important as VTA/SRA, for sound quality.
3) Internally damped arm tube, and adjustable external fluid arm damping.
4) Anti-skate adjustment, including no anti-skate option.
5) Fine tracking force adjustment with index marks. For ease of adjustment, azimuth setting should not need to be reset when tracking force is changed.
6) Adjustable head shell cartridge position (arm pivot-to-spindle distance,and stylus contact angle) for desired horizontal alignment. Straight non-pivot arms also need proper cartridge alignment (if off, they will be off through out the entire record). They also may have equal left-right channel sidewall force issues as the arm moves across the record, depending on the type of arm movement mechanism, IMO.


Tuning the arm by ear is “subjective”! Set for the listener’s sonic taste, as to what playback sounds best!


Electronic amplification, and the cartridge, must be “settled in” (warmed up) before adjustments are made. Play a few Lps before “fine tuning” any adjustments. Keep the stylus clean.

Incremental, “very fine” adjustments, over long term listening, with many Lps is necessary.

The optimum setting is always within a very small “window”.

Certain settings affect, other settings, that may need to be re-adjusted.

Listen for sonic changes as you make incremental adjustments, back and forth, as “clues” for the best setting.

Optimal setting are not for one record, but for the “mean” of all your Lps IMO.

Stylus mounting position may be slightly off (even on the most expensive cartridge), and this needs to be taken into account.

Adjustment for each Lp is “madness’, time consuming, and interrupts the enjoyment of repeated playing during long listening sessions IMO.

When all adjustments are complete 80% of your Lps will sound at their best, the remainder very good IMO. I throw away bad recordings, why waste time listening to crap?

Not every record is well recorded, or will sound great, even with the arm properly set up.

Cartridge suspension break-in and settling over time, and stylus wear, requires arm re-adjustment.

Resistor loading, arm cables, and step-up transformer, gain and impedance (if used), are also big factors in getting best sonics.

Some VPI arms, Graham, and most all TriPlanar arms meet these requirements.

SME arms and many other arms do not, and are not SOTA IMO.

mmakshak
589 posts
 
Good job, Don.  You, at least, give a basis for how to set up the arm/cartridge.  Some of that information can only be gathered by someone who has actually done a good job at the set up.  Earlier, someone quoted that bass below 100hz was mono.  I had always thought or read it was lower(60 or 40hz?)
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,101 posts
 
Dear ct/chris: I know what you mean. I already experienced the Kuzma too and things for me does not changes yet.

I be staying with pivoting tonearms, for me that mechanical grounding makes a difference in the more important frequency range in a home audio system: bass range. In the other side seems to me that we need some kind of friction at the tonearm bearing to" fight " in better way against all the LP imperfections: excentricity, waves and the like. Just an opinion.

Air bearing TT are not better on that regards but here there are other variables.

Anyway, you was clear on the subject and I think that for me is enough about tangential tonearms, but that's only me.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 

mmakshak
Earlier, someone quoted that bass below 100hz was mono. I had always thought or read it was lower(60 or 40hz?)


mmakshak
That was a linked quote from Frank Schroeder. I took it to mean as a guideline. In talking with engineers this number will vary depending on the situation.

Don_c55
imo - theory will only take you so far in this vinyl hobby. For me personally I have heard "lesser theory" designs outperform "better in theory" designs. Its comes down to personal knowledge and setup. Better designs have more potential.

i.e.
If we start with your first theory point.
1) Micrometer arm height adjustment that has index marks for VTA/SRA. Index marks are needed to ‘fine tune”, and go back to a previous setting, when the last setting was better.
The last setting will always be better, if it was the one done with the cartridge alignment protractor. :^)  We have already discussed here how all tonearms except one, will throw out the alignment with VTA/SRA changes.When making VTA/SRA changes you should reset alignment. 

Rauliruegas
In the other side seems to me that we need some kind of friction at the tonearm bearing to" fight " in better way against all the LP imperfections: excentricity, waves and the like. Just an opinion.

Raul 
fwiw - there is a damping fluid trough which is used with a paddle. Regarding your comment on friction - one can adjust the arm so that there is some friction ....if that is what you want :^) 
During the arm setup you just offset the alignment a touch along the straight line. The limitation with the arm is if some one likes to play bad ass records. Severely eccentric records with runouts of greater than 1/8 inch. Nobody here is like that, right ? Even Bruce recommends in the manual to use a low mass pivoted arm if you like to play records like this.

Happy listening
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