Linear tracking tonearms.....

Peter--on the linear arms, vta will effect vtf and overhang. Small adjustments I don't recalibrate overhang. I don't have a lot of real thin records so don't have to adjust much but if I listen too a lot of the thin ones, I do adjust overhand as my vta changes a lot. My arm is real easy to adjust vta and overhang. Vtf is a little harder.

Oilmanmojo
Peter -- on the linear arms, vta will effect vtf and overhang.

This is true for every tonearm (linear or pivoted) except for one - the older ET 2.0, and the current ET 2.5. The reason is the ET tonearm has been designed to optimize the VTA/SRA tracking angle of the cartridge.

To get a picture of the physics involved, imagine a table with a piece of paper on top. Place you hand sideways and holding a pencil marker with your first three fingers lower the marker onto the paper so it makes a mark. Note your hands inner position. Now place a book on the table, Place your hand on top of the book this time and repeat the exercise with the pencil marker. You will see that coming down from a higher point places the overhang closer to your hand. If you could weigh both attempts the vtf in the first - lower try would be heavier.

The ET 2.0 and 2.5 have a worm gear mechanism utilizing a cylinder. As you raise and lower the VTA the whole air bearing spindle moves up and down along the true center line over an accurate path to maintain position. Only the position of the stylus tip with respect to its position in the groove changes. Bruce Thigpen has this mechanism patented.

Oilman - your Maplenoll tonearm is very similar to the ET 1 as Bruce Thigpen used to be the project engineer there before he formed Eminent Technology.
Its an interesting history.

can be read here

03-02-15: Dgarretson
Ditto Trans-Fi Terminator. I have three pivot arms in the drawer(MS-505, EPA-100, Kenwood L07D), but given the steller performance and ease of set-up of Terminator, there is scant motivation to tinker.

I don't recall seeing your comparo of them DG ?

Analog stuff keeps going up in price. Digital keeps coming down. Leave them in the drawer. They will be probably be worth the same if not more next year this time.

Cheers

I did not realize this about the et-2 arms. The maplenoll arm, though similar to the ET, are not quite as advanced or elegant
I am very familiar with the maplenoll arms and thigpen contribution having 3 different versions of the maplenolls. The original ariadne and ariadne signature arm was pretty difficult and very high mass. It worked but the adjustments were "crude". I modified my first maplenoll with an on the fly VTA and carbon fiber spindle and armwand. It really improved the float on the arm and less drag or force on the cantilever due to the large mass reduction.
My apollo was already modified by lloyd and had a ceramic tonearm that was pretty low mass, but i recently changed it out to carbon fiber. Its VTA works similar to the current et2 and has a much less effect on overhang.
Thanks for the info on the history, i had not seen this article.

Hello ct0517, I briefly heard the L07D arm with a Lyra Titan before swapping in the more satisfying Terminator. I earlier compared Terminator to SME IV and Graham 1.5tc. The current plan is to host Terminator, EPA-100, and MA-505 on a shared skeletally-plinthed SP-10 MkII-- hopefully later this year.

Agreed, I think it's more likely to lose time than money with these vintage tables and arms.

I'm looking for a second linear tracking arm and considered the Trans-Fi Terminator but it really isn't the right size for my setup.
Unfortunately the Bergmann Magne won't work with my table because it requires a minimum distance of 45mm between the plinth and the surface of the platter and I only have 30mm. The Kuzma Air Line is essentially out because it is simply beyond my budget.
I'm curious to know what my other options are in new arms. (though I would consider used ones like the Air Tangent, and Forsell)