Linear Tracking versus Pivoted Tonearms: A discussion

[adyc]

Is the air compressor of Vyger silent? Can you hear the compressor?

 

[byrdparis]

Is the air compressor of Vyger silent? Can you hear the compressor?

its dead silent! you cant hear a thing. not even late night with VERY low floor noise around and putting your ear on the TITAN electronics.
this unit is a VERY well build.

 

[bonzo75]

"It feels like it is writing the music in running cursive hand, the music just is there, while all other arms are typing the music with a predefined structure "

i think i couldn't write it better.
The Vision LT is really one of a kind (from my experience) if it's by design, because of the high pressure air bad or whatever Pino had done there...
it's not being rivaled to this date.
The attack and bass reproduction as for details and fluidity is something that needs to be heard to understand.

but for general speaking, i think all LT will be more relaxed and right for music on vinyl dialed properly, like i said i had CA tt2 (i hated this arm so much!) and when it works it was Great! The kuzma air I know from a good friend of mine and there is always a lack of "arm" signature to it also compared to his other arms (SAT, Schroeder etc.. ) but his compressor is annoying! I also have the CSport tt2 with their LT arm and it is a magnificent performer, but too polite sounding compared to the Vision. Also the Bergman seems to sound and work flawlessly every time I visit Stavros from Aries cerat... (not to mention his own design beast of a turntable and arms!!!)

I would like to hear the Schroeder LT and Thales statement with red sparrow.

The Schroeder in your friend's system you mention, is that the CB, Reference, or LT.

 

[byrdparis]

I would like to hear the Schroeder LT and Thales statement with red sparrow.

The Schroeder in your friend's system you mention, is that the CB, Reference, or LT.

he has the CB9 from Bulgaria i think. also have almost every cartridge there is
so we are playing a lot of them in his house, 2 turntables 4 arms (kuzma air, the top SAT, cb9 etc.. )
very nice sounding system and one of the best vinyl collection anywhere...

 

[bonzo75]

"It feels like it is writing the music in running cursive hand, the music just is there, while all other arms are typing the music with a predefined structure "

i think i couldn't write it better.

*blushing*

 

[Audiohertz2]

Big LT Fan myself ........

 

[marty]

Linears have the benefit of theoretically being the best, the downside is all of the approaches have their drawbacks that makes whether they are worth the hassle questionable.

I'd still love to own one of the Clearaudio linears someday, but the details of the issues people have had with them have kept me away.

The Reed 5T looks like it would work well, but also looks unlikely to stay working long-term (e.g. how do you know the battery isn't low enough in voltage for the motor to not to work at speed, yet isn't yet reading low.)

For financial and frustration reasons I'm very over high-end products that don't actually work well in practice.

The Reed 5T uses a dedicated 12V LPS and not a battery. It has been as reliable as a rock for me for over a year. I have yet to hear a pivoted arm do complex orchestration on inner grooves (where many pieces crescendo) even close to the 5T. Tracking angle error = distortion. It's just that simple. If you want to add distortion to your vinyl playback, use a pivoted arm. Of course everything else matters (i.e., bearing friction and quality, arm material and resonance etc). But it's hard to deny that distortion of any kind is sonically pernicious, and that's what pivoted arms bring with them inherently.

 

[BillK]

The Reed 5T uses a dedicated 12V LPS and not a battery. It has been as reliable as a rock for me for over a year. I have yet to hear a pivoted arm do complex orchestration on inner grooves (where many pieces crescendo) even close to the 5T. Tracking angle error = distortion. It's just that simple. If you want to add distortion to your vinyl playback, use a pivoted arm. Of course everything else matters (i.e., bearing friction and quality, arm material and resonance etc). But it's hard to deny that distortion of any kind is sonically pernicious, and that's what pivoted arms bring with them inherently.

The Reed Source 12v power supply is battery powered:

Reed Source 12V power supply is dedicated for powering hi-end audio equipment. Usually equipment is powered from the mains – 240VAC – 110VAC alternating current electric power supply, and then current is converted to direct (DC) using linear or switching converters. Quite often mains supply voltage is noisy and cluttered with interference from a surrounding electrical power users. This interference may pass through converters and can have quite strong negative impact to hi-end audio equipment performance. A solution for this problem could be Reed Source 12V – battery power supply, which accumulates energy in two nickel-metal hydride (NiMh) battery modules.

When one Source’s battery is charging, other one is used for supplying power to a connected equipment. This active battery is always galvanically isolated from charging circuit. It means that energy recipients are totally decoupled from noisy AC power grid.

Reed Source 12V automatically switches “charge-discharge” mode between battery modules, has charge and discharge level measurement and automatic safety features.

Reed Source 12V also can be used as a stand-alone device and operate with no battery charger connected. It will operate and power your equipment until both battery modules will be discharged to a certain level. To avoid complete battery discharge, which may have a negative impact to their service time, supply output will be disconnected. Each battery module’s status is indicated by two LED indicators. Green LEDs indicate that battery is charged and number of bars shows remaining charge percentage. Orange LED color shows that battery is charging and bar number indicates the battery charge level. Single red LED bar shows that battery is completely discharged and it could be used only after it is properly charged.

 

[marty]

The Reed Source 12v power supply is battery powered:

Bill,
I understand the discrepancy. When I ordered my 5T, the Reed power supply was undergoing as revision and was not available. What Reed provided for 5T purchasers at the time was a 3rd party 12V LPS in lieu of the Reed unit that uses batteries as you pointed out. The unit they provided was the well-known SboosterEco MkII which has been popularized by many dealers, notably, Upscale Audio in California. Kevin Deal is, shall we say, an acquired taste, but here is his rant on the Sbooster.

To be honest, there are dozens of 12V LPS units readily available from Ali-Express that are its equal (I use 4 of them elsewhere) for about $100, but since Reed chose the Sbooster (which does not use batteries), I saw no reason to use anything else. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Marty

 

[Argonaut]

The Reed 5T uses a dedicated 12V LPS and not a battery. It has been as reliable as a rock for me for over a year. I have yet to hear a pivoted arm do complex orchestration on inner grooves (where many pieces crescendo) even close to the 5T. Tracking angle error = distortion. It's just that simple. If you want to add distortion to your vinyl playback, use a pivoted arm. Of course everything else matters (i.e., bearing friction and quality, arm material and resonance etc). But it's hard to deny that distortion of any kind is sonically pernicious, and that's what pivoted arms bring with them inherently.

I am surprised that the the Reed 5T does not garner more attention than it deserves imho … A very well thought out and designed solution for folks who do not wish to go down the full on LT route . Yes It is expensive … however the 5A also takes one a fair way down that path for quite a fair chunk less cash .

 

[BillK]

I think in part it's because even professionals say it's a complete nightmare to setup.

 

[BillK]

Bill,
I understand the discrepancy. When I ordered my 5T, the Reed power supply was undergoing as revision and was not available. What Reed provided for 5T purchasers at the time was a 3rd party 12V LPS in lieu of the Reed unit that uses batteries as you pointed out. The unit they provided was the well-known SboosterEco MkII which has been popularized by many dealers, notably, Upscale Audio in California. Kevin Deal is, shall we say, an acquired taste, but here is his rant on the Sbooster.

To be honest, there are dozens of 12V LPS units readily available from Ali-Express that are its equal (I use 4 of them elsewhere) for about $100, but since Reed chose the Sbooster (which does not use batteries), I saw no reason to use anything else. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Marty

Note also the Stereophile review stated (emboldening mine):

During record playback, a laser emitter located just below the upper vertical bearing points and a Gort-like laser sensor (footnote 2) located at the rearmost part of the arm assembly are used to track the tonearm's lateral motion; that information is used to adjust, on the fly, the position of the tonearm's lateral pivot: a correction applied in real time by means of a small, battery-powered motor in the arm-mount assembly.

Analog Corner #298: Reed Muse 1C turntable and 5T tonearm

 

[DasguteOhr]

doesn't look that complicated at first if you follow it step by step.
Of course, if you do it for the first time it will take longer than 10 minutes.
Much more interesting is the question of how long it will work without interference, for example optical lasers and dust usually do not mix well