I never had a linear trackingTT but I had a friend long ago with a Thorens turntable with Rabco arm which always looked so cool when we were kids. So my question is on one of those turntables is the stylus at the tangent point of the record or is it offset from that point? How does the difference in the radius of the track from outer to inner track affect the stylus as the record is playing, is it superior in some way to a standard pivoting arm or only in regards to anti-skating?
Arc Angles: Optimizing Tonearm Geometry | Stereophile.com an easy to digest article on tracking error. a Linear tracker has effectively zero tracking error, but in return you have a whole heap of additional problems to deal with! I've got the original Baerwald paper on my reading list, but that will take some digesting.
Summary is that Vinyl really shouldn't be nice to listen to!
Summary is that Vinyl really shouldn't be nice to listen to!
The Rabco is set up for zero overhang, and is intended to be tangent and perform the same at any radius.
The tracking error is often worse across the playing area than with a pivoted arm, since it constantly
hunts back and forth from zero with active correction (in one direction).
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/mbrs/r...Servo-Driven Straight Line Phonograph Arm.pdf
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Thanks Bill. I'll read the paper just for sh*ts and giggles. 🙂 I doubt I will ever have a system like John talks about with everything perfected for vinyl. Just learning how to align the new Ortofon cartridge I got for my old Technics SL-Q2 table with what looks like only one place to do anything, the rotation around the mount center-line, and get it right would be nice. This turntable has been sitting for literally almost 20 years. The kids decided when young that you could play a CD on my TT and wiped out the stylus. I figured I'd wait until they were grown up before I ever replaced the stylus. Now I can fix it and listen to vinyl that has been sitting as long as the table. I never had to do any of this stuff as my brother-in-law did all that for me back then. All I can see is that you can turn the cartridge around the mount since there is no separate head-shell and get the stylus perpendicular to the vinyl. I guess one of those test records would help but I've never seen or heard one. 
rayma,
Thanks. I would think if the center hole was not perfectly centered the tracking of a linear arm would be complex to keep it following a wandering groove. You just answered that question.
Thanks. I would think if the center hole was not perfectly centered the tracking of a linear arm would be complex to keep it following a wandering groove. You just answered that question.
SL-Q2 isn't a bad table. Same motor as the SL-1200 just running at a lower voltage. I've got a pile of DD motors hanging around for experimentation.
Well idlers are in vogue now amongst some. I suspect with work you could make the Dual rather good. But all I know about idlers is:
-Garrards go for stupid money
-Thorens go for silly money
-I should have picked up a lenco when they were cheap 2 years ago.
Like many I was put off idlers by experience with a Garrard SP-25 decades ago.
-Garrards go for stupid money
-Thorens go for silly money
-I should have picked up a lenco when they were cheap 2 years ago.
Like many I was put off idlers by experience with a Garrard SP-25 decades ago.
That's right, plus the complication of off-center records, but who has any of those?
Bill,
Unlike the Technics I would imagine I will have to put some real work into the Dual TT to get it working again. The grease is probably dry and I can imagine that anything rubber that has been sitting in one place all this time has a flat spot. So I'd truly have to disassemble the TT and clean that all up, the direct drive Technics will just work.
Unlike the Technics I would imagine I will have to put some real work into the Dual TT to get it working again. The grease is probably dry and I can imagine that anything rubber that has been sitting in one place all this time has a flat spot. So I'd truly have to disassemble the TT and clean that all up, the direct drive Technics will just work.
Never assumed you would, but a few more 'round tuits' needed 🙂
The Dual was $180 in 1970, so not a cheap deck by any stretch.
To show you what your Technics could become Calvin has a nice webpage on his projects MyTechnics - en - calvins-audio-pages
Not that I am at all wishing to add to your things to do whilst you are busy turning speaker parts 🙂
The Dual was $180 in 1970, so not a cheap deck by any stretch.
To show you what your Technics could become Calvin has a nice webpage on his projects MyTechnics - en - calvins-audio-pages
Not that I am at all wishing to add to your things to do whilst you are busy turning speaker parts 🙂
There was actually a turntable that corrected for off-center records, perhaps in the 70s or 80s.
Can't remember the name, though it may have been British. I assume it had an under-sized spindle
as part of the system.
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That's it, turns out it had a two-piece platter.
Nakamichi Dragon CT Manual - 2-Speed Direct-Drive Turntable - Vinyl Engine
No, no I'm not. The coil can be slightly loaded offset and still perform, where as if the tip is far off you'll literally not have anything play to one side of center that you can really hear. The tip has to make contact for there to be music, and nothing can change that. Having a more balanced coil cannot create signal where there is none. Besides most cartridges are fairly tolerant since they're made to move a fair bit on suspencion.
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