03-04-10: HihoThanks for the mention of the Thales tonearm, I'd never even heard of it - some very interesting reading.
I forgot the mention another solution such as the Thales arm that is a combination of pivot and linear tracker by self adjust to tangency in a PASSIVE system. Very clever indeed.
Are linear tracking arms better than pivoted arms?
My answer to this question is yes. Linear tracking arms trace the record exactly the way it was cut. Pivoted arms generally have two null points across the record and they are the only two points the geometry is correct. All other points on the record have a degree of error with pivoted arms. Linear tracking arms don't need anti-skating like pivoted arms do which is another plus for them.
Linear tracking arms take more skill to set up initially, but I feel they reward the owner with superior sound quality. I have owned and used a variety of pivoted arms over the years, but I feel that my ET-2 is superior sounding to all of them. You can set up a pivoted arm incorrectly and it will still play music. Linear tracking arms pretty much force you to have everything correct or else they will not play. Are they worth the fuss? I think so.
Linear tracking arms take more skill to set up initially, but I feel they reward the owner with superior sound quality. I have owned and used a variety of pivoted arms over the years, but I feel that my ET-2 is superior sounding to all of them. You can set up a pivoted arm incorrectly and it will still play music. Linear tracking arms pretty much force you to have everything correct or else they will not play. Are they worth the fuss? I think so.
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Dgarretson I have the apollo table which has a very short arm approaching 2 inches. It requires the vacuum hold down to get the best performance. It is an extremely light arm though i have not weighed it yet. it is a ceramic wand and brass headshell designed by lloyd walker. Compared to the aluminum wand that was standard on the apollo, this wand is spaceage in comparison. Being ceramic, it is light and extremely stiff. I do not know how to measure resonance as you ask. I do have the armwand dampened with an oil that is designed to offset the resonance or "wobble". It tracks as good as any arm i have used. the sound is exceptional. My concern after following this thread is the possible damage that could occur. The previous owner had a Sumiko cartridge that he used for 8 years without any issue. I started with it, but put my airy3 then universe on this table. So far, I am sold on the results. My disclaimer is that I do not have experience with the high quality pivot arms to compare. |
Thales tonearm, looks like a very ingenious design indeed. Thanks Darkmo and Hiho. I will have to add this one to my wish list. Dgarretson, well said. Comparison should be on level set baseline, not an anomalous situation of off center and warped records. My tone arm indeed has 1-2" wand exhibiting extremely low resonance |
Another brilliant design by Thales, making the previous design simpler, more elegant, and certainly cheaper. I don't know how it will sound but I don't care. I just enjoy the brilliance of its design. >http://www.tonarm.ch/uploads/images/News/PressRelease.pdf |
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