I am trying to do my due diligence about this arm. I am just having a hard time getting my head around this idea of zero overhang and no offset. Does this arm really work the way it is reported to do?
I enjoy a spirited exchange, and I do apologize if my responses were offensive. I do appreciate your open-mindedness regarding the tonearm itself or at least my opinion of it.
Maybe this indicates that zero tracking angle error is not the Holy Grail some claim it to be.
That's the designer's whole point, right?
I suspect there are a few other things at play here beyond the TAE vs. skating force. From personal experience I can say that 3° TAE error on a conventional overhung setup is vastly different in sonic character than the same error on the 9" Schröder reference I set up as a 0 offset underhung arm. I purposely chose 3° TAE since it is beyond properly setup traditional tonearm error but guaranteed to occur on any underhung design.
OK now I'm remembering you speculating above that what some might call the
"slop" of the magnetic bearing in the Viv might be a benefit. Is there similar play in the Shroeder bearing? I used to have a Model 2 with string bearing but I remember the magnets kept it more rigidly in place than on the Viv.
Based on manual pushing, pulling, and twisting, I don’t detect much slop in the Viv bearing. None in the fore and aft directions and a teeny bit if you twist with more force than ever occurs naturally during use. I don’t know how this compares to the Schroeder.
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