Fidelity Research FR-64x


 Fidelity Research FR-64x.....(with silver wire ).  Is this arm still considered  viable today ?

offnon57

@chakster,  If you can find some ''mechanics'' with CNN lathe

additional counterweights are no problem at all. My Sumiko got

4 extra counterweights this way so I am probably the only person

with all 6 weights. Regarding your FR-64 FX you should try to

also get B-60 (replica) VTA adjuster. To my mind VTA adjuster is an

necessary  instrument.

I’m playin with my Fidelity-Research FR-64FX for a few days. I like this tonearm, it’s my first Fidelity-Research tonearm and with W-250 counterweight it works just fine with my FR-7f cartridge. The arm is easy to set up, the VTA is not "on the fly", but still easy to adjust, the tracking force is easy to adjust too. I like the black color of this combo (arm and cartridge). There is no disadvantages of FR-64FX compared to my ex Lustre GTS-801.

I use FR-64fx on Luxman PD-444 with FR-7f cartridge and Luxman AD8000 + 8030 Toroidal Silver SUT for low impedance cartridges (2-3 Ohm). Zu Audio Mission Phono MKII cable with WBT nextgen RCAs and my new Stereovox HDSE cables between the SUT and my JLTi phono stage.

Also my new First Watt F2J current source power amp for crossover-less speakers (and my First Watt B1 passive buffer peamp) giving me tremendous resolution i have never heard before in my system!

I think i will have to sell (to a friend) my WLM Minueta tube push-pull class A to justify my expenses on First Watt gear. But i will be missing silky bass of my belowed tube integrated with NOS vintage Telefunken valves.

At the moment i have no tubes in my system, Raul must be happy, lol 
@chakster Good to hear you're enjoying it. Have you tried other cartridges? How do you like it compared to other tonearms?



Chakster, You have to acquire something uses tubes for gain. Then you have to say here how much better it sounds than your SS stuff, just to piss off Raul. Seriously, Nelson Pass is one of the greats in modern audio design; I have long had curiosity about his First Watt products, but none of those amplifiers were powerful enough to run my Sound Lab speakers.  However, about 3 years ago, I made some major changes to the speakers that have dramatically increased their efficiency.

The German hifi Magazine ''Das Ohr'' ( the ear) was one of

the best ever. In this magazine both FR-64S and FR-64FX are

reviewed by two reviewers ( April , 1984) . The specific

custom by this Magazine was that each item is reviewed by

two reviewers. The conclusion of them both was , in short,

that FR-64 FX is a '' poor man FR-64 S ''.