Discuss The Viv Lab Rigid Arm

Maybe this indicates that zero tracking angle error is not the Holy Grail some claim it to be.

That's the designer's whole point, right?

I suspect there are a few other things at play here beyond the TAE vs. skating force.  From personal experience I can say that 3° TAE error on a conventional overhung setup is vastly different in sonic character than the same error on the 9" Schröder reference I set up as a 0 offset underhung arm.  I purposely chose 3° TAE since it is beyond properly setup traditional tonearm error but guaranteed to occur on any underhung design.

dave

Except where there’s a pre-existing zenith error of > or = 3 degrees. In that case even an overhang may have a >3 degree net TAE error.

@intactaudio 

OK now I'm remembering you speculating above that what some might call the 
"slop" of the magnetic bearing in the Viv might be a benefit. Is there similar play in the Shroeder bearing? I used to have a Model 2 with string bearing but I remember the magnets kept it more rigidly in place than on the Viv.

Based on manual pushing, pulling, and twisting, I don’t detect much slop in the Viv bearing. None in the fore and aft directions and a teeny bit if you twist with more force than ever occurs naturally during use. I don’t know how this compares to the Schroeder.

Looks like very few are able to overcome what they have been taught,

And before anyone gets excited, overcoming what your society teaches is you is almost always wrong. The problem is that in the very few exceptions to that "almost always" is where progress lies.