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Linear tracking - a myth debunked?

Harmon Kardon ST-7

I have had this linear table since 1978 and it has performed beutifully. The sound is clear and undistorted from start to finish at 1gm tracking even does well at .75gm. Once a year or so I calibrate the lift, damping and balance then its pretty much said and done. Thats a Shure V15 Type III I have had as long as the table. The have been friends for years.

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Old_Tech said:
I have had this linear table since 1978 and it has performed beutifully. The sound is clear and undistorted from start to finish at 1gm tracking even does well at .75gm. Once a year or so I calibrate the lift, damping and balance then its pretty much said and done. Thats a Shure V15 Type III I have had as long as the table. The have been friends for years.
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Awesome nice, if I could only stack six records on it ....... :D

No doubt about it, linear tracking has it's advantages. :thmbsp: Do I need another turntable, yes!! :music: Regards.
 
I had a linear-tracking Optimus LAB-2250 made in the early 90's - it was my regular player for about six years. I had bought a new copy of "Full Moon Fever" by Tom Petty in '89, and on one track the record skipped - after exchanging copies three times I gave up and lived with it. Funny thing is, it didn't skip on the Optimus. I haven't played that album in years - I'll have to see if it skips on my Pro-ject.
 
titanstats said:
My Technics SL-10 is a wonderful machine -- it's the reason that I got back into vinyl again. Excellent piece of engineering, has truly stellar specs, and something that could only be made by a company with deep pockets to spend on development. Plays wonderfully, doesn't give a damn where it's placed, came with a stellar cartridge, and has a tiny footprint -- the exact same size as an LP cover...
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I'm with ya there! :thmbsp:

My Technics SL-J3 allows me to program it to play any track in any order, and does it quickly. The laser knows where each song is and keeps the stylus on track at all times. Wonderful performer and kind of fun to watch. It is also the size of an album cover and is very portable. :D

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Air Bearings

I've seen this a couple of times and restrained myself.

If the super expensive linear trackers use air bearings....where do they get the air?

I'm guessing it is compressed air, compressed by a compressor.

So do you share your listening room with a compressor?
How cool is that?
Oops! I meant quiet.

Or do you keep it in the backyard and pipe the air in?
 
I recently picked up a Technics SL-QL5.

Do linear track folks think it's any good? (I haven't yet tried it; need to get it a P-mount I guess.)

But, I wonder, since the "arm" is in the lid, and the lid does not seem to "click" into down position securely,
Is this gonna be a problem?
 
mike22 said:
I've seen this a couple of times and restrained myself.

If the super expensive linear trackers use air bearings....where do they get the air?

I'm guessing it is compressed air, compressed by a compressor.

So do you share your listening room with a compressor?
How cool is that?
Oops! I meant quiet.

Or do you keep it in the backyard and pipe the air in?
Click to expand...

HI Mike,
Why restrain yourself? It's a fair question. Yes, from the factory they use compressors. The size, capacity and noise of the air supply varies quite a lot from one manufacturer to another as well as the design of the air bearing itself. Some air bearings are designed for low pressure while others are intended for higher pressure. My stock Eminent Technology ET-2A uses a good aquarium air pump which is pretty quiet and is a low pressure design. Other designs use higher pressure air and their compressors are noisier. In general, even the quiet compressors should be located away from the listening area. Before I modified my air system, I located my compressor in a closet which worked fine.

Users often modify the stock air systems. Some use large compressed air tanks. Others, like me, use a shop air compressor. We do this to get higher air pressure which usually improves the performance of the air bearing which is good to begin with.

In my case, I modified a Craftsman single cylinder shop air compressor to quiet it down so I could install it in the house. I cut the noise by about 80%. This allowed me to put it in a closet as far away from my listening chair as I could get it. I can't hear it at all at my listening postion. It works well.

There is no doubt that the compressor is a potential problem for many people. One has to be a little creative to make it work. Why go to the trouble? Because these tone arms are the best money can buy. Once you use one, I don't think you will ever go back to either a servo controlled linear arm or a pivoted arm. It's really that simple.

I must say that I love my ET-2A arms. I now have two of them; my original on my Sota Nova and the new one on a Oracle Delphi V.

Sparky
 
Picked up an SL-5 a while back, and a few weeks ago I finally got around to giving it a try.

To say I was surprised is an understatement. No, it won't be replacing my MMF-5, but lemmetellya, it's a damn good sounding 'table, and it works great.:thmbsp:
 
mike22 said:
I recently picked up a Technics SL-QL5.

Do linear track folks think it's any good? (I haven't yet tried it; need to get it a P-mount I guess.)

But, I wonder, since the "arm" is in the lid, and the lid does not seem to "click" into down position securely,
Is this gonna be a problem?
Click to expand...

Mine doesn't click, either. I just close the lid and play it. No problems at all.
 
I switched from manual air bearing arm to automatic

I've owned several linear tracking turntables, including two with air bearings, from Maplenoll. The Maplenolls sounded great, especially the Ariadne Signature. I have owned 2 of the H-K's, a ST-7 and a ST-9. I now have and use B&O tables, 5005 and 4004. The 4004 has a remote control for all functions installed. The major reason that I use a 'sonically inferior' table in place of the Maplenoll is the immense hassle of playing a record on the Maplenoll. You don't just walk up to the thing and drop on a platter. You have to start up a compressor and wait for all of the lines and chambers to pressurize. The large mass of the arm makes a minor fumble sure disaster for the cartridge. The B&O's with their motorized arms are foolproof. I can start,stop,pause and cue forward and backward from across the room without even touching the thing.
I'm no newbie to turntables. I've owned dozens of them. I've been playing records since the '60s. For me, the best table is the one that I can actually use rather than the one that wrings the last iota of sound off the disk after a delicate and arcane ritual.

I know. You'll say it's really not that much trouble to handle the ET arm *if* *you* *pay* *attention*, but can you pause it if you're three rooms away from the turntable in the kitchen making lunch and the phone rings?
 
Mine doesn't click, either. I just close the lid and play it. No problems at all.

[I guess I don't know how to "quote" previous comments. But re Fisherdude's "just play it"....}

If it is even slightly raised above the record's surface--producing an angle--more open, higher, toward front than rear--, doesn't that change all the angles, make even the tracking iffy?
The stylus will not be down as far, have as much VTF, etc. All the fine adjustments, overhang, etc., etc. ALL GONE!!!
N'est 'ce pas?

What have I missed?
 
lini said:
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
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I'll put my SL-4 up against anything. It may not win all battles but it will always put up a respectable fight. Thing doesn't know it's supposed to be a cheap turntable that should be disregarded by audiophiles everywhere. I think the reason it's so good is that it's super low mass arm doesn't resonate anywhere close to human hearing, and that it has a sensor that moves it along instead of incurring friction like on a rabco system. I hope audiophiles keep convincing themselves that the Linear Tracking Technics are not worth anything so I can keep grabbing them up for cheap. Also just check out the tracking error numbers on these things, can't deny that.
 
49/16 said:
I hope audiophiles keep convincing themselves that the Linear Tracking Technics are not worth anything so I can keep grabbing them up for cheap. Also just check out the tracking error numbers on these things, can't deny that.
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Preaching to the choir. I have the SL-QL1 and presently run it with the Technics cart with the JICO SAS stylus. I am presently using it to do vinyl to digital transfers. For records with a wrap I'll have to use my Scout 1.1 with a pivot arm. I think a lot of it has to do with aesthetics and a variety of cartridge selection. I'm not a "label whore".
 
49/16: There was an SL-4? Never heard of that one... Have a pic?

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
I love my Beogram 3000 LT, an excellent performing TT that makes even records that sound good on my 1219 sound better. I especially like that is auto-senses the record size, has a digital speed readout and a little light that shines on the stylus so you can see where on the record you are (to change tracks). Slick.
 
I have a number of LT tables, they all track great, but I also have a few other tables that like the Sony Bio Tracers use electronics to keep a constant VTF at the stylus, and they track just as well. The advent of servo tonearms was a great addition that my LT tables don't have. Only the Yamaha PX1 incorporates that feature.
 
lini said:
49/16: There was an SL-4? Never heard of that one... Have a pic?

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
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Yeah it's a weird one. I mislabeled it should be SL-D4. I can't find any info on it. It looks like it has the same tonearm system as the non-programmable linear trackers. I assume it was the direct drive upgrade to the SL-3. Sounds great and is a joy to use. I also like that it has a much heftier platter than a lot of the DD LTs in the line.

 
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