I haven't touched my Goldmund Reference in 5 years for not wanting to deal with the arm, its a pita to set up. I've owned several other LT's both air bearing and standard ones, always overly complicated and problematic. I don't see how they're such great trackers when they move across with notched belts or toilet flush chains like the CA/Souther arm.
I wouldn't say better just very different, that's what makes them special and collectable they're all very different from any other SPU past or present!
Dave, I’m really not going to promote a $1k air bearing linear tracker on this thread, but other than the need for absolute level (which I’m sure the AS can achieve), my air Terminator is a very simple piece of kit to install.
It runs at 2-3psi so doesn’t have some of the day to day issues that air arms at 70-80psi are bedevilled by.
And it’s giving me a performance quite different to those from pivoted arms that I’m reluctant to ever lose.
Dave, I’m really not going to promote a $1k air bearing linear tracker on this thread, but other than the need for absolute level (which I’m sure the AS can achieve), my air Terminator is a very simple piece of kit to install.
It runs at 2-3psi so doesn’t have some of the day to day issues that air arms at 70-80psi are bedevilled by.
And it’s giving me a performance quite different to those from pivoted arms that I’m reluctant to ever lose.
but at that pressure it ´s hardly an "air bearing", rather "floater" like the dennesen or forsell
reg day 2 day issues....the pump unit must be placed at lower level than arm unit to avoid moistrure to run down to arm....the airtangent ref has heated air with Norgren humidity filters
best
Leif
Leif, maybe. I don’t have enough info to argue.
All I know is it tracks in a linear fashion on a bed of air, and is a revelation compared to my previous arms, SME V and Roksan Artemiz.
yes you´re right about the sonical advantages....
most natural midrange and sense of "air"
but a tight high pressure airbearing improves significantly on low end reproduction
I´ve had or heard loads of airbearing arms...the next after Airt.ref was Rockport....a friend has one on a Micro Seiki 1500FVG..Koetsu urishi and wood sign
a friend had Melco with Dennesen
loads of Forsells and Bergmanns around here in Norway
Leif, you’d be surprised just how good the bass I’m getting from a low pressure linear air arm is. It’s totally re educated me as to how good the low end from vinyl can be. My ongoing dialling in issues are more to do with the higher frequencies which are a little elusive at the moment.
experience from those who have experience...like David. I asked about LT's before. They look like an utter PITA with only a theoretical tracking advantage that has yet to be realized/proven compared to radial arms.
You should hear your master innovation with their statement LT arm versus their top of line tangential. I know massive price difference but massive performance difference. Not even close. Heard this quite a few times with Gold Finger.
I bought a NOS SPU 90A earlier in the year and mounted it originally on the EMT 997i then tried it on my SME 3012R and felt the sound was more grown up and detailed without the midbass emphasis. The guy I bought the my SPU 90 also had a NOS 85th, and I chose the 90th because the tracking force was a little lower.
But I now see and hear why they are legendary. The sound and musicality in my setup is impressive. I have listened to it exclusively for the last month instead of my other carts.
Now I need to get my other SME 3012R that I found NOS mounted.
Dave, I’m really not going to promote a $1k air bearing linear tracker on this thread, but other than the need for absolute level (which I’m sure the AS can achieve), my air Terminator is a very simple piece of kit to install.
It runs at 2-3psi so doesn’t have some of the day to day issues that air arms at 70-80psi are bedevilled by.
And it’s giving me a performance quite different to those from pivoted arms that I’m reluctant to ever lose.
Marc, price is irrelevant if it's good it's good. My comments were regarding LTs in general, I don't find them better trackers than pivoted arms actually worse in many cases when they come with indented belts. There are complexities with their setup that I'm not fond of, the pump is a issue, their parameters change over time and air pressure/airflow are sometimes never ending tweaking parameters. The point I was making is that nothing is perfect and LTs aren't the perfect tools that they're touted, it comes down to the individual arm and not the tech.
I had a couple WE horns before the Bionor but never found a complete speaker with original bass bin, what I had made was never quite right. Upper frequency of 6-8khz is simply inadequate and again the options where add ons that never really blend rather than a complete solution, in the end with no top end, no bottom and no crossover one ends up chasing a oasis the Bionor is a plug & full range speaker that I actually prefer sonically to the WE systems. JBL subs come in around 65hz, can't be sure exactly because the low pass crossover I use has sliders with no markings but you know how it goes with subs, in room performance and what's on the dial are two different things.
I bought a NOS SPU 90A earlier in the year and mounted it originally on the EMT 997i then tried it on my SME 3012R and felt the sound was more grown up and detailed without the midbass emphasis. The guy I bought the my SPU 90 also had a NOS 85th, and I chose the 90th because the tracking force was a little lower.
But I now see and hear why they are legendary. The sound and musicality in my setup is impressive. I have listened to it exclusively for the last month instead of my other carts.
Now I need to get my other SME 3012R that I found NOS mounted.
I still have my SPU a95 back for sale. 2 buyers committed and dropped out due to inability to raise funds. I bought it at 1300Euro brand new (2600 retail) from an Italian dealer via Gian, he too bought one. The a95 was used to compare against a85, where it proved much better on all qualities of tone, bass, details, dynamics. Gian has both that and the Synergy and prefers the a95 iirc. I also visited Swissonor the Thorens restorer who had the a90 but said that the a95 was better (his wore out so was using the a90). Mine has been used only for a85 compare, and another compare against Zyx where the owner burned it in for a couple of days (he was one of the guys planning to buy, he liked it that much, but since has had an accident and other problems). So it is has effectively been hardly played. I am just selling to move funds to another toy to play with, maybe phono, arm, or cart.
I had a couple WE horns before the Bionor but never found a complete speaker with original bass bin, what I had made was never quite right. Upper frequency of 6-8khz is simply inadequate and again the options where add ons that never really blend rather than a complete solution, in the end with no top end, no bottom and no crossover one ends up chasing a oasis the Bionor is a plug & full range speaker that I actually prefer sonically to the WE systems. (...)
Yes, I had a couple of horn loaded cabinets built but haven't had much success with the quality of the build. The makers seem to have theoretical knowledge of how to build them and can follow plans but they don't get the nuances of resonant boxes and tend to build the horn loaded boxes too dead which gives a different flavor than what I was looking for so the JBLs are my compromise. They're very efficient, built right and I can blend them very well with the Bionors. I have another pair for my Vitavox corner horns that work extremely well too all driven with Lamm ML2 amps but a proper horn sub is always in the back of my mind but I need a larger room for that.
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