Walter Karlson tonearm
Here's another strange tonearm that looks like huge pivoting headshell to correct tracking error. Judging by the pictures, it appears to be using two strings for guiding the geometry. Not much can be found on the net and this was introduced by Musical Surrounding in 2002 and had since disappeared into audio abyss. Such a shame as we can learn a few tricks from this curious item. Of course, the purist fascists will cry foul about it not being simple enough. Hey, at least someone is trying something new!
And here is a blurb about it:
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Here's another strange tonearm that looks like huge pivoting headshell to correct tracking error. Judging by the pictures, it appears to be using two strings for guiding the geometry. Not much can be found on the net and this was introduced by Musical Surrounding in 2002 and had since disappeared into audio abyss. Such a shame as we can learn a few tricks from this curious item. Of course, the purist fascists will cry foul about it not being simple enough. Hey, at least someone is trying something new!
And here is a blurb about it:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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more things to melt your brain
That's just a conventional tonearm from Pluto Audio. I'm not sure which version but the headshell just happens to be attached by a bolt to a spherical joint that looks like a magnet. More pictures from here. Very expensive.
Thanks! Very interesting. I still can't wrap my head around the design on how it achieve tangential tracking. Since there is no offset at the headshell, that tells me the pivot point is one angle in the Thales triangle so that means the armtube itself has to extend or shorten using whatever mechanism to achieve that and, perhaps, that's what the invention is about.
The John Pretto patent also references other patents including the Birch arm I mentioned earlier and the ancestor of Rabco, a servo design!
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4302834.pdf - Designed by John Pretto
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3476394.pdf - Designed by R. W. Birch
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2915315.pdf - Designed by Jacob Rabinow
US Patent:4302834 November 14, 1981
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That's just a conventional tonearm from Pluto Audio. I'm not sure which version but the headshell just happens to be attached by a bolt to a spherical joint that looks like a magnet. More pictures from here. Very expensive.
Thanks! Very interesting. I still can't wrap my head around the design on how it achieve tangential tracking. Since there is no offset at the headshell, that tells me the pivot point is one angle in the Thales triangle so that means the armtube itself has to extend or shorten using whatever mechanism to achieve that and, perhaps, that's what the invention is about.
The John Pretto patent also references other patents including the Birch arm I mentioned earlier and the ancestor of Rabco, a servo design!
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4302834.pdf - Designed by John Pretto
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3476394.pdf - Designed by R. W. Birch
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2915315.pdf - Designed by Jacob Rabinow
US Patent:4302834 November 14, 1981
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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Then there was the Worden articulated tone arm...
Worden articulated 1962 wood tonearm
article in English. useful resource!
Worden articulated 1962 wood tonearm
article in English. useful resource!
"Worden Articulated Pick Up Arm"
Thanks! Very cool. And that's an awesome Russian website on vintage gears!
Probably the arm's execution is less than desirable than its novelty. It's nice to accumulate these ideas here.
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Thanks! Very cool. And that's an awesome Russian website on vintage gears!
Probably the arm's execution is less than desirable than its novelty. It's nice to accumulate these ideas here.
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Gracias!
Great quote! People are probably laughing at me right now for bothering with all these complicated designs. What a bunch of Rube Goldberg silliness! I know, I am a troublemaker. Hey, at least it's entertaining, right?
Thanks to all the members who graced this thread for indulging me.
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Great quote! People are probably laughing at me right now for bothering with all these complicated designs. What a bunch of Rube Goldberg silliness! I know, I am a troublemaker. Hey, at least it's entertaining, right?
Thanks to all the members who graced this thread for indulging me.
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stringing along more silliness
More experimental tonearms. I am going off on a tangent here, pun intended. These have nothing to do tangential tracking. I believe it's about using string to deal with tracking force to lessen the moment of inertia from the ubiquitous counterweight. As you can tell, some of these arms use recycle parts from other arms.
It was inspired by the(47 Labs) RS Labs RS-A1 tonearm. Here's the text on the website via Google Translate:
I'm not sure any of these work at all as tonearms. Apparently this is just one big experiment and we never saw the final product as can be seen in this series pictures in historical context: What disappointment!
More images from Russian site
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More experimental tonearms. I am going off on a tangent here, pun intended.
These have nothing to do tangential tracking. I believe it's about using string to deal with tracking force to lessen the moment of inertia from the ubiquitous counterweight. As you can tell, some of these arms use recycle parts from other arms. It was inspired by the(47 Labs) RS Labs RS-A1 tonearm. Here's the text on the website via Google Translate:
I'm not sure any of these work at all as tonearms. Apparently this is just one big experiment and we never saw the final product as can be seen in this series pictures in historical context: What disappointment!
More images from Russian site
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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more "articulated" tonearm
I suspect the Karlson tonearm is not a tangential tracker and is probably an arm that deals with the vertical geometry like the LOCI tonearm.
Patent designed by Adam Rosenberg - - AND - - More pictures to articulate
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I suspect the Karlson tonearm is not a tangential tracker and is probably an arm that deals with the vertical geometry like the LOCI tonearm.
Patent designed by Adam Rosenberg - - AND - - More pictures to articulate
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More pictures of Schroder pivot tangential arm from the European Triode Festival 2009.
Nice close up picture of the headshell, bearing, and string.
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Nice close up picture of the headshell, bearing, and string.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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Hi fellow freaks
This is one of the most interesting lines I have read in this forum. Inspired by Schroeder and the man from Italie I have made something likes this to my tonearm and it was easy to do. It took me 2 hours an the result was wonderfull. The sound become softer, relaxet and a lot of thing happen in music that I never hear before. So please do your selve a good thing trye it. You will be surprice in a good way
Yours Ole
This is one of the most interesting lines I have read in this forum. Inspired by Schroeder and the man from Italie I have made something likes this to my tonearm and it was easy to do. It took me 2 hours an the result was wonderfull. The sound become softer, relaxet and a lot of thing happen in music that I never hear before. So please do your selve a good thing trye it. You will be surprice in a good way
Yours Ole
Glad you enjoy the thread. Can you show us some pictures so we can enjoy your experiment?
Here's an interview of Michel Huber from Thales in a Singapore online magazine, along with some good pictures.
http://www.mod-avi.com/modezine/mod10.pdf
Some good pictures from Munich audio show.
http://www.audionet.com.tw/doc/view/sn/2662
And here's a Youtube video of the Thales tonearms in action.
2010 Münich High End Show - Thales tonearms on Brinkmann turntable
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The WKarlson Tonearm - Musical Surroundings - looks very interesting, but the Van Eps is still my favourite ...
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Thanks Frank for such awesome pictures of the Van Eps Lab tonearm. It appears to be the same arm in a Thorens TD-126 turntable in the previous post. The Van Eps certainly tops in "cool" factor, mechanically clever and visually striking. The Van Eps twin armwand concept is materialized in the Thales Simplicity in contemporary design. I always wonder if using dual unipivot bearings would work even better to simplify things and reduce the number of bearings, contact area, and friction.... Really curious how it sounds. Also, if you own or know more about this arm, how does the vertical bearing work? The latest Stereophile,October 2010 issue, has a rave reviews of the Thales AV arm and said to be comparable to the Continuum Cobra arm. I look forward to a review of the Simplicity tonearm in the future. Thanks again for posting the close-up pictures of the Van Eps arm. Cool!
Oleslot, thank you also for your wonderful DIY effort and your experimental spirit. To know that you really like the improved sound is very encouraging. Thanks!!
Long live DIY!!
Oleslot, thank you also for your wonderful DIY effort and your experimental spirit. To know that you really like the improved sound is very encouraging. Thanks!!
Long live DIY!!
innovation
If the hand just turns the angle according to the Thales circle, we will have zero tracking error. A perfect tonearm..... if not perfectly toned.
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If the hand just turns the angle according to the Thales circle, we will have zero tracking error. A perfect tonearm..... if not perfectly toned.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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