Experience With Linear Tracking Turntables

Had a Panasonic SL-n25 which,came as a package deal with the stand for the rx-c45

didnt use much, borrowed to a friend, never got back, took h im 30 years to admit he ran in his brothers room, and “CRUNCH/CRACK”

I miss it, 

Thought I would update you all on my original post from March 2021.

I invested in a Bergmann Galder Air Bearing Turntable with an Odin Liner Tracking Tone Arm.  Simply an amazing turntable and arm.  So black, so quiet.  I put a Sumiko Palo Santos Cartridge. The speed is Amazing and Constant. 33.33 to 33.34 rpms consistently.  45 RPM is the same.

This is an amazing machine.  It sounds amazing.  The soundstage, space and nuances are unbelievable.  Even my high school LPs and other cheap pressings from the 80’s are sounding sweet.

I’m sold.  I don’t know about any of the others mentioned above, but the Bergmann is hard to beat.  I did see a SOTA at Axpona that looked good, but didn’t get a change to listen to it.

This Bergmann is not a solution is search of a problem.  Only the initiated would say such a thing.  I find it hard to imagine any turntable in its price range sounding better.  Maybe a $500K Tech Das.  I find it difficult to believe, though, that is could sound better than the Galder.  
 

Need to decide what my next cartridge will be.  That will be a tough decision.

"I invested in a Bergmann Galder Air Bearing Turntable with an Odin Liner Tracking Tone Arm.  Simply an amazing turntable and arm."

I've heard one with a couple of my best pressings. Lucky you.

Need to decide what my next cartridge will be.  That will be a tough decision

Lyra, Audio Technica ART1000 or upper end Soundsmith would be on my short list.

@pgaulke60 - enjoy your new table and arm. I’ve been running a linear tracking arm (Kuzma Airline) since around 2006-7. The arm itself is pretty bulletproof-- I’ve had issues with compressor oil leaking and eventually switched to an oilless compressor which is noisier, but I have it installed in a custom silencer box in another room.

There is something special about a good table with a linear arm. I don’t know your table/arm--I’m kind of out of it on the latest and greatest-- but I found that there is less sense of a turntable spinning (I use a very high mass table with the arm) and what I call the "halo" effect of the sound of the disc spinning.

Levelling is pretty critical but it isn’t that difficult. I wound up buying a big MinusK isolation table, not so much to "improve" sound, but to avoid footfalls in an old Victorian era house.

Cartridges- I know that there are people very devoted to the sound of one brand or another- Lyra, Van den Hul, etc. I’ve been through quite a few hi-line cartridges and found that the cartridge that gave me what my system needed-- more tonality and gravitas in the lower octaves, was a Koetsu stone. It seems to really like the linear arm- maybe because it is not a high compliance cartridge. This could be very system dependent. That is, I’m not necessarily recommending a Koetsu cartridge, but that change (from an Airtight Supreme), the isolation platform and the addition of more subwoofers (which I DSP’d) ameliorated the biggest weakness of my system- the discontinuity between the horn mid and tweets and the conventional integrated woofers.

It is so hard to trial this stuff. And given the price of high end cartridges today, it’s a commitment. I’m not sure I’d recommend any particular cartridge other than to make a few observations:

the lower compliance cartridges seem to work better in the linear arms- they do have high horizontal mass even though the theory is they are frictionless if set up properly;

What is the voicing you want? I had great mids with the Avantgarde horns -comparable to my old Quad ESL system (still running since around 1973 with updates, fresh glass, etc.) but far more dynamic, and anemic bass- tune the bass to have some punch and the coherence was lost. Tune them to blend- anemic. The combo of Koetsu, plus DSP’d additional subs and the isolation platform brought this system up several notches. Is it perfect? Of course not. My goal isn't perfection- it is to play back regular older vinyl records (I'm a buff for early '70s post bop jazz, which is not exactly a high point for vinyl in the States) in a way that sounds real. 

The best option, short of buying a bunch of expensive cartridges, is to see if you can hear them via comparisons on another system. I know that won’t tell you what a given cartridge will sound like in your system but ....

in visiting the lovely, knowledgeable and funny Albert Porter a few weeks ago, we compared his Airtight Opus and a Koetsu Blue Lace on the same table with two identical arms (Kuzma 4 Pt. 14"- aka John Holmes edition). The Airtight was more linear sounding and neutral, the Koetsu added something-- more "wood’ on the sticks.

I know the objective is always supposed to be neutral but I have yet to hear a system that is truly neutral. And I’ve heard a lot of good systems over the years. You can always hear the man behind the curtain. So, take your time on the cartridge. I listened to a crazy expensive system here in Austin a few years ago with kilobuck cartridges mounted on three identical arms. One of the cartridges was an Audio Technica that retailed for less than $500. and it did not suck.

Enjoy~ and apologies for the length of this comment.

@lewm interesting ur experience with a B and O cartridge. I understand from

speaking to the Classic HiFi writer at Hi News Tim Jarman that the cartridges were designed to be in the linear tracking B&O turntables and turntables. As such the styli was very small and it was properly thought out as a whole system. I have a 4002 awaiting a rebuild. B&O have some incredible designers who apply their art and knowledge more for a luxury than audiophile market but dismiss their savour faire at your peril. Their top end speakers that manipulate sound around a room are exceptionally clever and sound pretty good too. 
@mijostyn speaks about the problem with lateral compliance which I’m sure is right as it makes sense - but it puzzles me that Kuzma released a silly money arm which is unusually heavy and apparently it throws the whole compliance thing out of the window - that being said the weight (being a pivoted arm) has the weight in all directions.