Unipivot vs Linear Tracking

Just in case anyone is looking to explore the viability(and affordability)of a nice LTT arm,I found a very reasonably priced design by searching around the web....

There is a link on Arthur Salvatore's site,but it can be found at..TransFiAudio@aol.com

The arm is called "The Terminator",and there is a nice review(one I read awhile ago,which caused my own curiousity and interest).

The reviewer kinda goes "bananas"(a good thing)over the arm,and loves it...

The price looks to be quite low,for a "supposedly good" Linear Tracking Arm...it's 470 British Pounds,plus 15 British Pounds for shipping.The user(if located in the U.S.)is supposed to buy the air pump though.A decent pump should be quite inexpensive,if I correctly understand the information given.

Please understand I am ONLY trying to give some information about LTT arms that won't break the bank(for those interested parties)in price,and it is ONLY hobby talk!!

Personally I am not about to abandon my unipivot,but certainly do appreciate the alternative sonic benefits that the LTT's can offer.....I envy those(like T.H.)who can run multiple arms/cartridges....Something I never used to even think about,but do now.....Lucky dogs -:)

Good luck

Here's a link to TransFiAudio's eBay page.

But, we should also mention the AirTech MG-1 air bearing arm that got some attention around hear a couple of years ago. The price is still around $600. If you do a search here in the Analog section, they quite a few members who bought one.

Darkmoebius, I must admit the Scheu Classic arm was a lot of work to setup and it sounds wonderful on the Scheu Premier. For now I can sit back and enjoy the music with no fuss to tweaking the arm until I decide to change cartridge. Which incidentally I did right after getting table. I swapped out a Scheu/Benz for a Clearaudio Sigma and the results are fine indeed.

Another, point a friend made who is an ex-Stereophile writer, is that arms such as the ET 2 need constant care in all parameters to maintain good accurate playback. I have heard this arm and it sounded great, but this was many years ago. Since then I have heard so many arms it makes my head spin. Regardless, this forum is very informative to a sophomore such as myself.

Spl,

I bet the Classic is killer with the Premier, it seems T. Scheu really knew what he was doing. The Tacco is superb once dialed in, but also a bear to fine tune.

Quite a hobby we've picked....

Incidentally, I have thought about using an LT with the Scheu Premier. Any recommendations? Naturally, I would have to make separate base, can this work?. LT arms to consider, Air Tangent, ET 2, Clearaudio and Airtech MG-1.

Quote from
Cjfrbw

I spent some time playing with one of John Elison's spreadsheets from vinyl asylum, plugging in values for tracking error for pivoted arms. I find it difficult to believe that a properly set up pivoted arm, even a 9 inch arm, has enough error to significantly "hear" the tracking error unless the arm is not set up correctly. I tend to think the audiophile imagination "knows" there is some tracking error and runs rampant to fill in the blanks to believe that 12 inch arm and linear trackers are audibly superior "because" of the geometry advantages. If somebody states they can "hear" the superior qualities of a linear tracker vs. a properly set up pivoted arm, I would be very skeptical.