Ancient AR Turntable with NO anti skate

pryso,

There is no question that the reason we see so many belt drive tables is because they are cheap to manufacture.  Idler drive and direct drive tables are definitely more expensive.  I remember looking at my Linn LP12 and Aristion RD11 (same table) and thinking that other then the nice plinths there isn't much to it.  My Garrard, Dual and EMT are truly custom made tables.  Each part manufactured specifically for the table. The build quality is so evident.  I tire of seeing massive acrylic platters, powered by puny little motors that struggle to get up to speed. 

To me (my opinion) that's hardly engineering. 

Norman

stringreen,

Normansizemore.....Do you remember the Harmann-Kardon turntable with linear tracking??

Yes I do.  It was the Harman Kardon ST-7 with the RABCO tonearm.
They had some problems at first, but I have seen those perform quite well. 

I believe that originally, RABCO was an independent company and Harman Kardon eventually bought them out and took over manufacturing.  That is when some of the minor production issues got sorted out.  It was quite popular in the mid seventies.

Norman

normansizemore, I still own a SL-8 Rabco arm that's slated to get an update....replace the metal beaded chain drive with a plasticized cable version, some 'creative damping' to isolate motor and carriage, and whatever else comes to mind.  When set up properly, they work quite nicely.  I've got the mechanical version of the TT & arm version as well; doesn't function as well as the SL but I got it 'back when' for next to nil as a curiosity piece.  I've also a Garrard Z-100 and a Teac full auto TT that's not as nice as the Technics SL-10 that I used to have once upon a time...

I like tangential arms.  That's the way the masters are cut, so it just makes sense to me to play them that way.  Anti-skate becomes a non-issue....

I'd go to an air-bearing arm in a heartbeat, but I don't have the disposable $ to go there.  So I play with the less esoteric stuff that works nearly as well.
If it goes south on me, I can avoid getting stressed out over it. ;)  

normansizemore
Done correctly, the dreaded tangential tonearm can be the last word on the matter. Tracking perfectly. Makes one wonder why we so many pivitol tonearms and so few tangential?

Norman - I think you answered your own question in the same paragraph when you used the words .............."dreaded tangential tonearm"
8^0
.......audiophiles and perception, sometimes, can go hand in hand.

"Done correctly" is the key. It needs to work, and it needs to work for a long time too. without a lot of hassle. There are good and bad designs for everything.

This kind of reminds me of the early Beta vs VHS thing...VHS won out because you could fit more I Love Lucy episodes on one tape.

******************
So Stringreen you continue to defend your position of no antiskate here and on other threads. And why not...many have tried to defy physics, even in this hobby. So let me ask you ..

Do you drive your car with the front right tire down a few PSI ?

Why not settle this and take your "used" cart to Peter at SS, or one of the other cart rebuilders. Let him get back to you on its wear pattern.

@asvjerry "I'd go to an air-bearing arm in a heartbeat, but I don't have the disposable $ to go there."

Well, I just may have the bridge for you. Kidding. I use a Trans-Fi air bearing tonearm, cost about $1000. Actually, I use two: one for my Nottingham Mentor, upgraded to highest 2015 standard, and heavily modded; and one for my DIY air bearing TT. They bear a Mayajima Zero and Koetsu RSP respectively.

What I like best about the Trans-Fi is that it seems to be made for tweaking. Everything is exposed and accessible. You can add brass weights to make it heavier, you can experiment with damping, you can play with the air pressure, etc. Settings are dead simple and very stable. It uses clever engineering in place of costly machining. You buy it from the factory, not a distributor. And, when I bought mine, the owner himself went on a mission to make my installation a success.

You MAY be able to do better for 5 or 10 times the money, but, I suspect, only in terms of convenience. Opinion only - haven't tried the major alternatives in my system - but I don't see the flexibility in the other designs that I see in this one. See 'tweaking', above. 

Downside: the major downside is the name: Terminator. Other than that, azimuth is dead stable, absolutely repeatable, and intuitive, but it cannot be done on the fly, and is fiddly to adjust. Tracking weight is a little fiddly too - but rock stable and intuitive. That's all.

All in all, highly recommended, period. For the money, unapproachable.