linear tracking

[Cactus Bob]

I have a Technics SL 10 and love it for it's ease of use and it mutes the record before and after playback unlike my (Silver) Pioneer PL 600. One of the drawbacks is that you can't use Magic Eraser on the stylus and it's harder cue up a tune in the middle of the LP.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

To design a properly done linear arm is very expensive. The ReVox Linatrack series or the B&O are the best consumer linears ever made and some of the early Japanese ones were good. For my needs, Pivoted arms are still best, 12" preferred as professional standard.

 

[chicks]

:scratch2: Now y'all have me thinking I should keep the SL-QL15, or at least listen to it for a while... It does match the Pioneer pretty well - too bad it only has one phono input...

 

[SA-708]

Also has a smaller foot print.


Technics SL-5 by jleon92f, on Flickr

Depends on the model. I have a similar SL-Q5 in my office system, where the small size is handy. There were some vertical models with an even smaller footprint. At home I have an SL-M3, which is a pretty big puppy for a linear tracker.

 

[DanBa]

:scratch2: Now y'all have me thinking I should keep the SL-QL15, or at least listen to it for a while... It does match the Pioneer pretty well - too bad it only has one phono input...

Lovely arrangement!. Is that your lunchtime score from the other day?. BTW what model is your JVC to the right in this pic?

 

[chicks]

Lovely arrangement!. Is that your lunchtime score from the other day?. BTW what model is your JVC to the right in this pic?

Yep, it's the one I found at the GW in near-perfect condition, just missing the stylus. Bought a cheap stylus off feebay hoping to flip it, but after reading this thread, may need to get a decent stylus and listen to the thing... The JVC is a QL-A75; it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[perryinva]

It always seems that the better incarnations of the liner trackers are also the most complex. The arm circuitry alone for the B791 is beyond more complex than the LT-20, and doesn't exist on a swing arm. The Revox moves the unipivot arm so precisely and slowly that it's motion is extremely difficult to catch, compared to say a PX-3 or LT-20, where the whole movement of the arm assembly is relatively easy to observe. It even detects rate of motion, so AS soon as it hits the run out, the cart lifts and returns, (in addition to a back up limit switch.) Whereas the others have to break a photo beam limit based on position. On the down side, the Revox is extremely sensitive to the rails being in perfectly clean, slippery shape, the VTA is beyond difficult to set and impossible to measure in any meaningful way, and even measuring VTF is a chore, whereas on the others these are as easy or easier than on a swing arm table. But the Revox has the best cool factor, IMHO.

 

[Pio1980]

I've already got way too many good TT's, but as convenient and good casual LT players, the 2 SL-7s will definitely stay.

 

[resound]

I may be a convert.

I wound up with a broken PL-L1000 awhile back.
yada, yada, yada...it now works and notably has no 1st and last song issues using a Shure V15LT cart.
It also seems to pick up less surface noise on the same LP than my painstakingly "perfect" setup on my Kenwood using a std. M97XE.
With a little practice Im able to lift, move and setdown the arm exactly. Like a Samurai DJ. Cool controls on this one. Only problem I see is that its the size of a small automobile.

Then when reading a previous post in this thread I had an epiphany.

For a "perfect" pivot arm setup using an eliptical tip, you really need to start with a Microscope and a "micro protractor". You need to know the angularity of the tip to cartridge. This tip is glued to the stylus and you must know whether its actually square on the shank or how much its off.
I can see that everything else done is merely hit and miss if the elipse is canted.
Moving outward to include the seated stylus/tip to cartridge body relationship is probably the best real world place to start. No two seemingly same tables can actually be the same in this respect

Sooooooo. we are actually all moving in ever decreasing circles with our pivot arm tables / setups untill we fall on our own individual "sweet spot" so to speak.

This would seem to mean that a conical stylus would be a better "all round" choice on a pivot arm. This same relationship issue is present on a LT table but is not aggrevated by further geometry problems since the LT will track at a full contact 90 degree angle throughout the LP.

:scratch2:

Im gonna try to make some room in the garage to park this one. :yes:


..

 

[perryinva]

Except that conical is the worst for in phase contact of both channels, even with a linear tracker, and also picks up the most noise, as they are too large in diameter for the highest frequencies. But yes, you have to make a lot of assumptions simply becuase you really can't see to align a lot of what is really important. I wish I had the ears and time to trial and error it. VTA to get the tip square to the groove depends on record thickness, cantilever compression and angle (on a swing arm), so audibility is about the best bet, but on some tables it's just too hard to do.

 

[resound]

Really, the only thing holding back a perfect TT setup is the machine to do it.

What we need to do is start a fund to get Plek Germany to build a TT scanner.
(I think thats their name and spelling).

Ive had a couple electric guitars run thru a Plek scanner and set up so perfectly afterwards all I have to do is play the first couple notes and the guitar takes over from there. before the Plek, I thought it was impossible to have the same string height at the 5th as the 22nd fret without lousy playability

Serious, The Plek scanner is like a phone booth and you strap the git in there. It scans the parameters as it is then matches them against the desired parameters you've entered and tells you the adjustments to make the 2 match.

Gets rid of the voodoo and conjecture.

:scratch2: If guitarists can have it....Turntablists UNITE !!


..

 

[guitarman50]

Ive had a couple electric guitars run thru a Plek scanner and set up so perfectly afterwards all I have to do is play the first couple notes and the guitar takes over from there. before the Plek, I thought it was impossible to have the same string height at the 5th as the 22nd fret without lousy playability

..

I've played a couple of plek'd guitars. For me nothing beats a good guitar tech that knows what you want. Not all of us want the lowest possible action.

 

[resound]

I've played a couple of plek'd guitars. For me nothing beats a good guitar tech that knows what you want. Not all of us want the lowest possible action.

Doesnt matter what action you want. Dial it in and the Plek will put it there. Whatever action was on the guitars you played was asked for or done that way for a reason. Different guitars have different actions for different reasons. The Plek will set up a slide guitar, Banjo, Bass, Electric, Acoustic...whatever. The luthier has the last say as he/she is the one that has to actually do the work after its been scanned. The Luthier that has the Plek around here was universally known as the best setup man in town before he got the Plek. Mud Honey, Alice in Chains right off hand and countless other Seattle local bigsters use him. Has his own line of Gits and Bass'

Its a whole different feel to just have to barely touch the strings to key them. You have to get real "zen" and calm to keep it clean but it works real well for jazz and lighter styles. Lets you forget about the guitar and concentrate on tones, changes, pulls and slides.

Ever see one of Ingweih Malmsteins (sp?) necks? what a setup nightmare that has to be.

....but anyway, I likes me some linear trackin' :thmbsp:

 

[Cogsinister]

I have the same Technics LT turntable as Chicks....but in Black, it has its original P22 Technics cartridge still in place and sounds just great....

I had it on for most of today....the repeat function comes in real handy.....

 

[kotofei]

I've noticed pieces of cork under your TT rack and TTs and presume you use them as anti-vibration devices. Are they really better for this then Vibrapods or Isonodes?

I have the same Technics LT turntable as Chicks....but in Black, it has its original P22 Technics cartridge still in place and sounds just great....

I had it on for most of today....the repeat function comes in real handy.....

 

[Cogsinister]

I've noticed pieces of cork under your TT rack and TTs and presume you use them as anti-vibration devices. Are they really better for this then Vibrapods or Isonodes?

I woulden't know if they are better.......but they sure are cheaper !!!!!

 

[chicks]

I have the same Technics LT turntable as Chicks....but in Black, it has its original P22 Technics cartridge still in place and sounds just great....

Nice! Have you had to do any belt replacement or lubrication of the LT mechanism?

Mine seems to work just fine, but I may want to service it. I'm using the P22 with an el-cheapo replacement conical stylus right now, if I decide to keep it, will look for a better stylus...

 

[Cogsinister]

Nice! Have you had to do any belt replacement or lubrication of the LT mechanism?

Mine seems to work just fine, but I may want to service it. I'm using the P22 with an el-cheapo replacement conical stylus right now, if I decide to keep it, will look for a better stylus...

Well i lubed the rails that the arm moves on......not done any more than that....

I have the service manual....but its too complex for me !

 

[REDone]

All Linear tracking arms (except some very high end air bearing arms) need some way of moving the arm across the record and working out when to move the arm and how far..

I don't follow that .. a pivot arm has no sideway force applied to it so why should a Linear? I can see automation of arms to choose tracks etc being a headache but this is unnecessary in my book.

 

[dlaloum]

Different mechanism - a pivot arm is almost frictionless on its pivot....

There ARE linear arms that use similar principles - several of the current top of the line arms use this principle. - serious $$ involved and they are fiddly.

The majority of Linear trackers use either mechanical or linear magnetic drives to move the arm - and they work very very well. (Technics, Revox, Goldmund, Rabco, etc...)