Are linear tracking arms better than pivoted arms?

I have finally assembled all of the pieces for my conversion from the ET-2 to the Fidelity Research FR64s. The FR64s I bought was in beautiful condition with the original box and all parts and templates. I had a new armboard made for my TNT and had the hole cut for the FR64s at 231.5mm as recommended by Dertonarm instead of the 230mm recommended by the factory. I bought the AQ LeoPard tonearm cable that Dertonarm recommended as well. I originally thought it would not fit in the FR64s but I was just being too timid as it was a tight fit, but fit it did. I did listen for several days with the stock cable and I thought it was pretty good until I installed the LeoPard. The LeoPard simply passes more information through it. I am still tweaking the arm so I am not ready to talk about its sonic virtues in comparison with the ET-2 yet. I just want everyone to know that it is installed and I am getting close. I can tell you that my thoughts on how good the ET-2 sounds have not changed-it is a damn nice sounding tonearm. There is one aspect of the ET-2 that I don't miss and that is the fact that it does not have a true ground. No matter what cables you use and how you fiddle with them, you can never completely eliminate some amount of hum (at least I can't). The ET-2 manual tells you to install a ground wire to one of the ground lugs on the tonearm RCA connector and then run it to the ground connector on your preamp. I don't see that as being any different than the ground you get from the cable itself when it is connected to the tonearm and preamp. Now with the FR64s, I have no hum which is a great thing.

I think there is great potential here, and I will have more to say when I am confident that I have everything dialed in. I am still messing with VTA and I am thinking of changing my loading from 1K to a lower value.

Mepearson, Grounding is a black art, to say the least, but I suggest that a separate wire from tonearm body to the ground plane in your preamp might very well eliminate at least some of the residual hum you talk about. The ground achieved via the cables only accounts for the signal, not necessarily for the tonearm body. For example, my own RS-!A tonearm is unuseable without such a separate ground wire (hum is dominant), whereas I have never had to ground the Triplanar in this manner, and it is totally hum-free.

Otherwise you will find very few sonic statements in any of my posts

a profound thought for sure....which caused me pause.

after i read the above comment i sat for awhile and pondered exactly why it bothered me so much. i have yet to answer that question in my mind. and please assume the only problem here is my own.

i do not mean to inhibit idea exchange here or turn the topic into some philosphical exchange. i'm simply relating my perspective.

If we read Dertonarm's full quote or at least the line before that then it's really not disturbing at all. He wrote:

"My sonic descriptions were done to "illustrate" the sonic results of the bearing rigidity and the mechanical problems in linear trackers. Otherwise you will find very few sonic statements in any of my posts."

I very much appreciate him for not getting into prose of sonic pornography of typical magazine writings. The cause and effect in the design and execution of an audio product are rarely discussed and often veered off into the writer's neurosis. Overall I've been really enjoying this thread from users of all genres of tonearm with their valuable experiences and "sonic results."

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Hi Dertonarm,

Two C-37's and all of those tapes!! OMG :-) My spouse and I just received 13 Tape Project albums last Friday...we had listened to all of them by late Sunday! We enjoyed sonic bliss weekend - lol.

I'm delighted you've experienced the physical presence and dynamic with analogue cartridge/tonearm that you previously achieved with analogue tape! I'm wondering...do you think, generally, that vinyl possesses the low frequency information that would probably be present in a great tape, i.e. an EQ'd tape used for vinyl mastering that deliberately has the low frequency energy absent? I'm thinking Direct-to-Disc recordings probably have all the musical signal present...

Thanks for your thoughts!

Vbr,
Sam