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Linear tracking turntables, whatever happened?

Curious as to the demise and downfall of the seemingly short lived linear tracking TT.
Just from a geometry point of view I would have thought a linear arm should be superior to one with a fixed pivot that sweeps through an arc.
Obviously there is much more to it than that, sort of the reason for this thread.
I am genuinely interested in trying one out for myself as well.
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analogluvr
800 posts
 
The ET is a phenomenal tonearm and I can’t believe it sells for as little as it does. It just pulls out that much more natural detail and subtle soundstage cues which tells me it’s allowing the cart to do its job. 
I run a portable construction compressor into a water separator into a regulator. It provides me with a half hour play time with a 2 minute run time. Arm is rock solid, never goes out of adjustment. 
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

Chris’ (ct0517) assertion that high vertical moment-of-inertia produces the best bass is to me, a user of London (Decca) cartridges, VERY interesting. That cartridge exhibits far lower vertical compliance than horizontal, which aligns well with a pickup arm exhibiting higher vertical m-o-i, no?

@analogluvr, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again---Eminent Technology’s Bruce Thigpen is as brilliant a hi-fi designer as there has ever been, including Peter Walker!

ct0517's avatar
ct0517
1,798 posts
 
Hi Whart

@ct0517 - I'm interested in your comment about setting the ET for highest vertical inertia. How do you accomplish that?

The Eminent Technology tonearm comes with four counterweights and it is quite easy to remove enough weight, so that the lightest weight resides at the very end of the I Beam. Highest Vertical Inertia.  In recent years due to our demand and interest, Bruce introduced an I Beam that is now in the length he originally intended it to be. Due to constraints with - Dustcovers - from tables it was partnered with, he had to go with a shorter I Beam in the original design. The longer I beam now reduces the weight requirements by half still - increasing vertical inertia even more. 

The Setup Issue  
in learning how to use this unique design, most people, including me in the beginning, just used all four weights in setup, and let all the weight reside on I beam, wherever it ended up based on the VTF needed. This is wrong, and sometimes the weights ended up very close to the Air Bearing spindle - not ideal, and goes against the setup design.   

****************************

On the Airline from what I recall you are provided with two counterweights with the Kuzma ? Correct me if wrong. Try to do set up so that the lightest counterweight is furthest back on the rod. I don't know if two weights give enough option to run this way.  

Anyone looking to setup an ET 2.0 or 2.5 should upgrade to the longer I beam. Bruce also now offers a new Solid aluminum Mounting Plate and Joint (we call it the Gooseneck). they replace the Carbon Fiber versions.  


ct0517's avatar
ct0517
1,798 posts
 
Analogluvr
The ET is a phenomenal tonearm and I can’t believe it sells for as little as it does

Bruce' pricing is consistent with his other products. he has never been part of Audiophile Markup strategies you see elsewhere. Personally I don't consider $5000 US,  without a pump cheap ? But, if it was being sold in Europe, I am pretty sure it would be selling with a 2 -3 times markup on top.

bdp24
Chris’ (ct0517) assertion that high vertical moment-of-inertia produces the best bass is to me, a user of London (Decca) cartridges, VERY interesting. That cartridge exhibits far lower vertical compliance than horizontal, which aligns well with a pickup arm exhibiting higher vertical m-o-i, no?


Bdp24

Hi Eric. Its not really my assertion. Its the way the arm was designed to run from its maker. My personal experience in running the vinyl rig alongside Master Tape Dubs (running 10 seconds behind) and switching between them helped confirm it for me. My Studer would out perform my vinyl when I first got it. Now the Studer is in need of hot rodding, if I was so inclined as my Vinyl Rig matches it or (better) as it can be tuned. This made me stop looking for tapes. I use the Studer now with the tapes I did buy as a reference point.  

Regarding cart compliances, all ET 2.0, 2.5 I beams come with either a single, double, or (triple) leaf spring to deal with different compliance cartridges. The leaf spring by design isolates the counter weights from the air bearing spindle. High compliance - single leaf spring, and so on. Most of us use the double leaf spring on our I Beams.

If my stocks were doing better 8^((( , and our dollar exchange wasn't so bad, (everyone sells in US dollars), I would maybe have some cash to look at the decca next as a cartridge.

So forget that and I will just continue to plod through my music library.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

@ct0517, I attributed the "The best bass comes when the tonearm is setup for the highest vertical inertia" statement to you. Does your "It's not really my assertion" statement mean that it is actually that of Bruce Thigpen in regard to his ET arm specifically (but not necessarily universally)?

Regarding the price of the London cartridges, the Super Gold Mk.7 (line contact stylus) is around US$1500, a little more with the Decapod mount. When I got a Decca the second time (in the early 90's, the first time being in '73), its' North American distribution was being handled by a Canadian company. I would say that would have been a good time for a Canadian to have bought one, but the Londons are definitely an improvement on the Deccas, well worth the difference in price between the two.

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