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Is there a consensus on linear tracking TT's?

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If they, (linear) were supposed to be an improvement over "S" or "Straight" arms, the tt buyers decided what they wanted.
 
They’re a fun and interesting part of my collection. I have a couple and I enjoy them for what they are...improvement over swing arm? Depends.
 
I'm not experienced enough to give a thoughtful opinion, so don't snap my head off and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about....I've already done that :)
But I've always been under the impression that linears were a neat idea which didn't live up to the real world needs. In other words, they're great if you want to spend a lot of time fiddling with the deck.
 
The concept has a great deal of merit, but the complexity of the arm carriage and drive mechanics has an effect on the cartridge output. The very best made units are pretty good, but the $200 run of the mill linear TT, limit cart choice, and require maintenance.
 
I have had many come across my workbench. I don't think they are more or less reliable than any other turntable. They do sound very good even the cheaper models. I have been surprised with the quality of the sound on all. The problem with Linear trackers was they just didn't appeal to people based on aesthetics. All you did was push buttons and people like to get in and personal with their equipment. Linears lacked that and paid the price in low sales volume. I have 2 Mitsubishi's right now. An LT-5V and another cheaper model which I can't remember off hand. Both work perfectly and needed only replacement belts to work flawlessly. Alas there is no market for a good Linear Tracker now days.
 
It added a lot of complexity and cheaper built ones gave them bad reputation.

Plus vinyl sales were going down as cassettes and cd's were selling more.
 
About like everything in audio. The cheap ones offer a middling level of performance at best. Are expensive to fix, and most were tossed into the landfill when broken , as the repair costs were high.

The good ones are expensive.

The best linear tracking arms were either air bearing linear trackers, or ones with low friction bearing assemblies, like the Souther.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Freddymac2 said:
The concept has a great deal of merit, but the complexity of the arm carriage and drive mechanics has an effect on the cartridge output. The very best made units are pretty good, but the $200 run of the mill linear TT, limit cart choice, and require maintenance.
Click to expand...

I can't think of any effect from the complexity of the arm carriage and drive mechanics on cartridge output. The cartridge output has no bearings on what type of arm a turntable has that I know of.
 
I took that to mean a change in the output of a phono cartridge similar to for example, changing the over hang, tracking force, VTA, effective mass and so on.

This is much like listening to the same phono cartridge on two different turntables and hearing a difference in sound quality. It there is a difference in sound quality, there must be a difference in the output (the signal that in the end we listen to) of the phono cartridge.
 
There hasn’t been any consensus that linear trackers are automatically better than pivoting tonearm turntables, despite plenty of argument about it, dating back many decades. There are advantages and disadvantages with both types of tonearm.

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages I (and others) have thought of, which linear tracking tonearms/turntables have compared to pivoting tonearm ones:

Advantages
  • Slightly superior stereo separation was regularly measured compared to high quality pivoting tonearms, with the same cartridges. Nobody knows why this occurred, but so many different experienced people in many parts of the world measured it, that it was obviously an unexpected bonus of linear tracking tonearms
  • Low effective mass, because the tonearm can be made much shorter. Low effective mass always improves cartridge tracking, but fell out of favour with pivoting tonearms due to the conflicting requirements of also providing tonearm strength and lack of resonance
  • Much lower tracking error than pivoting tonearms – between 3 and 60 times lower than the maximum for a pivoting tonearm, based on manufacturers’ figures for 30 linear trackers which I quoted in a previous thread, compared with a number of pivoting tonearms varying from (roughly) 8 to 12 inches in length. Note that those specs were only when they were new, and some may not be operating as well as they did when new
  • Much easier setup of cartridges, with minimal alignment needed
  • No anti-skating needed
Disadvantages
  • Complexity
  • Higher maintenance required when they age
  • There was a suggestion by another member, an experienced user of linear trackers, that the constantly varying angle of linear tracking tonearms, due to some linear tracking tonearms moving in short bursts, leads to the stereo image wandering compared to pivoting tonearms, where the angle changes gradually. He stated that despite the fact he loved them and owned heaps of them, they never sounded quite right to him!:dunno:
  • The method of moving the tonearm can lead to extra noise as it moves
B&O, Mitsubishi, Revox, Sony, Technics and Yamaha (among others) all made very good ones. Sony and Yamaha’s best-ever turntables were both linear trackers, although you rarely see the extremely heavy and expensive Yamaha, as it was very expensive.
 
I've owned several linear-tracking turntables, and love 'em! Here is the list:
As others have said, there are no real consensuses, as they are all different:
  • The Sears LT is definitely one of the sort which gave them a bad name, as its performance is rather poor.
  • The Technics are mostly fine. The SL-5 had weird arm-positioning issues, while the SL-10 works fine, albeit with noise audible from the arm when it is moving, particularly when it reaches the lead-out groove.
  • The Sharp barely worked at all when I got it, i couldn't figure out how to replace the belts, and the repair shop I took it to never got it back to me before it closed (long story).
  • The B&Os have generally been good, though they've all needed maintenance, and I still have yet to build up the courage to give the 4002 the full recap/relube it needs before I try it out.
  • The RCA LT seems to work fine, at least for now.
  • The Rabco actually works at the basic level, though the auto arm-lift is out of adjustment, and I wouldn't be surprised if all of the rubber parts (belts/wheels) needed to be reworked at some point.
I love the concept of linear-tracking, but understand why it's not for everyone. The early mechanical ones (Marantz SLT-12, Garrard Zero 100, Rabco SL-8E, etc.) tended to be rather dodgy when things weren't perfect. The electronic ones (B&O, Revox, Technics, etc.) were more reliable, but again, the complexity can lead to issues. The high-end 'passive' ones (Souther, Terminator, etc.) can be quite nice when working, but also tend to be rather expensive. So in the end, it's all up to personal preferences, and what you're willing to put up with. As always, your mileage may vary, offer not good in all states, and do not taunt Happy Fun Ball. :biggrin:
-Adam
 
The good ones were great. The cheap ones were...cheap and sounded like it. Just like everything else.

Cheap ones tended to dodge back and forth in the grooves in a sort of push-pull fashion.
 
Good ones are still pricey but so is a SME MK V or Graham tone arm. Clear Audio makes 3 models, Bergmann two, and I assume there are others out there. It would be fun to have a Clearaudio Ovation or Innovation with a TT5 or a Bergman magne ( Sp?) bergmann uses air to float the platter with belt drive and air to float the tone arm. Clear audio uses magnets to float the table, bearings for the tone arm. Both are over or close to $11000.oo. And the price goes up from there. I'd love to have a SME 15 with either of the Bergman tone arms.

B&O made 4000.4002, and 8000 linear tables that could track any warped record. Revox made great tables, as did Marantz, Mitsubishi, Technics, etc. I still have my old TD 125 with a Rabco SL-8E that I use with a Dynavector 20 X 2 HO. And it tracks the 90 band on my Ortofon test record with no issues. Just pure tones with perfect sound. I got into linear tracing arms because older Ortofon cartridges from the 70's were pretty miserable in performance with my pivoting SME arms. V-15's and Stanton 881's and 981's sound really nice with linear arms.

Its my opinion that any cartridge sounds better with a linear arm. Now as with pivoting arms there are differences. Getting the right combinations is just as difficult with linear arms as it is with pivoting arms. But once dialed in a linear arm combo is the best of the best.
 
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