The pivoted arm experiment is over


I started the thread titled "are linear tracking arms better than pivoted arms" and as a result of the many thought provoking threads that were posted, I decided to revisit pivoted arms again.

First of all, I want to say thanks to Dertonarm for starting me on this journey and all of the help he gave me in setting up my arm. As some of you recall, I purchased a Fidelity Research FR64s, a NOS Orsonic headshell, and an AQ LeoPard tonearm cable. This was all mounted on a new armboard on my VPI TNT table. After I had removed the ET-2 from the TNT and while I was waiting for the new arm and all of the other parts to arrive, I went ahead and did some maintenance to the TNT. I removed the bearing assembly and took it to a machinist for inspection. He didn't like the fact that there was .004 clearance between the spindle and bushing. He pressed out the old bushings, machined new ones, line bored them, and pressed them in. There is now .001 clearance between the spindle and the new bushings. The machinist also micro polished the spindle, cleaned all of the remaining parts, put in new oil, and declared it finished. Dertonarm was emphatic that I install the FR64s 231.5 mm from the spindle to the center of the bearing instead of 230mm as the manual recommends (as well as the template FR provide with the arm. The machinist made a tool from barstock that fits over the spindle of the TNT and has a hole drilled at the other end with the center at exactly 231.5mm. He machined a tramel point that fits in the hole so you can mark the armboard with the exact spot for the correct distance. This tool was used on my new armboard and the hole was precisely drilled for the FR64s. I used the Dennesen Soundtracker to set up the cartridge as recommended by Dertonarm and VTF was set using a digital scale. I have the SDS for my TNT and speed was checked and set using the KAB strobe. I am telling you all of this so that you understand that I went through great pains to install this arm correctly. The cartridge I used during this time was my almost new Benz Glider SL.

I found the FR64s much more difficult/time consuming to set up compared to other pivoted arms I have used over the years. Some of you may disagree, but this is my experience. Most pivoted arms, once you have the cartridge installed, you slide on the main counterweight, make sure the anti-skating is set to zero, move the counterweight until the arm floats level, set the counterweight scale to 0, and then turn it until you have the correct VTF and bingo-Jed's a millionaire. Then you set your anti-skating for whatever makes your socks roll up and down, and your pretty much done. After that you just start dialing your cartridge alignment in with your favorite alignment jig and readjust your VTF. Not so with the FR64s. The FR64s has a main counterweight, a dynamic stabilizer weight, and an anti-skating weight that all must be installed. I am not going to go through all of the necessary steps to get this arm set up, but trust me, if you have never set up a FR64s, it is more difficult than your average pivoted arm that I am used to. Again thanks to Dertonarm for all of the help during this process and Syntax offered some help to me as well which I also appreciate.

Before I removed the ET-2 I broke out a NOS Maxell UD 35-180 tape (I love this tape by the way). I recorded a selection of songs (at 15 ips 2 track on my Otari MX-55)that would showcase the FR64s arm's ability to boogie in the bass as well as track the many dynamic swings that many of these cuts have. I recorded the following songs:

Lyle Lovett-My baby don't tolerate
Lucinda Williams-Righteously
Herb Alpert-Rotation (from the MoFi version)
Talking Heads-Burning down the house
Herbie Hancock-Rocket (from the 12" single)

After I had the FR64s installed for about a week and had it as tweaked out as I knew how to make it, I re-recorded the above selections in reverse order on the same tape. That way at least I had one cut that would play back to back.

Now some of you had sent me emails asking if I had any preliminary findings to share and I demurred. I never claimed to have the fastest ears in the west so I like to take my time and make sure I know what I am talking about so I don't have to eat a plateful of crow later (which I have certainly done before). Well, the jury is in for me, and it is my opinion that the ET-2 is much the better arm. The only thing the ET-2 gives up to the FR64s is a bit of bass punch, but I don't think the bass from the 64s sounds as natural as that from the ET-2. The bass from the 64s almost seems detached from the rest of the music if that makes any sense. There is a myth that linear tracking arms don't have good bass or can't reproduce the bottom octave at all. This is nonsense in my opinion. I can speak for the ET-2 and tell you confidently that it reproduce great bass.

MikeL and I sort of got into an off-topic discussion on the TP forum. MikeL stated (and please correct me if I not capturing the essence of what you said Mike) that he thought his Rockport linear tracking arm was superior to pivoted arms because it tracks the grooves the way they were cut and that as a result, it doesn't have any phase errors. MikeL went on to say that all pivoted arms only have two null points where the geometry is correct and that results in phase errors across the remaining points outside of the null. I didn't agree with Mike's point about phase-I thought Mike was confusing zenith with overhang. Incorrect zenith will affect phase, but I certainly had never heard that pivoted arms caused phase problems across the record except for the null points. What Mike did say and I agree with is that you can tell a big difference between linear tracking arms and pivoted arms. For me, a properly set up linear tracking arm sounds like a master tape with all that implies vice sounding like a good recording. There is a "wholeness" about the sound of linear tracking arms. Music just flows like it does in real life and it feels right. The FR64s and other pivoted arms don't capture that. They almost seem like they are stitching the music together as they go-almost digital like in comparison to linear tracking arms if that makes any sense to you. Another apt comarison would be looking at a picture taken by a cheap digital camera and comparing that picture to one taken from a top-notch film camera. You really can't compare the two in terms of ultimate sound quality as the linear tracking arm is just cut from a different cloth. I know that will set some people's teeth on edge, but sorry, the truth is the truth. I really do think the secret is the fact that the linear tracking arm is tracing the record the way it was cut instead of tracing an arc across the record with incorrect geometry 99% of the time. You can argue that the errors are slight when using 10" and longer tonearms, but errors they are. Also, the other benefit to linear tracking arms in my mind is no anti-skating is required. That is one less thing to fiddle with and neurose over. The sound of music from a linear tracking arm lives and breathes in a way that music does in real life and it is all cut from the same cloth. Pivoted arms that I have heard can't capture that. Unless you have heard a good linear tracking arm in your system, you won't know what I am talking about and you can be happy with what you have.

In closing, I know that the FR64s is not the most expensive pivoted arm in the world and some of you may sniff your upturned nose and say I should have used a "better" arm. I am really not going to listen to any of that drivel. I spent around $3K setting up this experiment and I know that the FR64s is considered a damn fine tonearm which is why I bought it. I am also finished with discussions about linear tracking arms being harder on cartridges and they can't have great bass. I had many years of great service with my Van den Hul MC-10 in an ET-2. My Denon 103R did develop a slight twist in the cantilever, but that may or may not have been caused by the ET-2. You are supposed to use high compliance cartridges with the ET-2 and not low compliance cartridges like the Denon 103R. The Benz Glider is a much better match with the ET-2 and it sounds way better than the 103R. Even if it is true that linear tracking arms cause greater wear to the cartridge suspension-so what? Most audiophiles change their cartridges more frequently than they change their underwear and they would never know. MikeL has the same experience that I had and that is he saw no wear over years with his Van den Hul. But even if it is true that linear tracking arms cause greater wear and tear to a cartridge, that is a small price to pay for the superior sound over the life of the cartridge.

I reinstalled my ET-2 last night and I haven't stopped grinning since. There is no doubt that if I would have made the recording of the ET-2 with the bearing improvements to my TNT, it would sound even better than it does. My LP setup has never sounded better now that my TNT bearing has been massaged and the ET-2 is back. I stayed up until way-late o'clock last night because I just didn't want to stop listening to music. Over and out.
mepearson

Showing 6 responses by ddriveman

Dertonarm,

The post says that you suggest using a mounting distance of 231.5mm for the FR64s instead of 230mm. What is the overhang then for this mounting distance? Is it still 15mm? And may I know what is the optimized geometry for the FR64s - Bearwald, Lofgren B, Stevenson? I have 2 FR64s and would like your comments on how to get more from them. I too use a MintLP protratcor but it is based on the original geometry as recommended by FR.
Dertonarm,

Thanks for details. Will try to see if I can snag the Dennesen protractor.

Oilmanmojo,

I too would think that a linear tracker would put more pressure on stylus and thus cause some cantilever deflection. NOt aving any experience with linear arms, I cannot provide any direct experience however. But I was thinking that perhaps cartridges without cantilevers e.g. Ikeda 9REX and Decca London type cartrdiges might be a better match for linear trackers. The Ikeda cartridges though need heavy mass arms whihc is typically not found in linear trackers. Does anyone out there have any experience using cantileverless cartrdiges with linear trackers? Seems to me it could be a great match - the immediacy and dynamics of cantileverless cartridges with the excellent imaging, soundstage and openness of linear trackers due to reduce tracking errors.
Hiho,

Actually the FR64s is a 10inch arm (245mm effective length). Ikeda-san himself has a writeup that says anything less than 10" is not favoured by him. And I agree that the 12" arm and the FR66s would have reduced tracking distrotions compared to the FR64s. And in the context of a low compliance cartridge like the Koetsu, the 12" FR66s with its higher mass is actually a better match than the FR64s.
For me, the thing about Logenn's review is that it highlights the importance of matching the cartridge and tonearm. The FR64s and FR66s are a wonderful match for the low compliance Koetsu, Ortfon SPU, Denon DL103 and Ikeda/FR cartridges. In the original review of Mepearson, he matched the Benz Glider SL with the FR64s and compares it to the ET-2. With the Benz Glider, the ET-2 arm is a better match than the FR64s and to me, that's going to account for the most significant difference in sound between the 2 arms. But if you put a Koetsu or SPU cartridge on the ET-2, then it would not be a good match for it and unfair to comapre it then with a FR64s/66s. So again, for me, there is a limitation of being able to compare the ET-2 and the FR64/66s since they have such a big differnece in mass and matching ideal cartridges. For me, if we wanted to compare a linear tracker like the ET-2 to a pivoted arm, we should try to find arms that would match well with a common cartrigde and so for example comparison between a Graham or Triplanar, using the Benz Glider would be more ideal. FWIW.
Lewm,

Actually, for lateral weight adjustments, you are suppose to tilt the turntable backwards i.e. lift the front of the turntable. This would avoid interfering with the arm rest. This is explained in the FR64/66 manual. If the turntable is very heavy and difficult to lift, you can set the balance weight such that the arm is tilted slightly backwards and with antiskate set to zero see, if the arm will stay in position when place in the middle of the platter, This was taught to me by Tommy Cheuk of Topclass Audio.
I tend to agree with you the J or S shape tonearms seem to be more sensitive to lateral balance. I have a Micro Seiki MAX237/282 tonearm with several armwands. The J shaped armwand seem to be more senstive and in fact Micro Seiki recommends adding more antiskate when using it in place of the straight armwand. Hope this helps.
Dertonarm,

If lifting the TT is wrong as shown in the FR64/66 manual, then what would you suggest please.
Dertonarm, Lewm

I too agree that lifting of tt is not prefereble and for me, I cannot even lift my Galibier Gavis TT since it is almost 100lbs. But I was referring to the FR64/66 manual which recommends lifting the front of the TT to check for lateral balance (after setting the level balance and with Zero VTF and zero antiskate). It seems from the FR manual that in order to check for lateral balance, one has to create a situation whereby the arm, which is in zero balance when level, is then put into a positive/negative balance to check if it swings.