Where did tracking error go?

Zaike...I didn't mean to say that azimuth angle (also solved by linear tracking) is unimportant. The importance of skating force became evident to me when my Shure V15mr got through the Shure tracking test at 1/2 gram. It took 1 gram to do that with my pivoting arm. This is an objective (not subjective) measure. I still run the pickup at 1 gram, for other reasons.

I came to linear tracking as a result of attending a seminar on how to set up a vinyl playback system. Linear tracking was not even mentioned at the seminar. However, as a result of the seminar I learned about all the geometry, forces, and angles, and how they can mostly be adjusted only to compromise values, good only at one or two points on the LP. Some things, like making sausage, it is better not to watch. If I hadn't attended that seminar I would probably be happy with a pivoting arm!

I didn't say anything against linear arms, or in preference of pivoted ones. If we're talking about the theoretical ideal for how a cartridge ought to traverse a record, of course the answer is linearly. I just don't feel that skating forces in particular are all that big a deal -- that they can be adequately compensated for, and don't affect the sound all that much. Your anecdote about tracking force seems intriguing, but I don't think it qualifies as definitive evidence on the effects of skating forces, or in choosing which type of arm to go with, due to uncontrolled variables. To me, the weakest points of any tonearm design are probably their resonances, followed by their bearings -- and then their geometry -- and as a breed, linear arms don't solve the first two problems any better than do pivoted ones, if even as well. I think there's always a trade-off involved either way you go, but that both approaches can be made to work acceptably well if not perfectly.

Zaike...Well, I didn't know that terminology. It is a bit strange because "Azimuth" in any context except audiophillia, means an angle that lies in the horizontal plane. IMHO, the proper terminology would be "Azimuth" "Elevation" and "Roll", but then this is just an engineer talking.

Question...I just looked over a brochure that came in the mail from Audio Advisor and it states that "A high-quality turntable system removes 90 percent of the record surface noise...". That might be a reasonable claim for a record cleaning machine but I am quite at a loss to see how, physically, a turntable could do that. Ideas anyone?

That terminology? It's just an advertising man talking...