Lot of very dogmatic but rather dubious assertion in the post above. Lots of VERY and ONLY in caps ... excessive use of 'much more' etc etc.
Never owned an FR66 - heard a couple and really doubt their prices are justified, except as 'rare object' which I guess is increasingly common - but a couple of FR64S examples, the first of which turned out to be in need of attention, as many of them do these days.
I have an early IT-407 and a post 2011 IT-345 CR1 and both seem to me to be far better arms than the FR64. I put this down to the additional vertical bearing - the FR64 has only one, on one side, whereas the 407/345 have two, one each side. This has many advantages not least longevity. Other than that the designs are pretty similar and indeed many bits are interchangeable (I had an 64 and 345 at the same time for a short while and was able to compare directly on a well sorted TD124 with Miyajima Madake, Zero mono, assorted SPU cartridges and an Ikeda 9C.
Never found either of them that hard to set up either - using SPU standard distance (which I use for all my cartridges) the 345 is spot on at recommended 230mm, the early 407 need set back about 1.6mm, job done, no need to fuss any further.
The FR64 is a very good arm but there's a strong case (which happens to be my opinion too) that the Ikeda-branded arms are better - improved vibration control, significantly improved bearings, similar (slightly but not massively) less mass for a more expanded list of compatible cartridges, and in my view more successful aesthetics. If your preference is for the FR arm then fine make the case all you like, but for all the shouting in the above post, it's a matter of opinion, not in any way 'case closed'.
Never owned an FR66 - heard a couple and really doubt their prices are justified, except as 'rare object' which I guess is increasingly common - but a couple of FR64S examples, the first of which turned out to be in need of attention, as many of them do these days.
I have an early IT-407 and a post 2011 IT-345 CR1 and both seem to me to be far better arms than the FR64. I put this down to the additional vertical bearing - the FR64 has only one, on one side, whereas the 407/345 have two, one each side. This has many advantages not least longevity. Other than that the designs are pretty similar and indeed many bits are interchangeable (I had an 64 and 345 at the same time for a short while and was able to compare directly on a well sorted TD124 with Miyajima Madake, Zero mono, assorted SPU cartridges and an Ikeda 9C.
Never found either of them that hard to set up either - using SPU standard distance (which I use for all my cartridges) the 345 is spot on at recommended 230mm, the early 407 need set back about 1.6mm, job done, no need to fuss any further.
The FR64 is a very good arm but there's a strong case (which happens to be my opinion too) that the Ikeda-branded arms are better - improved vibration control, significantly improved bearings, similar (slightly but not massively) less mass for a more expanded list of compatible cartridges, and in my view more successful aesthetics. If your preference is for the FR arm then fine make the case all you like, but for all the shouting in the above post, it's a matter of opinion, not in any way 'case closed'.