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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
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
Dietrich’s UNIProtractor, which I also use, is set up to align to his UNI Din standard which was discussed earlier in this thread. The UNIProtractor is a very accurate system but does rely upon being able to align with the tonearm pivot very accurately, while this can be performed very easily on arms like a Kairos which has a defined pivot point it can be much harder on an SME IV say where the precise pivot point is hard to spot
 A review of the current iteration of this tool is here 

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/blog/smartractor.htm
fleib
1,124 posts
 

Now that I think about it, I asked a dumb question. Of course a single set up protractor can have any 2 nulls drawn or etched on it.  I was thinking from the standpoint of protractor with a single standard alignment, hence the question.

Is that Audio Beat a review or a marketing business? Probably both.   Gregory did a nice sales job with only a deception or two, but the only thing that really interests me is the UNI-P2S, and he only mentioned it. Follow the link and you have to download. It's probably a fancy Dennesen tonearm locator, just as all these alignment grid/pivot pointer protractors are based on the SoundTractor, only they're better.

Thanks for the link Folkfreak. Those Dertonearms look interesting. A little pricey maybe.

Regards, 

lewm
13,148 posts
 
Yes, the UNI is "pricey".  My only beef about cost is that, at that cost, it does not allow measurement of P2S with any accuracy.  When I brought this up, after purchase, I was offered the opportunity to buy an accessory which fills that void. However, the additional cost of that accessory was half again as much as that of the UNI.  I demurred. I subsequently "inherited" a Feickert alignment jig, which has a well calibrated arm for accurate measurement of P2S.  That's what I use now.  In subsequent versions of his protractor, DT seems to have rectified this deficiency while also reducing cost.  The UNI was his first go at designing a protractor, evidently.  Still, in all, he thought of every other aspect of the problem in designing the UNI. Nice work.
Fleib, It's not an arc protractor; it's more like the Dennesen, of which I also am an owner for the past 3 decades.  But to say that the UNI is like the Dennesen is to say that a Ferrari is like a Miata.
pryso
1,938 posts
 
fleib, when you say "fancy Dennesen tonearm locator, just as all these alignment grid/pivot pointer protractors are based on the SoundTractor, only they're better." do you mean the others are more accurate than the Dennesen?  Or easier to use?  Something else?

I'm not at all familiar with the UNI and I've at least looked at a Feickert at audio shows.  But I've owned and used a metal Dennesen for nearly as long as Lew.  So long as the pivot point of the arm can be located I've had no reason to be disappointed with my cartridge set ups.  And yes, I'm satisfied with the Baerwald alignment.

If I'm out of date I'd appreciate being updated.

fleib
1,124 posts
 

Pryso, Dennesen made another device to accurately locate the arm mounting hole. It was like a 2 sided ruler with a long slot in the middle. One end tightened over the spindle while staying at zero. The other end had a clamp where you could insert a pencil or stylus to subscribe an arc on the armboard. The clamp could be tightened anywhere along the slot to accurately locate mounting hole.

I believe the SoundTractor was the first device of its kind, and the prototype for the ones like it - pivot pointers. A GeoDisk works on the same principle but with a different kind of pointer. With some of these newer ones you have more options for alignments and they might be easier to see.

There is an inexpensive magnifier you can pick up. It's called a linen magnifier. They come in various powers and stand at an angle - could be helpful. Get low power though, like 5X ?  Stronger lens is hairier, has a shorter focal length and is more liable to optical/user error. I use reading glasses of various strengths. Magnifiers and uneven lighting can mess up a careful alignment and I always double check with a conventional protractor. Depending on your arm sometimes the pointer goes off center pivot, you misalign, and the pointer goes back and looks okay when you put it back in the arm rest.  30 years ago a metal SoundTractor was $100 and the tonearm hole locator was $200.To answer your question, no reason to upgrade with your situation.

An arc protractor is predicated on the proposition that your arm is perfectly mounted - factory. Otherwise it's not only useless, you'll wind up misaligned. Not recommended for DIY tonearm mounts.

Regards,

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