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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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whart's avatar
whart
1,930 posts
 
@ct0517 - another good question which will require a little exploration by me. Just when I thought I knew how to set this thing up after all these years! Your learning is valuable and obviously transferable--
Just literally removed my regular cartridge- have a rebuilt vintage cartridge arriving today as a stop gap (of all things, one of those old Monster Genesis 1000s). So, I can at least mess around with the arm a bit even though the cartridge I'll be using for now is far different in mass (and other things) from the Airtight that is going off for a rebuild. 
whart's avatar
whart
1,930 posts
 
https://flic.kr/p/S8x8RW Dunno if this will work but here’s a shot of where the counterweight threaded tube mounts on the back of the air-bearing housing- looks like it is a threaded hole. Period. Thanks, @ct0517 if you click on the image link, and then click the image itself once it opens, it will enlarge. 
ct0517's avatar
ct0517
1,798 posts
 
@whart 
Yeah looking at it on my phone.it appears once it threads in that's it because it ties into the Armtube. In the ET design there is a long air bearing spindle with the Armtube and end cap at opposite ends.
Can be adjusted independently.
slaw's avatar
slaw
5,785 posts
 
@ct0517 ,

Regarding your post above...that the ET user should set the record height level with the inscribed line in the center of the manifold.....although I’ve owned mine for 30 years, and I set mine up (eyed) for the record height to be in the center of the spindle (looking straight into the spindle), I never remember reading in the manual any indication of that "inscribed line", therefore, I never noticed it. I just uncovered mine just to check and it is correct. (These types of things would be great to read in the manual.) I think it could use a re-write.

Thanks for that post.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 

Hey slaw, I guess you have your ET on a VPI, not your Townshend Audio Rock 7, ay? ;-) What arm is on your Rock? My Rock Elite (Mk.2) was made with it’s damping trough having an arc diameter appropriate for the shorter-than-usual Townshend Excalibur arm. The Zeta I use with my Rock is very close to the Excalibur in that regard (pivot-to-stylus distance), but has much better bearings (and a great stiff arm tube).

The Helius Omega arm has found favour amongst UK owners of the Rock 7. The Silver/Ruby version is especially nice, but at a not-so-nice price ;-) . Townshend Audio and Helius just happen to share the same U.S.A. distributor. Tim de Paravicini also recommends the Omega for use on his EAR Disc Master turntable, the table Audiogon member folkfreak owns (I saw and heard it in his music room last year), though he uses different arms (two) on his.

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