Why Linear Tracking never took off?


Popular in the mid-80s...Linear tracking tables have vanished from the scene...what was the rational behind their creation?...Are there any good used tables to consider...or is this design long gone?....thanks...the simplicity of operation intrigues me...
128x128phasecorrect
Actually, I once had a Sony linear tracking table, but I recall nothing much about it. It did bring me back into vinyl and to the purchase of a Rabco arm. When was the PS X800 made?
Tbg...I got mine about 1980. Not all Sony linear tracking tables had the "Biotracer" servo controlled arm, and not all "Biotracer" arms were linear tracking. Being an Engineer, I naturally had to get the service manual and see how this thing worked. Holy smokes! Working with balistic missile guidance systems I have seen a lot of schematics and block diagrams, but this Sony design is about as complex as anything I have seen. In fact, that is my only criticism.

As a have mentioned before, I became a convert to linear tracking after attending a High End seminar about the design and setup of pivoting arms. I concluded that there was no practical way to get all those forces and angles right across the recorded area. True, as you say, linear tracking arms have their own set of problems, but I think that I found one that did not have them.
I just stumbled on this thread. I guess I need to pull out my PS X 800 table and try it out again after all these years. If I recall correctly the "Biotracer" technology included active resonance supression in addition to servo tracking of the arm.

I bought mine around 1983. My biggest recollection is how great the inner third of LPs sounded in comparison to other tables at the time.

Of course, this was during my mid-fi period. I wonder what I'll think of it now?
Oh yes. Linear tracking. Every vinyl audiophile's dream. The
idea is right, but most executions of the idea had flaws. For
example, the "buzz-buzz-buzz" of the Rabco as it tried to
maintain tangency with its servos. The nightmare of setups,
the big pops and poor cueing that sometimes flipped the
cartridge in strange ways, and on and on, not to mention
hum. All of these problems are solvable, but not with the
pocketbook of the average audiophile in mind. I would like
to try the new "megabuck" linear arms when my rich uncle
leaves me enough greenbacks. C. Miller, Columbus, OH