Integrityhifi TRU-GLIDER Pendulum Tonearm


Has anyone lived with this tonearm for a while?  I am curious to see what you think of the unit.  I can see the frictionless design but I don't see how it remains in alignment while playing.  It is some very impressive "out of box" thinking, which caught my interest.
128x128spatialking

mijostyn - so, it's been over 2 years since this thread began.  Can we now assume you have actually listened to the arm?

Yes, two years.  Frankly, in all that time, my philosophy has not changed.  If it doesn't make any engineering sense to me, then I don't spend the effort to buy it and listen to it.  The high end audio world is filled with snake oil and other junk equipment that doesn't work and it is just someone wanting to make a quick buck.  This arm might sound great in my system or it may not, but if I can't see how the designer is thinking and follow his/her philosophy, then I won't spend the effort to give it a try.  Perhaps I missed out on some great gear, but I've never been bitten by the snake oil monster either.  For this arm to take a spin in my system, it will have to have some overwhelming 3rd party evidence that will work like a champ. 

There may be an aspect to this tonearm that totally escaped my notice, first time around. Is it meant to underhang the spindle? I searched this thread, a review article in Positive Feedback, and the Integrity website in order to answer my own question, and I did not find the information. (Not to say it isn’t there, but if it is there, I missed it.) In some of the photos on the Integrity website, it does appear to be underhung. If its mounting geometry is such that it is meant to overhang the spindle, then I agree with its detractors; the design seems hopeless. But as an underhung tonearm, it is quite interesting. However, it cannot be free of at least some bearing friction, and it cannot be free of skating force. Nor can I imagine why cartridges mounted on it would not need any attention to azimuth.

So can any one of the happy users of this tonearm tell me whether it is meant to be set up so that the stylus tip underhangs the spindle? In other words, is the spindle to pivot distance greater than the pivot to stylus distance? Thx

@phantom_av I know that's a combo that the good Dr. has installed many times.  Everyone I know has been happy with this arm and on a pretty wider variety of tables.   Enjoy!!

@phantom_av 

Congratulations on the J Sikora table! 😎  I spent many hours over 3 days during the recent AXPONA Show near Chicago this past April listening to the J Sikora Reference Line table, mated with Doshi Tube Electronics and Joseph Audio Pearl Graphene Speakers.  Imho, this system was easily the best and most enjoyable sound at the show for me.  If I were to get another table, I seriously think this would be the one!

Getting back on the topic of this thread, the Tru-Glider tone arm.... it might be beneficial to those members that are interested in pursuing this arm if we new the following (if you'd be willing to share with us 😊)

1. Which tonearm did the Tru-Glider replace on your J Sikora?

2. Did you use the same cartridge and phono stage with both arms?

3. Which cartridge and phono stage did you use?

4. Just out of my own curiosity, which J Sikora table do you have?

Thank you for sharing all of your thoughts and experiences with us all!

Best wishes to everyone,

Don

And is the recommended pivot to spindle distance greater than the pivot to stylus distance?

The Nasotec headshell is by itself a problematic product from what I’ve read.

So doctor V, you know people who only read stone tablets in ancient Greek or other ancient languages?  Internet says the Greeks first intuited that the earth is round about 500 years BC.  In the 1600s, Galileo added to the pile of evidence with his telescope.  Since the printing press was invented around then, most printed historical texts would say the earth is round.  But it is fair to point out that perhaps I should have either quoted a source or made my own case against the Nasotec, instead of smearing it by implication.  I have never owned or heard one, but I did read some reviews of it on WBF and elsewhere.  If you have one and have a more positive view, let's hear it.