Linear tracking - a myth debunked?

Sam Cogley

Sam Cogley

Last of the Time Lords
Subscriber
I've seen comments that linear tracking is a great idea, but that it never worked right in practice, with the tables implementing it having issues with proper groove tracking.

Last night, I was testing a pile of records from Saturday's haul. One of them was a copy of Def Leppard - Pyromania that was apparently mis-pressed. Side two isn't quite concentric, the grooves "wobble" back and forth a bit (but noticeably so) as the record spins. My JVC QL-L2's tonearm has a bit of pivot built into it for just this purpose, and the Digitrac 280 cartridge had absolutely no trouble maintaining proper groove tracking even as the groove itself danced back and forth. No distortion was apparent in the sound. It was at the same time fascinating and a bit nauseating to watch - almost like hypnotic seasickness. I'm going to have to dig out my digital video cam and get some footage of this thing, the effect is wild.

I've always wondered why linear tracking never really caught on, and the traditional pivot arms won out in the end. At least some of them solved the groove tracking problem.
 
Even my el cheapo Panasonic SL-N15 Linear TT tracks pretty good.
I would love to have a Revox B790 Linatrack TT!!! Tracks good and looks really cool.
Revox.jpg
 
Well, all in can say is that my old SL-5 apparently didn't know that it wasn't supposed to work right in practice. And I'd suspect it wouldn't have cared, even if I had told it - ignorant little bugger... ;)

Grinnings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
In the early, developmental stages, and at the cheaper, bottom end of the market, some linear trackers deserve their 'flawed' reputation. But towards the higher end, they are wonderfully good performers, that can AND DO out-track any pivot arms. Theoretically, everyone knows this SHOULD be true; the argument that it was never achieved in practice is true only for the lesser models.

MOST of the arguments against linear trackers originated within a certain time frame, from reviewers in British audio magazines, whose advertisers included a number of small manufacturers in England and Scotland (Linn, Ariston, etc...).

The big Japanese audio firms and their associated conglomerates like Yamaha, Mitsubishi, etc... were putting serious resources into developing improvements in audio gear, such as direct drive and linear tracking. The small, "craftsman" companies in the U.K. couldn't possibly compete with these firms, given the kind of development and tooling expense that was involved. The U.K. firms were facing marketplace extinction, if they were to compete on product quality alone. And it didn't sit well with British (any more than it did with Americans, really) that they were going to lose a beloved domestic industry to the Japanese.

So the magazines --whose continued existence also depended upon the continued existence of their advertisers!-- came to the rescue. They trotted out all manner of stupid reasons why direct drives and linear trackers were no good, why Linns were the best turntables ever made, etc... including some ridiculously unfair "rigged" comparison tests, and the undiscerning, ignorant, trusting and patriotic public swallowed it all, hook, line and 'stinker'! A lot of this drivel was picked up and regurgitated in the U.S., as well.

The Japanese, never the best English communicators at the best of times, did a lousy job of getting the message through that the machines they were turning out really WERE an improvement over almost all of the traditional "craftsman" models. In the absence of a good job of refutation by the Japanese, the British propaganda became "common knowledge", and continues to hang around even today.

For various reasons, the Japanese basically gave up marketing the really good machines in export markets, and only sold the good ones domestically (i.e., in Japan).

Only in relatively recent years have people begun to realize/know/understand this, and to look for those great direct drive and linear tracking turnables, outside of Japan.

Basically, cheaper low-end LTs are not very good; GOOD ones are somewhere between wonderful and phenomenal. It is no accident that LT arms are found on many of the very best "exotic" turntables made today. When done right, they do track better!

As for why the cheap ones are not good, start off with this article:
http://www.stereomanuals.com/articles/jack-holmes_linear-turntables.htm

You can find my "extended thoughts" on the concepts in this article, and other aspects of linear tracking arms, in a ludicrously long post/thread I posted/started a while back, in the archives.

Incidentally, the other --and better- way to deal with off-center LPs like that is to use a self-centering turntable such as a Nakamichi Dragon TT. Why this Nak concept never caught on widely is beyond me; it certainly makes a difference, and an audible one on badly off-center records.

If you were to combine one of those self-centering turntables with a GOOD linear-tracking arm (something like a Nak Dragon TT with a Rockport arm), and play a flat (not warped) record, I think you would achieve the lowest tracking error of any turntable, and essentially wow-free sound. It would be superb. :music:
 
Best performing and sounding TTs I've heard were a. Pair of high-end linear trackers.

I'm still a standard arm fan though.
 
Arkay said:
MOST of the arguments against linear trackers originated within a certain time frame, from reviewers in British audio magazines, whose advertisers included a number of small manufacturers in England and Scotland (Linn, Ariston, etc...).

So the magazines --whose continued existence also depended upon the continued existence of their advertisers!-- came to the rescue. They trotted out all manner of stupid reasons why direct drives and linear trackers were no good, why Linns were the best turntables ever made, etc... and the undiscerning and ignorant public swallowed it all, hook, line and 'stinker'! A lot of this drivel was picked up and regurgitated in the U.S., as well.

Basically, cheaper low-end LTs are not very good; GOOD ones are somewhere between wonderful and phenomenal.
Click to expand...

I like my Zero100, so did these guys.
 
So, out of curiosity, what are some of the better linear trackers that were made back in the day? I'm wondering what they're going for these days.
 
If the only issue with tonearms were their ability to track laterally then perhaps Linear Trackers would be the only valid type. It is interesting and informative to note that many high-end turntables continue to employ the "obsolete" pivoted-arm technology, with very good results. Sort of makes you wonder if some other issues might well be involved; the truth is that it's simply more affordable to build a really good pivoted arm than it is to build a really good linear one. This is neither to say all pivoted arms are good, nor all linears bad.
 
My concern withthe linear trackers was the complexity of them.

This fed fears of malfunction- which I've seen on some.


Some of the nicer I've seen were a Mitsubishi and I think JVC. Also some decent attempts by Technics out there.
 
Zeromancer said:
^^ Much more affordable.
Click to expand...
Which is why I think it's strange that there are so many ultra-expensive tables with pivot arms. The technical issues were apparently worked out (even on some of the less-expensive models like my JVC) 25 years ago. If cost isn't an object, and it's not an object if you're paying several grand on up to infinity for a turntable, affordability isn't much of an argument anymore.

I will admit that the JVCs have a weak point, though it's easy to fix if it breaks - the plastic piece that the arm slides on isn't the greatest design. I had to rebuild the QL-L2's when I got it, then I salvaged the whole drive mechanism from an L-L10 I found for $7 at the DAV. Interestingly, while using the same motor, circuit boards and most other parts, the L2's original drive string is cotton, and the L10's is steel wire. This necessitated a slightly different slide, and was the reason I swapped the drives out en masse. The original plan was to swap only the slide, but the steel wire feels more sturdy and the arm glides a bit more smoothly and quickly when moving from rest to the edge of the disc. Once the stylus is on the record, they behave the same. One thing that I don't understand and would change if I was re-designing the table is the excessive distance between the tonearm rest and the edge of the platter.

I'd love to mess around with one of those Technics with the cartridge mounted in the dustcover. Crazy design.

Zeromancer, that Revox is awesome. The tonearm mechanism looks like a high-end milling machine.
 
cbenefld said:
So, out of curiosity, what are some of the better linear trackers that were made back in the day? I'm wondering what they're going for these days.
Click to expand...

Shortly after Garrard's Zero100 was produced, the US blocked any further shipments. Seems there was a plastic piece that would burn in the event of fire. Sheesh, every TT the US has seen since then has been mostly plastic.:thumbsdn:

Could leverage/lobbying been a factor? :D

Regards.
 
Sam Cogley said:
Which is why I think it's strange that there are so many ultra-expensive tables with pivot arms. The technical issues were apparently worked out (even on some of the less-expensive models like my JVC) 25 years ago. If cost isn't an object, and it's not an object if you're paying several grand on up to infinity for a turntable, affordability isn't much of an argument anymore.

Zeromancer, that Revox is awesome. The tonearm mechanism looks like a high-end milling machine.
Click to expand...
Here is another pic of one with the cover over the cartridge
b5l3dw.jpg
 
Does that whole thing flip to the right or something? I can't see any other way to get a disc on it. The LCD speed readout is very cool in a distinctly 80s/Miami Vice sort of way.
 
I find best potential of sound quality in specific hanging suspended TT's when alligned and adjusted best.

This leaves a problem with most linear trackers.

Here is the soultion to that problem:


1.jpg



5.gif



"dolph"
 
So where is the myth and where was it de-bunked? Surely your test of a DL album wasnt your case for this conclusion.
 
Just a comment from personal experience.

My Beogram TX-2 (a linear tracker) is hand's down the best tracking turntable I've ever owned. It will track warps and damaged grooves better than pivot tonearms.
 
Every one of my linear trackers worked perfectly after careful set-up and servicing, ignore what you hear.
Peace,
Preston
 
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