Ancient AR Turntable with NO anti skate

Cleeds et al.....   I just wonder how many have really compared the sound of a/s with no a/s and came away with the sound being better with it.  Everyone can decide for themselves but to me it is SO clear that no a/s delivers better sound that it really makes me wonder about those who post on these page.  I'll tell you that the timbre of music doesn't change, but the things that make the system sound better in audiophile terms does.  I have a VPI 3D tonearm with a Winfield cartridge.  Any center presented soloist is much clearly centered with no bleed left or right...a much greater sense of depth, and air is presented without a/s ...and so it goes.  The VPI arms are very easy to add/remove a/s while the record is playing...simply by flipping the device over.  It matters not that posters use a/s or not....it just makes me bewildered that people play by the "rules" and forge ahead.  I should mention that I set up my arm extremely carefully with a 2.6 grm tracking force (manufacturer's spec), use a Fozgometer, and Mint protractor.

Normansizemore.....Do you remember the Harmann-Kardon turntable with linear tracking??

pryso,

There is no question that the reason we see so many belt drive tables is because they are cheap to manufacture.  Idler drive and direct drive tables are definitely more expensive.  I remember looking at my Linn LP12 and Aristion RD11 (same table) and thinking that other then the nice plinths there isn't much to it.  My Garrard, Dual and EMT are truly custom made tables.  Each part manufactured specifically for the table. The build quality is so evident.  I tire of seeing massive acrylic platters, powered by puny little motors that struggle to get up to speed. 

To me (my opinion) that's hardly engineering. 

Norman

stringreen,

Normansizemore.....Do you remember the Harmann-Kardon turntable with linear tracking??

Yes I do.  It was the Harman Kardon ST-7 with the RABCO tonearm.
They had some problems at first, but I have seen those perform quite well. 

I believe that originally, RABCO was an independent company and Harman Kardon eventually bought them out and took over manufacturing.  That is when some of the minor production issues got sorted out.  It was quite popular in the mid seventies.

Norman

normansizemore, I still own a SL-8 Rabco arm that's slated to get an update....replace the metal beaded chain drive with a plasticized cable version, some 'creative damping' to isolate motor and carriage, and whatever else comes to mind.  When set up properly, they work quite nicely.  I've got the mechanical version of the TT & arm version as well; doesn't function as well as the SL but I got it 'back when' for next to nil as a curiosity piece.  I've also a Garrard Z-100 and a Teac full auto TT that's not as nice as the Technics SL-10 that I used to have once upon a time...

I like tangential arms.  That's the way the masters are cut, so it just makes sense to me to play them that way.  Anti-skate becomes a non-issue....

I'd go to an air-bearing arm in a heartbeat, but I don't have the disposable $ to go there.  So I play with the less esoteric stuff that works nearly as well.
If it goes south on me, I can avoid getting stressed out over it. ;)