Why Linear Tracking never took off?

I have had five different linear trackers. The main problems in my experience are the critical importance of the table being level along the dimension of the linear tracking, the high mass of such arms, and the great inconvenience of those using air bearings, namely that the compressors are noisy and need to have the condensation removed.

I really question whether they are dead, however. There is no question that when well set up, they have less intergroove distortion.

Tbg...Sometime (when no one can see you), get a hold of a Sony PS X800 turntable with servo controlled linear tracking arm. The "main problems" with linear tracking arms that you cite are very accurate. The Sony arm approach is completely different, and in my experience, flawless. But you won't believe it until you try one.

Actually, I once had a Sony linear tracking table, but I recall nothing much about it. It did bring me back into vinyl and to the purchase of a Rabco arm. When was the PS X800 made?

Tbg...I got mine about 1980. Not all Sony linear tracking tables had the "Biotracer" servo controlled arm, and not all "Biotracer" arms were linear tracking. Being an Engineer, I naturally had to get the service manual and see how this thing worked. Holy smokes! Working with balistic missile guidance systems I have seen a lot of schematics and block diagrams, but this Sony design is about as complex as anything I have seen. In fact, that is my only criticism.

As a have mentioned before, I became a convert to linear tracking after attending a High End seminar about the design and setup of pivoting arms. I concluded that there was no practical way to get all those forces and angles right across the recorded area. True, as you say, linear tracking arms have their own set of problems, but I think that I found one that did not have them.

I just stumbled on this thread. I guess I need to pull out my PS X 800 table and try it out again after all these years. If I recall correctly the "Biotracer" technology included active resonance supression in addition to servo tracking of the arm.

I bought mine around 1983. My biggest recollection is how great the inner third of LPs sounded in comparison to other tables at the time.

Of course, this was during my mid-fi period. I wonder what I'll think of it now?