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Tonearm recommendation

Hello all,
Recently procured a Feickert Blackbird w/ the Jelco 12 inch tonearm.
The table is really good, and its a keeper. The Jelco is also very good, but not as good as my Fidelity Research FR66s. So the Jelco will eventually hit Ebay, and the question remains do I keep the FR66s or sell that and buy something modern in the 5-6 K range. My only point of reference is my old JMW-10 on my Aries MK1, so I don't know how the FR66s would compare to a modern arm. So I'd like to rely on the collective knowledge and experience of this group for a recommendation.

Keep the FR66s, or go modern in the 5-6K range, say a Moerch DP8 or maybe an SME.

Any and all thoughts and opinions are of course much appreciated.

Cheers,      Crazy Bill
wrm0325
wrm0325 OP
71 posts
 
Sorry, should have stated that my two cartridges are both low compliance
( Koetsu Rosewood and modded Denon DL103r, so a heavier mass tonearm is needed. Must be that second martini !!
wattsperchannel
142 posts
 
I don't recall who, but a poster here was recently very happy with the Kuzma 4 point 14 inch he put on his new Feickert.
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,937 posts
 
+1 on the Kuzma 4Point
halcro's avatar
halcro
2,664 posts
 
The FR-66s is close to the very best arm I have heard.....and I have heard many and owned many, both modern and vintage.
The FR-66s is as good as the Continuum Cobra and Copperhead arms with LOMCs and is JUST shaded by them with high compliance MMs......but these two modern arms, whilst being the best I've heard, are a nightmare to set-up and thus changing cartridges on a regular basis is to be avoided.
The FR-66s handily saw off the DaVinci 12" Ref and Graham Phantom II and has the added bonus of interchangeable headshells which should NEVER be underestimated.
Not only for the ease of swapping in other cartridges....but mainly for the ability to 'tune' a particular cartridge to a particular headshell.
This is something all arms with fixed headshells don't allow but IME can make or break the perceived 'sound' of a cartridge.

Just see what you can buy a second hand 4 Point for when it is only 2 years old and then see what your 35 year old FR-66s is worth.
The Market Place is never wrong...👅

jmwick
24 posts
 
I have a Kuzma 14 inch 4 point mounted on a Dr. Feickert Firebird. I have had it since October and I absolutely love it. Both the 14 inch and 11 inch come with an additional headshell. The cartridge I am using is the Transfiguration Proteus; for my taste it's a great combination.
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