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FIDELITY-RESEARCH FR-54 any thoughts on this

S

scottyh777

Super Member
Anyone ever have or use a
FIDELITY-RESEARCH FR-54 tonearm.Any thoughts on this arm good or bad.I just purchased one cheap for a second arm for my Luxman PD-444.It looks very basic just wondering if it's any good.
 
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I have just took the plunge and bought this Arm for my Rek O Kut Rodine jr L34 I wanted a Garrard 401 but didn't have the budget for it so this is my plunge for an idler drive table. I have yet to mount it since there is quite a bit of modification to quiet down so these tables to perform at modern standards. I know this is old but It is hard enough to find info on these arms especially since the only copy of instructions I received are in Japanese which I belive they all are mine just happen to be copies of the originals. I got the arm in good cosmetic condition but missing the weights that attach to the anti skate weights that screw into the metal cylinder on the fishing wire. if you mounted this arm and used it I'd like to hear your experiences and if you have the actual weights of the anti skate weights so I can attempt to have someone machine new ones. If only I had enough money for one of the better fr arms they have new weights for those arms but they have a different design to the aniskate mechanism.
 
It's an old heavy arm, for old-style cartridges. If looking for an arm for Mono cart (many do with a second arm) or an old-style MC, like the SPU - it's just perfect.
otherwise, IMO there are other, better, arms around.
 
I have one that I'm using with a Technics SP-15 table and Denon 103R cart. It works like a charm. Fidelity Research arms are highly regarded. The FR-54 sells for quite a bit less than the FR-64 and FR-66 but I think it's a very nice arm. It's not as heavy as the FR64 - the effective mass of the FR-54 is 16 gram - so it's best with low compliance carts. I believe it is one of Ikeda-san's designs. I believe it works well with current low compliance cartridges. Not as valuable as the FR-64 or FR-66 but still a good arm. There certainly are better arms available but this can be a good arm depending upon the price.
 
Hay hirscwi I was thinking of going the rout of getting the Dennon 103R for it seeing as it kinda matches well and thats the general consensus. I bought this arm and the seller failed to mention the Antiskate weights that screw into the little piece of metal on a string even said it was on there but mabe they didn't know weights screw into the bottom of the piece hanging there. Unfortunately I have not found found replacements for it so I have a friend willing to machine me up a set of them all i need to do is find out how much each weight weighs.
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So did I understand correctly that the underside of the weight is actually threaded and you can adjust the anti-skate with different sub-weights? I didn't know that and I saw no mention of it in the japanese user manual ... then again I don't read japanese har har... missing the weight all together on mine, might look into replacing it with something suitable for around 2g tracking force, but on the other hand it seems to me tracking over 2g antiskate doesn't make much of a difference.
 
I have always wondered if a person could use the small calibration weights for a digital scale to replace these hanging weights. They could have a thread tied to the handling end, or even drilled through to tie it. Just a thought. The kits are not terribly expensive, and some of the weights are just too big. But its a good deal in a way for the couple you can use.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-We...pp-/261690786621?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

Regards
Mister Pig
 
That is correct I would assume most people just run this arm without them since people have lost them over the years I have not found anyone with them yet or anyone who has any more info on the antiskate mechanism I'm guess since more interest is in the other FR arms people pass over this arm leaving it to people building budget turntables or trying to get a sound from a certain era. Well might try running this arm as is if not maybe I'll pop it on the market and search for a new arm. But I really want to try it with my Rek O Kut.
 
I do have the antiskate weight on mine. It is 2.50 gram. 9.65mm diameter and 5 .1mm long with 4mm hole in most of the center. The hole is threaded. I have the Japanese instruction sheet - let me know if you'd like a copy. It looks like a/s can be adjusted by threading in another weight - a standard M4 machine screw would likely work but I didn't try it because the weight is fine for my Denon 103R (wood body). The calibration weight on my digital scale is 5 gram so it would be too heavy. You can get weights at a scientific supply house but that's probably overkill. To make you own, but a piece of brass rod - diameter doesn't matter. Weight it and then you can easily calculate how long a piece needs to be to give 2.5 gram.

By the way, both of my Fidelity Research arms still have the original a/s weight. The first version of the FR-24 did not have an a/s mechanism because (apparently) Ikeda-san did not believe in them - but bowed to market pressure in later editions.
 
As I pictured I have that little weight with the thread hole in it but if I don't necessarily need it with the Dennon then I may not go through the trouble of making weights for it. I was between the Dennon 103r or maybe going with an ortofone cart. But if the Dennon is that good of a match and I won't need additional antiskate weights then why take the gamble. Thanks for the info and I do have a copy of the Japanese instructions and template so I'm goid with those.
 
Sorry, I misunderstood. I don't think you need any additional weights with the Denon. I'm tracking mine at 1.5gram and it works fine.
 
I did some searching on this arm and even with the little info available I found one site selling a complete FR 54 with an additional heavier counter weight that came with an accompanied antiskate weight. I guess if you were running a heavier cart you would use those two weights together otherwise if you just had the stock arm with stock counterbalance you just use the antiskate weight already attached with the threaded hole.
http://www.fonolab.com/obchod.html?product=893
 
I've used one for years on my 124. Mine was missing the weight, I just pinched a small fishing weight on it and haven't worried about it when swapping carts.
 
pjt92 said:
I did some searching on this arm and even with the little info available I found one site selling a complete FR 54 with an additional heavier counter weight that came with an accompanied antiskate weight. I guess if you were running a heavier cart you would use those two weights together otherwise if you just had the stock arm with stock counterbalance you just use the antiskate weight already attached with the threaded hole.
http://www.fonolab.com/obchod.html?product=893
Click to expand...
That sounds correct, although I would only add the weight if the cartridge tracks at a fairly high VTF - antiskating is correlated to VTF, not cartridge weight. Best bet is to test for yourself using a Test record (e.g. HiFi News). If you need nore weight, it's easily added, as per VinylHanger's suggestion.
 
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I Have FR54 mounted on Micro BL91. It's really good tonearm at it's price. It's a low compliance , so compatible with Denon 103 series, Ortofon MC20/30/SPU. I recently use MC20 Super.
 
Strangely higher compliance cartridges sound very nice with this arm also despite an apparent mismatch. Love the Grace F8L and a range of Pickering cartridges
 
The FR-54 is not a high mass arm, 16g effective mass and the original headshell (which I don't have) if I recall correctly was about 12g? So with a lightweight headshell it should work ok with most higher compliance cartridges apart from the truly crazy.
 
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