Are linear tracking arms better than pivoted arms?

The "absolute sound" guys are like the celebrity gossips who claim to know what celebrities are thinking and feeling, without the celebrities themselves chiming in to say what is really going on. Exquisite BS.
The "absolute sound" implies that a listener goes to live music, has a perfect tape recorder in his/her head that allows perfect recovery of the original event, then can perfectly compare it with a reproduction, without consulting the original musician who performed the piece who actually knows the sound of his/her own instrument for comparison.
I would imagine most musicians would find an "absolute sound" type critic pretty laughable. I imagine that Brad Pitt or Angenlina Jolie would react in dismay at the typical gossip monger claiming to know their thoughts, feelings and intentions.
You hear musicians all the time who lament that recorded sound never captures the essential character of their instruments. Even head bangers are upset when their ripping, tearing, metallic chaos is improperly rendered by recorded sources. A musician who has a good idea of what his own instrument is supposed to sound like, may not have a very good idea of what everybody else's instruments are supposed to sound like.
Add to this mystery the spices added by the engineers of the recording booth, then the "absolute sound" critic is engaging a solipsistic pretense that a particular individual can discern any kind of "absolute sound".
It may be easy to distinguish the sound of a Yamaha piano from a Steinway from a recorded source, but that doesn't mean that a recording sounds like either absolute instrument.
Many "absolute sound" guys tend to go to live performances of classical music, and then decide that because they have elevated sensibilities by doing so, they then are on a higher plane when judging stereo systems and components.
The best stereo system for rendering the sound of an oboe might be a pair of oboe shaped speakers. Those speakers might be incredibly dismal at portraying any other kind of music, or hopeless at portraying groups of musicians in space.
So whether the "absolute sound" exists as a theoretical construct, the barriers to attaining such a condition are so relentlessly unfavorable that those who claim this skill are more in the category of the "smug delusional" than the "absolute sound."

Cjfrbw, I agree with a lot of what you posted, I just don't think that should stop us as audiophiles/manufacturers or whatever from trying. I think intention plays a huge role- the guy that gets into a high end audio business to make money is there for the wrong reasons, just like any other field of endeavor except maybe banking...

Frogman, I also agree with nearly everything you said but I don't understand how you came to the opposite conclusion, or is it that the matter is that ephemeral??

My minor revelation about the relativity in so much of this occured at a 2CH show while eaves-dropping on elevator conversation between four print magazine reviewers. They were exhanging preferences about various rooms. Each one had a different preference, none of which jibed with my own perceptions. One reviewer who liked the sound of what I considered a particularly mediocre and expensive room, had a published review the following month of that room's manufacturer. To thine self be true, particularly at today's prices.

Dear friends: Some way or the other IMHO all of you have reason, better yet part of reason.
The subject is very " conflictive "/controversial but very interesting and a learnning one.

It is no doubt that attend to hear/heard live music events ( with acoustic instruments or amplified. ) to any kind of music always help to understand the whole " thing ".

All we know that today is absolutely impossible to recreate/copy bis a bis what a live event offer to the recording microphones and I repeat: to the recording microphones and not what we heard/hear at our seat position on that music live event that is " different ". More than that: what the recording enginnering/producer want we hear.

IMHO less and less over the years the people/audiophiles ( noy you but the 98% of the audio people. ) are more in focus with the system hardware than with live music events and their comparisons are more between hardware vs hardware than software/music.

In the other side and due that the high end audio is a " commercial $$$$$ legitim activity " and as part of human activities the majority of the products that the audio industry offer to us are mainly " commercial " products where its first target is to make money ( nothing wrong with that ) sometimes taking advantage of a poor know how on the majority of the customers.

Exist in this audio industry the designers/manufacturers where their first targets are and have an intimate link with the Music and what this realy means and with top quality product performance looking for the best for the knowledge customers, unfortunately you can count these kind of designers/manufacturers with almost the fingers of your hands.

Many of us already posted in different threads what we are posting this time, can we agree?, I think that we did in the main part of the subject: the high end audio industry establishment where we belongs must change and seek/look for an evolution in benefit of the whole audio industry.

IMHO all us that belongs ( some way or the other. All the majorities. ) to the audio high end establishment have a responsability on those changes on that evolution and IMHO we have in our each " area/place/land where we move " to take action to make " things happen ".

It is not enough that we just " talk " about in this and other forums but to make something about to change our today " attitude " and share a new attitude to the whole audio industry.

From this point of view ( that could be wrong. ) every one on the high end audio industry must to change to " evolution ": designers/manufacturers, professional reviewers and audio magazines, audio retailers/dealers, we customers, audio forums, recording industry, record manufacturers and record retailers, etc, etc.

The majority of our audio establishment needs IMHO a set of new audio standards/rules.

An easy task?, certainly not. The problem is not when we can " finish " it but when all the audio industry can/could start/begin with, how the whole audio industry could agree on new standards, how the customers needs could be matched by the audio industry.
I think that we have a lot of questions about and maybe no sure/precise answers to amalgamate the different " sectors " and targets in the audio industry.

If all of us want that " things " improve and be better and goes faster than today I think that we customers that some way or the other " mantain " with money the whole industry have a main role on that " evolution " and we have to accept and take action according to that main role.

Talk and speak between us helps almost nothing.

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.

Interesting thread, all opinions included.

FWIW I concluded some time ago that the 'problem' in our hobby had its seeds in the development of 'stereo' sound including multi channel sound, where the objective became creating/sustaining the fantasy of listening to a live performance in a manner more grand that 'mono' sound allowed.

The focus was on, and I think still remains in great part, the creation of that sonic 'stage' in your home. Not the replication of live music as heard live from an optimum position, although some effect was made and abandoned at various time at recording with a single or two closely spaced mikes.

Refer to all of the terms inherent in describing reproducing recorded sound. Sound stage height, width, depth, specificity, warmth, accuracy, linearity etc. What do any of these terms have to do with a live performance. Not much I suspect, and this may be why, were it otherwise possible, that we will never hear a reasonable reproduction of live sound that isn't at odds with the formats we are given to live with.

We will always be at the mercy of the recording engineer's and the industry's pursuit of a format that injects an artifice that is not consonant with the experience of hearing music live. Small wonder that many folks, myself included, who have graduated to a POV that allows them to set up their environment so that the music they play sounds good to their ear. I'm now at a stage that all that is important to me is that the equipment, software and hardware, not get in the way of the performance that I'm listening to. That alone is a tough enough task and its full of compromises but its easier in the long run than pursuing a Dulcinea.

Thanks for the chance to rant! :-)