Linear tracking tonearms.....
The current series of Clearaudio linear tonearms are NOT Souther design anymore. They are copied from the Opus3 Cantus tonearm using two rollers inside a glass tube so there's no need for bearings for the vertical movement. It's a simpler design than the Souther. The Clearaudio version seems to be higher mass than the original Cantus or maybe the ball bearings stick or dirty tube causing the lack of smoothness in horizontal movement. _______ |
I have nothing against Trans-Fi but I just personally prefer NOT to use any air-pump in audio and I'm sure I am not alone in this thinking. The Cantus and Clearaudio products provide alternatives to the air-bearing genre for people like me. I am glad the Schröder LT added one more option... if I can ever afford one. The Cantus is very reasonably priced -- from what I know, below 1000 clams -- and very diy-able. ______ |
Even though the Thales Simplicity is a pivoting tangential tracker with its own idiosyncrasy, you can still align it using traditional methods. You can use a typical paper template or protractor to confirm alignment. Since there's no overhang and supposed to be tangent, then wherever the stylus on the template the cantilever should be 90 degree pointing to the spindle. Typical template has two points on the arc, inner groove and outer groove. Draw additional lines on the template to confirm you have more than just two points are tangent. You can draw your own template: find the effective length (Thales published a nondescript "9 inch") which should be the distance between the left armwand's headshell pivot to armbase pivot, and draw an arc from base pivot to spindle and draw multiple lines intersect with the arc and then draw perpendicular lines double distance all the way back to the Thales triangle. Voila, you have yourself a template you can use to confirm alignment. This way, you don't have to blindly follow the headshell alignment jig. Bottom line is to have the cantilever always perpendicular (90°) to the radius or pointing to the spindle. In a traditional pivot arm, you only have two tangent points but the Simplicity is tangent on every point. See GIF so you get an idea. _____ |
