New Schroeder linear tonearm, any thoughts?

Hi,

Here is a youtube video link from this past RMAF that "might" give you a better feel for how the Schroeder LT arm operates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYqcQl5pLgU

I also have the arm installed on my Beat TT and I would echo what John has said about the sonic performance of the arm. I've tried to describe as best I could what I hear with the LT arm on my system page.

Hope that helps a little.

Arnie

Schröder LT in action from the previous year, RMAF 2012

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The first video is fascinating. The second one does not really give a sense of what is happening.

I would think that for it to have truly linear (tangental) movement, the stylus must follow a straight line moving along the exact radius of the LP, theoretically ending at the spindle or center. It looks like this is accomplished by the base moving in and out and being hinged at two points and moving along an arch. But I don't see that the base moves the entire 5" or so that represent all of the grooves on the LP.

It's a very intriguing design and a difficult geometry problem to visualize. The bearings must be extremely silent and free of slop for there not to be any chatter considering all of the movement at the base where it can vibrate. Could Arnie or jfrech add some clarification?

Just think of the stylus to the armwand as a straight line and the stylus to the spindle another straight line and the two lines form an angle and as long as that angle always maintains 90° then it doesn't matter what the base is doing or whether the arm goes in an arc or not. And it will track tangentially. The same theory applies to the Thales tonearm, except it pivots at the headshell, whereas the Schroder has a fixed one with no offset angle. The Schroder does not use the Thales geometry but having an understanding of the Thales semi-circle will give you a better idea. The advantage of the Schroder and Thales tonearms is that they do not have to use linear bearings with its enormous horizontal mass. The Schroder also has advantage over the Thales of having little to almost no skating force, hence the absence of anti-skating adjustment.

Ingenious indeed!

Thales semi-circle

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Hiho, Thanks for the explanation. It is much clearer now. As long as that angle is 90 degrees, the stylus does not need to trace the radius of the LP. It is constantly hitting a different radius as the LP rotates which is why it is always tangent while a normal pivoting arm only hits two radii, (at the null points) during the entire side. That is why the arm base does not have to move that 5" or so. This arm is constantly adjusting.