Fidelity Research FR64 Black Limited Edition

Voraratc, The "S" not only does not stand for "steel", it also does not stand for "Silver". Most of the silver-wired FR64Ss with which I am familiar have a decal on the arm tube that says "Silver inside", or similar words. (Mine does.) Other than that, Dertonearm has told us the difference between an FR64 and a 64S, see above. Dertonearm is probably the most expert in the Western world on FR64 and 66 tonearms.

When I first saw this thread a year or more ago, I wondered whether the black FR64 could have been an FR64fx. All of those were black, or all that I have ever seen. The fx is made of black anodized aluminum (I think) for a lower effective mass compared to 64S and 66S. They are readily available, if one has patience to shop. Apparently, it's not an fx.

Does the S stand for silver wiring?

No. The only advice for silver wiring is a sticker onto the Arm (silver inside leads) or onto the Box when this one has the identical Serial no. (matching box).
Or
when you have two for comparison and one sounds definitely better (deeper soundstage, more headroom, more definition in the higher frequencies, fast Bass...) then that one is silver wired.

I owned the FR-64 which was much lighter then 64 S. As
Dertonarm already mentioned with a round lateral weight.
I think that the arm-wand was made from aluminum which
should explain the lesser mass as well the black color.
It was a very good tracker. I got 90 microns with Ortofon
MC 30/II without any buzz from the right channel. The post
fix 'S' by the FR-64/66 means 'steel' as far as I know.
According to the German importer those are made from
'hardening steel' whatever this may mean. Anyway difficult
to produce so like the SME 1 (old steel version)
they are substituted for the aluminum kind which are easier
to produce.

Has anyone used 64FX ?

I have a 64FX that's black and has a flat round black knob (with a white dot that looks like hand applied "white out") for raising and lowering the arm (VTA) on the fly. I guess the white dot gives a reference point. I've seen arms without this in the 64 series. Mine came pre-installed (by the local dealer at the time-not George) on a Merrill Heirloom I purchased new in the late 90's, that was built in 1986 according to George, near the very end of the run. I have used it for 20 years with no issues, finally sending my 12 year old Blackbird to Steve Leung tomorrow. Amazed at how much "other than playing vinyl" abuse the cartridge has survived until my latest incident damaged the suspension. Always nice to hear what Van Morrison sounds like with the cartridge body dragging on the record behind the stylus still tracking perfectly....