New LT arm

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Videos show significant sideways deflection when arm cues down, then drags stylus sideways when it cues up. Note that when they pick the arm up by hand and set back down moved left or right that the servo doesn't do anything to restore tangency. I suspect that the servo design only got as far as scanning for songs but they haven't yet figured out how to do error/tangency control yet - but that will be easy, right?

Ray K
 
It's just another servo type arm that was around in the 80s a la Aiwa, Sony, B&O, etc... Nothing special. BUT what's interesting for me is that this is the first time I see a quasi-pistonic bearing and/or flexure type bearing for vertical movement. Very interesting! From the video it seems loosy goosy though. Back to the drawing board!

zephyr_apoll_ta.jpg
 
That flex strip is probably to isolate some nasty low end resonances from their implementation of the LT sled arrangement.

There is no vertical bearing on the main bar at all, only horizontal movement.
The flex strip is the only thing for vertical movement in combination with the two vertical knobs.

Watch the 2:01 mark.
Zephyr Apollo Kickstarter Official Video
 
It is still a presentable unit by design, they would have done better if they priced it right.

Still awaiting for my Meg-Lev turntable to arrive, pledged for it cos the price is affordable, even if it falls short of good sounding(yet to know), the Meg-Lev platter is more than enough to impress.
 
It'll be interesting to see what becomes of this.

To be fair, it appears they at least began with a halfway decent belt-drive turntable as a basis for development. Scroll to the bottom of the Kickstarter page for some actual specifications. Wow and flutter are a respectable 0.027%, while S/N ratio (rumble?) is 72 db. If these are real, then this group stands in refreshing contrast to many of the other current manufacturers that are loath to release these same numbers (Rega leaps to mind).

Like spaceistheplace above, I appreciate their effort. But for me part of the whole vinyl experience is having to get up off my bum to change the music; I don't want to be able to change tracks with a phone app. Sounds weird, I know - but to each his own.

IMHO, for this turntable to be "next level"- worthy (ugh!) it should at least be servo-controlled direct drive (e.g. Technics SP-10, the better Denon models, etc.) - another technology that's been around for about ~40 years...
 
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I saw the kickstarter and videos of that Mag-Lev thing, the inch-plus levitation height seems "wasteful" of magnetic energy, and it needs some damping - the platter kept oscillating after someone touched it. "Oh, but it LOOKS impressive!"

It's regrettable that (pretty much as it's always has been, but it seems to have gotten worse over time) these things are made more for the gee-whiz features (aimed at the millennials, as mentioned) than for technical playback performance.
 
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