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Anyone use auto lifters? Opinions

I must be getting lazy in my old age. I keep wishing someone would raise my tonearm for me. Sometimes you are just involved in something and putting it down to lift the tonearm is a pain. There are several auto lifters on the market. Does anyone have any experience with these? Do they work reliably and are they easy enough to trip that you do not have to worry about you tonearm and cartridge?
128x128mijostyn
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
Auto lift and return is an important feature to me, so I bought and restored a vintage semi-auto turntable. I don’t understand why the feature is not available on new turntables any more. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn OP
8,570 posts
 
Thanx for the help. It seems like the AT unit gets the best reviews. It is also pricey at $129 amazon prime. The Qup is rather large and certainly will not fit on my SOTA. It might on the SME but I tend to us the SOTA more.There are several versions of the AT lift from a cheaper Chinese version to the Little Fwend which is almost twice the price. Has anybody used the Expressimo Audio lifter? I love the simplicity of design and it looks like it will fit anywhere. It goes for $100.  

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn OP
8,570 posts
 
Sleepwalker65, the audiophile community shunned automated tonearms thinking that the mechanisms would cause a deterioration in sound quality. Plus many audiophiles want to mix and match tonearms and tables making mechanized tonearms impossible. Stacking records was considered an absolute no no. I think an automated turntable with excellent performance could be done but the market just is not big enough to support it. All those folks interested in convenience are just streaming and have no interest in vinyl. But we know better:) 
gjohns
90 posts
 
Greetings.  I too have used the Q-up with good results. The product works as advertised.

I have since installed the more visually appealing Tru-Lift,  which can be finicky, depending on the run out of the record,  but lifts 98% of the time.There is a sensitivity adjustment - alas - 100% is not achievable.

Pricey it may be,  but it looks great on my TT.  Cheers.


sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
Mijostyn I have a Technics SL-1700mk2, which doesn’t engage the arm return motor until an optical sensor triggers it. It’s like having your cake and eating it too. Because the system is not physically in contact with the arm pivot while a record is playing, it has no negative impact. And I said semi-automatic, which is only arm return and platter motor shutoff at end of play. Record  changers  like those old BSR units with crappy ceramic cartridges are taboo. 
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