A friend sent me this video discussing the technical challenges between the different types of arms. I was surprised to hear about the limitations of linear trackers and how in Fremer's and J.R.'s opinion, the tracking distortions of pivoted arms seem to do less damage to the final listening result.
Linear Tracking versus Pivoted Tonearms: A discussion
- Thread starter PeterA
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you do realize that investing an hour to be able to watch the video to respond makes it unlikely to have much response.
when i have time i'll try to watch it and comment. owned linear trackers on and off for many years. i will say that without actually living with a linear tracker long term it's hard to get their full measure. and they are not all created equal.
when i have time i'll try to watch it and comment. owned linear trackers on and off for many years. i will say that without actually living with a linear tracker long term it's hard to get their full measure. and they are not all created equal.
Mike, I am simply sharing it here for anyone interested in the subject. These are two of the experts discussing pros and cons.
Linears are a constant challenge (read pita) and need that attn , when done so with due diligence they have no peer , pivot arms are left standing ...
i've only owned 3 linear trackers, the Rockport Sirius IISE for 18 months, the Sirius III for 9 years, and now the CS Port LFT1 for going on 6 years.
my experience is a little different, agree that linear trackers require due diligence, and there is a learning curve, and can be obstante until you figure them out. but once understood they play nice. maybe on the Rockport the air box did need some attention over time, but not the CS Port.
as far as being clearly superior to pivots it's not that simple and it depends on the pivot and the linear. the best pivots have fewer compromises than linear trackers. but there are some aspects of the music pivots cannot quite pull off like a linear tracker....pivots have a less distinct character than linear trackers.
and we are talking about tangential linear trackers here, specifically air bearing types.
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What I find interesting is that the issue seems to be tracking distortion where a linear tracking arm would seem to have an advantage in this area over pivoting arms. Then a number of years ago Fremer said he prefers the 9 inch to 12 inch arm.
Now we have both MF and JR, seeming to agree the tracking distortion is not really the issue, but that implementation had other distortions From linear tracker, implementation, two different resonant frequencies, chatter, less than perfect cartridge construction, all lead to greater issues that are more audible than is tracking distortion.
I thought it was a pretty interesting discussion focused on issues that are not often discussed when comparing these two different approaches.
I do find the video a bit long.
Now we have both MF and JR, seeming to agree the tracking distortion is not really the issue, but that implementation had other distortions From linear tracker, implementation, two different resonant frequencies, chatter, less than perfect cartridge construction, all lead to greater issues that are more audible than is tracking distortion.
I thought it was a pretty interesting discussion focused on issues that are not often discussed when comparing these two different approaches.
I do find the video a bit long.
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