Linear Tracking or Not?, Any Experiences and Recs

Dgad, Whart, your discourse was very informative. There isn't much discussion on straight line arms, as there aren't many around. Without going out and buying an integrated system such as Walker, Rockport,or Kuzma it seems as though mating a tangent tracker to a table might be a bit of a gamble.

From what I've been able to gather, tangent trackers need a low compliance-high mass cartridge, a high mass table on a rock solid foundation, and if possible, a vacuum platter to keep the arm from constantly hunting if playing anything less than a pefect pressing. I welcome your thoughts Kftool

Hi Dgad,

well my new setting for the Universe ZYX is
in my System.
Graham Phantom Zyx Universe and Kondo KSL as step up
hooked to the Klyne 7p..

Regards

Karl-Heinz
The ZYX Universe is really ok.

Dgad, Whart, in my haste to reply, I errored in referring to hunting; I realize it might happen to a line tracker, if fitted with a high compliance- low mass cartridge.

I meant to refer to the modest changes in vta caused by the shorter effective arm length of a line tracker negotiating a mildly warped record. This problem would be eliminated if a vacuum table is incorporated in the system, or if warped records just aren't played.

When setting up my Triplainer, I noticed the change in bass as I varried vta on the fly. The Triplainer is on a vacuum table so I realize that a warped record would contribute , to some degree, the same sonic changes on a non vacuum table. your thoughts. Kftool

I'm really surprised platter rings haven't caught on more. I predict that we'll see more versions of them as time goes on. My table won't accomodate the currently available one but I've dreamt of making one for years.

I do try to avoid warped records- I find it wonderful, after returning to serious audio from a 10 + year hiatus, to find so many, many great recordings now available as reissues on vinyl. (Not to say that new vinyl doesn't have problems, sometimes, but when I last left this hobby, the only source of vinyl was squirreling around in bins at used record stores, or worse- the Internet was not a force to be reckoned with either).
Anyway, I am also more sensitive to how much I clamp a given record since too much force can obviously cause the record to bow. The Vta adjustment on the Airline arm is sooo easy, you'd really be remiss not to adjust it for each record. (I used to think that way lay madness, but at the time, had a Well-Tempered set-up and it wasn't as easy). BTW, I don't bother with the Vta adjustment on the arm tower, which as sold with the XL, is also adjustable and has an electronic micrometer. Instead, I use the adjustment on top of the arm assembly- easy as heck.
Is a vacuum system really intended to compensate for noticeably warped records? I assumed it was to create a bond between the platter and the record, to avoid some kinds of sonic aberration, like 'ringing' or resonance. I suppose that could also take care of mildly warped records, but is it really meant to? (Or is it just a question of degree, and all records are 'warped' to some extent?)
Uh,oh. The Madness is coming on... :)