What defines a good tonearm

Ah, atmasphere, the "I'm a Pro" trump card. I'll ask you a question. Just how much time did you ACTUALLY spend with any Talea.

At RMAF last year I watched a guy walk into a room, over to the turntable and mumbled something about Triplanar this or that. Then he turned and walked out. I certainly hope you spent more time with a Talea than that guy did.

I have never said the Talea is the BEST, but it is no doubt better than some. I still own my Triplanar after 5 1/2 years. It works very well for me. I've had a Talea, in one form or the other, for over a year.

Halcro, You wrote, "Sounds like you are buying Raul's claim that anything which sounds good must be attributed to 'distortions'?"

In a word, no. Please don't re-interpret what I wrote. Further, IMO you are not even giving Raul's ideas a fair interpretation. He certainly never "claimed" that what sounds good must be therefore distorted.

Dear Mike, Did you actually hear a difference between a Reed 2A and a Reed 2P? I thought the only difference between those two was the fine-ness of the VTA adjustment up and down.

Syntax, Thanks for the humor break. That is one of my favorite Monte Python bits.

Raul, What is the evidence that lowest possible friction at the pivot is a major determinant of goodness of a pivoted tonearm?

Lharasim, I am interested in linear trackers, but I am not interested in air pumps, filters, tubing, pump noise, etc, that inevitably go with them. Plus, if they are not perfectly adjusted in all planes, there is a kind of "chronic" tracing distortion across the entire LP. I agree they do sound "different" from pivoted tonearms, as a class.

Gosh, to think I've spent 50+ years with dozens and dozens of tonearms without making a record.

I'm a vinyl failure.

Pass the zoloft please.

Ralph wrote;

Mike and Dan, I assume that both of you have LPs that you recorded yourself and released commercially. What is the title of the LP? I'd like to get a copy.

i have your Lp (or at least one of your Lps), and respect your dramatically greater all around music/hifi experience compared to myself. although i'm no professional music guy in any way shape or form, i have had a bunch of pro audio guys record off my tt, and then do a commercial digital release with that recording.

i'm just a guy who observes and offers opinions on what i hear and then sometimes likes to connect the dots on what that might mean. i do have a ring side seat to some pretty amazing tonearm development that has openned my eyes to cause and effect way beyond what my previous viewpoints might have been.

i did use my Rockport as a reference for anything to do with a turntable, but now i use my Studer A820, Ampex ATR-102 and collection of master dubs. these are helpful as a reference to have sitting there.

it's still just subjective perceptions and resultant conclusions and not scientific facts were are considering here. i'm just speaking about what i think i hear and how my mind interprets it.

i'll leave it at that.