montesquieu
21-03-2016, 19:51
For sale, my much-loved Fidelity Research FR64S (silver wired version), complete with Audio Note AN-V 19-strand pure silver litz cable and correct S4 Headshell. The counterweight is the heavy one so this is the perfect match for Ortofon SPUs, the AN-Io, anything by Miyajima, and other properly low compliance cartridges that like a high mass arm and heavy headshell.
As ever there’s a story behind this. I’ve been experimenting with tonearms recently and after a couple of clear failures to improve on the FR64 (at least with my sort of low compliance cartridge) I got the chance to pick up an Ikeda IT-345CR1 for (semi)sensible money. This was Ikeda San’s comeback product after the financial collapse of Fidelity Research at the dawn of the CD era, and was intended as a direct replacement.
And direct replacement it is, indeed. While it has a higher bling factor, when you get them side by side it's obvious that it’s very, very similar in all essentials to the FR64, not just stuff like the geometry (230mm spindle to pivot) but even to the point where nearly all the removable bits are interchangeable. And swapping them over and using the same headshell, arm cable and setup (as near as can be managed) I can hear precisely NO difference in the performance that couldn’t be accounted for by very slight variations in VTA and so on.
Anyway now I have it (on a non-returnable basis), I have to decide which one to sell. So on the basis that the FR64S is the cheaper of the two, this is the one I’m offering for sale, though that might change if there are no takers.
This particular one is my second FR64S and it’s a cracker. I bought it from Mike ‘Down in Devon’ last year. Mike is the sort of guy who is very fussy about the kit he buys and searched long and hard for a good one. It’s cosmetically excellent and for peace of mind he sent it to J7 at Audio Origami for a checkover and a bearing fettle. J7 confirmed it is the silver-wired version. It comes in one of J7’s special transport boxes, and also includes the original mounting template and instructions. Headshell is the correct 19g S4 (running at £130 on eBay at the moment) but the 14g S3 is available as an alternative if preferred. Mike also commissioned a custom silver arm cable from Audio Note, in 19-strand silver litz AN-V with quality AN silver-plated terminations, a fantastic combination that I don’t want to break up, so they go as a set. All told, I doubt you would find a better example.
Price: £1400 including fully insured RMSD.
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/FR-1_zpsfvcjpzd1.jpg
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/FR-2_zpscg50yv7g.jpg
As ever there’s a story behind this. I’ve been experimenting with tonearms recently and after a couple of clear failures to improve on the FR64 (at least with my sort of low compliance cartridge) I got the chance to pick up an Ikeda IT-345CR1 for (semi)sensible money. This was Ikeda San’s comeback product after the financial collapse of Fidelity Research at the dawn of the CD era, and was intended as a direct replacement.
And direct replacement it is, indeed. While it has a higher bling factor, when you get them side by side it's obvious that it’s very, very similar in all essentials to the FR64, not just stuff like the geometry (230mm spindle to pivot) but even to the point where nearly all the removable bits are interchangeable. And swapping them over and using the same headshell, arm cable and setup (as near as can be managed) I can hear precisely NO difference in the performance that couldn’t be accounted for by very slight variations in VTA and so on.
Anyway now I have it (on a non-returnable basis), I have to decide which one to sell. So on the basis that the FR64S is the cheaper of the two, this is the one I’m offering for sale, though that might change if there are no takers.
This particular one is my second FR64S and it’s a cracker. I bought it from Mike ‘Down in Devon’ last year. Mike is the sort of guy who is very fussy about the kit he buys and searched long and hard for a good one. It’s cosmetically excellent and for peace of mind he sent it to J7 at Audio Origami for a checkover and a bearing fettle. J7 confirmed it is the silver-wired version. It comes in one of J7’s special transport boxes, and also includes the original mounting template and instructions. Headshell is the correct 19g S4 (running at £130 on eBay at the moment) but the 14g S3 is available as an alternative if preferred. Mike also commissioned a custom silver arm cable from Audio Note, in 19-strand silver litz AN-V with quality AN silver-plated terminations, a fantastic combination that I don’t want to break up, so they go as a set. All told, I doubt you would find a better example.
Price: £1400 including fully insured RMSD.
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/FR-1_zpsfvcjpzd1.jpg
http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x440/montesquieu61/FR-2_zpscg50yv7g.jpg