Linear tracking turntables, whatever happened?

@ct0517, to add to Dave’s excellent comments, and in the cause of clarification, let me say no, record changes are NOT made by sliding the LP under the cartridge/stylus (and the arm wand onto which is mounted the cartridge). At the end of an LP side, the wand is returned to it’s rest position, at the far right end of the arm’s manifold, where it is out of way of the LP. The LP DOES however need to be slid under the manifold, which is locked in position over the back of the LP, about half way between it’s center hole and it’s perimeter. Other linear trackers avoid this by having a longer arm wand, making it possible for the arm’s main structure to be located beside the table’s platter, not positioned over it.

The manifold being suspended over the LP makes possible a shorter arm wand, which has benefits (lower mass, inertia, and resonances) and one penalty (greater changes in VTA and SRA when navigating warps, resulting in possible "warp wow"; a table providing LP flattening---via vacuum hold down or a clamp---is good for the arm). One thing I like about the Terminator is the arm wand/cartridge/stylus facing the operator, rather than being 90 degrees perpendicular as with other linear-tracking arms; makes cueing much easier!---Eric.

Bdp24 - The LP DOES however need to be slid under the manifold, which is locked in position over the back of the LP, about half way between it’s center hole and it’s perimeter.