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FR64S tonearm overhaul

I just bought a nice Fidelity Research FR64S tonearm off Ebay to have a second vintage arm for my SPUs and maybe a few FR cartridges in the future. The arm is in great condition but still has the original copper wiring.

I am looking to refurbish the arm myself and was thinking about rewiring it with Ikeda silver and a new Cardas DIN plug. Does anyone have experience with the sonics of silver vs. copper wiring in the FR arms? What other things should be replaced and where can I source the parts?
latinsamba1
lewm
13,230 posts
 
If it's in excellent condition externally, it's unlikely that any significant degradation of the internal wiring has occurred, and if it did, you will soon know it, because the circuit would short itself out if bare wires are touching each other or touching the inner walls of the arm tube. (This assumes that the degradation would involve the insulation; the conductors per se should be ok no matter what, altho naked copper would eventually oxidize. Oxidized copper is not so conductive; oxidized silver is as good as pure silver.)
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
Nandric described it well.
I had both Arms, silver wired and copper wired. The silver wire can transport 6% more information based on its structure than copper (AES Standard copper in purest=100, Ag=106).
You hear at once a deeper soundstage, a better headroom and the details are bit more precise and present. that wired Arm is a touch closer to a real thing reproduction. Of course I sold the copper wired Arm :-)

Btw. my FR-66s is also silver wired ....
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Dear Lew, The only sense I can discover in your proposal
is that this way one can check if the wire is copper or
silver. Assuming of course that the silver marking is lost.
Why should whomever remove the 5 Din connector?
The only reason I can think of is the conviction that one
can make somethig better instead. If so one should produce
those an get rich.
lohanimal
659 posts
 
Has anybody else tried the spring removal like Thomas Schick? Is it the way to go?
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

One need to first remove the round covering plate on the VTF

adjuster to get access to the inside of the arm. Then the aluminum

scale on the arm shaft need to be removed in order to get access

to the 3 screws one of which holds the Din 5 connector. Ikeda used

some kind of ''weak glue'' for both but the aluminum scale is more

easy to remove than the mentioned covering plate. Scratches on

the covering plate are easylly made while those reduce the value

of the arm. This work should be done by an expert like ''our''

Dertonarm . Alas he was ''priceless'' before in metaphorical sense

but will be at present  in literal sense (grin).

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