genisis,
I couldn't agree more with your observations. I discovered how sensitive my FR64S was to the positioning of the Lateral Balance weight by accident. My Final Audio Parthenon TT uses a gunmetal arm board and has no adjustment - the TT has no compliant materials in its structure and relies on precision machining of all components. One of my aftermarket custom machined arm boards was out only by a few thou of an inch and the net result was higher than expected anti skate force required. Experimenting around quickly highlighted that when the few thou error in the arm board was corrected the Lateral Balance ended up smack bang back in the recommended neutral position described in the manual and the anti skate minimal. This also suggests that the bearings in my particular sample are very sensitive.
I currently own the following arms - Eminent Technology ET2, Naim Aro, Dynavector 501, Micro Seiki MA505iii (low effective mass) and 2 Fidelity Research FR64S'. My preferred arms for ultimate performance are the ET2 and Naim Aro, but each arm has its plus' and minus' - the results can depend very much on cartridge matching, turntable and setup and this is the point often missed. I use the FR64S with an Ikeda Kiwame and Koetsu Black. My current reference is Naim Aro/Dynavector Karat Nova 13D or Eminent Technology ET2/whatever.
I couldn't agree more with your observations. I discovered how sensitive my FR64S was to the positioning of the Lateral Balance weight by accident. My Final Audio Parthenon TT uses a gunmetal arm board and has no adjustment - the TT has no compliant materials in its structure and relies on precision machining of all components. One of my aftermarket custom machined arm boards was out only by a few thou of an inch and the net result was higher than expected anti skate force required. Experimenting around quickly highlighted that when the few thou error in the arm board was corrected the Lateral Balance ended up smack bang back in the recommended neutral position described in the manual and the anti skate minimal. This also suggests that the bearings in my particular sample are very sensitive.
I currently own the following arms - Eminent Technology ET2, Naim Aro, Dynavector 501, Micro Seiki MA505iii (low effective mass) and 2 Fidelity Research FR64S'. My preferred arms for ultimate performance are the ET2 and Naim Aro, but each arm has its plus' and minus' - the results can depend very much on cartridge matching, turntable and setup and this is the point often missed. I use the FR64S with an Ikeda Kiwame and Koetsu Black. My current reference is Naim Aro/Dynavector Karat Nova 13D or Eminent Technology ET2/whatever.