Discuss The Viv Lab Rigid Arm

@dover 

the RS-A1 does indeed have a rotating headshell but what most people do not realize is that it is intended to have the pivot of the headshell directly above the stylus.  Most people view this as a "horse and trailer design" with the pivot ahead of the stylus so it can better follow the groove. This is NOT the intent of the design.  I have a fair amount of experience with this arm and find it to be  a really good sounding easy to set up design.  In trying to measure the tracking abilities the numbers were not representative of the perceived sonics.  I also have a 9" Schröder Reference which I underhung and set of 0° offset and again the perceived sonics of the angular misalignment didn't seem anywhere near the same as a similar error on a traditional overhung tonearm.  It is important to note that in both of the above cases the "design" of the underhung arm had the ability to absorb the energy caused by mistracking.  The cartridge suspension allows for movement in the lateral and the vertical plane but conventional designs go to great lengths to lock everything else in place.  The RS-A1 has the ability to rotate axially along the vertical plane and the Schröder has a floating magnetically damped bearing. I also believe the the the Viv arm also has this ability to allow some form of absorption / damping in a third direction.  If we accept that angular error causes mistracking, it seems entirely plausible that how the arm deals with and recovers from a less than ideal situation could play a large role in the sonic signature of the design.  Simply equating X° of angular error to some rumored distortion percent and calling the playing field level is far too simplistic of an approach.

dave

What Dave said.

Also, the supposed purpose of the decoupled headshell on the RS Labs is largely defeated by its wiring, which impedes free motion about the horizontal pivot of the headshell. (Here I’m referring to the rearward decoupling of its headshell. Dave is talking about the flat surface to which the cartridge mounts, which also moves in the horizontal plane.) I’m not saying this is good or bad. The RS headshell can actually be purchased separately. Couples to any conventional tonearm.

@dover : Yes, you are rigth. VIV is different. The issue with @lewm is what he posted to me where he gave no facts or a true factible explanation about:

" Even the "distortions" that you consistently preach against may be worse with the standard pivoted tonearms than with an underhung tonearm . "

Btw, @intactaudio you said that " numbers " is simplistic approach but I think rigth now it’s the only true fact we have on hand because what we listen is always extreme controversial and an endless issue. Facts are important in this VIV subject. You said:

" the "design" of the underhung arm had the ability to absorb the energy caused by mistracking. "

Almost all tonearm designers take in count the damping specific issue very seriously even here in Agon there is a dedicated thread to the tonearm damping issue. Why the underhung had the ability to absorb the energy/distortions developed by mistracking better than normal tonearms when we have out there the Townshen pivoted tonearm.

The first defense against the mistracking belongs to the cartridge through its own tracking abilities and its kind of suspensi’n and cartridge body material to " stop " the feedback and ay kind of additional vibrations that the transducer will transform it. Even is the cartridge the first defense against the LP grooves surface feedback. The whole developed distortions by a 10° TAE is extremely complex for bla bla bla: measurements is the road at least to give us a " true " idea where we are " seated " and not only: I like it or I can’t hear higher distortions or I believe and the like.

The responsability about is directly by the VIV designer/manufacturer and I’m sure that if you ask directly to him he has not any fact/measurement about when at least Yamaha disclose that 10° TAE.

R.

Raul, do you have any data, besides the capacity to measure TAE, which is obviously greater for an underhung tonearm than for a conventional pivoted tonearm? What measurable data correlate with distortion of the perceived information we can get from an LP to the degree that the information encoded has the potential to result in the presentation of real instruments in space?

@intactaudio 

Thanks for the explanation - I did pick up that if the pivot directly above the stylus, then it cannot be self aligning. They claim that the pivoted headshell deals with needle chatter.

It is important to note that in both of the above cases the "design" of the underhung arm had the ability to absorb the energy caused by mistracking.  

If we accept that angular error causes mistracking, it seems entirely plausible that how the arm deals with and recovers from a less than ideal situation could play a large role in the sonic signature of the design.

This is of more concern to me - mistracking damages records. This would be a high price to deal with the vagaries of anti-skating, even though In my experience most folk apply too much anti-skate, resulting in offset cantilevers over time.

Most interestingly during an audio hiatus I ran a high compliance MM in a linear tracker for 10 years with the same stylus - cantilever was still dead straight despite the highish horizontal mass. Of course there are no skating forces with a linear tracker.

Is it possible to reverse the headshell 180 degrees with the RS and run a trailing pivoted headshell ?? Could be interesting.