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Are linear tracking arms better than pivoted arms?

My answer to this question is yes. Linear tracking arms trace the record exactly the way it was cut. Pivoted arms generally have two null points across the record and they are the only two points the geometry is correct. All other points on the record have a degree of error with pivoted arms. Linear tracking arms don't need anti-skating like pivoted arms do which is another plus for them.

Linear tracking arms take more skill to set up initially, but I feel they reward the owner with superior sound quality. I have owned and used a variety of pivoted arms over the years, but I feel that my ET-2 is superior sounding to all of them. You can set up a pivoted arm incorrectly and it will still play music. Linear tracking arms pretty much force you to have everything correct or else they will not play. Are they worth the fuss? I think so.
mepearson
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,965 posts
 
Darkmoebius, he's right. Tubes make lower-ordered distortions, much more preferable to the human ear than the higher, odd-ordered distortions of solid state.

Tube distortions can be dramatically reduced by careful design. There's more about that over on the amps/preamps forum :)
dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
If you want the 2nd order distortions of the better triodes, you can have them with transistors too. It is a matter of design - not tube vs. Transistors. But indeed - this is something for other threads.
samujohn's avatar
samujohn
291 posts
 
"If you want the 2nd order distortions of the better triodes"
Shades of Bob Carver! Please, please, start a thread. We have much better tools and understanding now than twenty years ago.
dertonarm
1,042 posts
 
Dear Samujohn, no need for a thread. This has all been covered widely and by better (= more knowledgeable) audiophiles in the early 1980ies and published in the french magazine L'audiophile. After all, transistors started as tubes without vacuum and heater.....
But of course - you are welcome to start a thread about this. Even if there is little to discuss, - the technical tools and schematics are long at hand.
Whether a preamplifier of amplifier is based on tubes or transistors is not the question. You can make a transistor sounding VERY tubbey and a tube-based amplifier with ultra-clean, controlled and extreme detailed sound (and yes - with ultra low tight bass too).
It's a matter of the respective schematic and design and what you want to get - not tubes vs transistors.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,965 posts
 
The second order thing about tubes in general is only with SETs- when operating push-pull even-ordered harmonics are cancelled. The nice thing is that you don't get the 5th, 7th and 9th which are unpleasant and used by the ear as loudness cues.
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