I setup and sold a lot of SOTA Sapphires with Souther back in the day... most w Dynavector Ruby or Diamond. And of course a lot of pivoted arms as well.
the Souther, Transfi and ET-2 are all quite good but fussy in own way. The only way to really understand the setup, quirks and sonic +\- is long term ownership. I am betting few have been there.
advice on older SOTA or one you cannot inspect prior to sale - have it drop shipped to Donna at factory! Inspection, tune up.
I have two Trans-Fi Terminator tonearms. One on a modified Nottingham Analogue Mentor (Dais bearing, aluminum sandwich plinth, and premium power supply), the other a DIY air bearing job using aerospace components. Cartridges are Miyajima Zero and higher end Koetsu.
IMO the Trans-Fi is the best bargain in high end, maybe all of audio. I suspect that it outperforms anything costing less than a new car. Advantages: cost, adjustability, stability, tweekability (if there is such a word). It is the tonearm which registers the stylus to the record surface, and that must be both adjustable and stable, or that high end cartridge is worth no more than a mid-level MM.
Disadvantages: azimuth adjustment is intuitive but fiddly, and definitely not-on-the-fly. Badly warped records must be flattened. The beam of the tonearm must be perfectly horizontal (it is adjustable). Putting a record on the spindle requires attention. The compressor really should be in another room - but the tonearm is silent. Other disadvantages seem to me to be figments of the imagination from people who haven’t even seen one, let alone modified one for their own situation. But then YMMV. For me, the only ’side grade’ which I would consider would be a Durand. And that’s after the Hyperion cartridge.
I have owned the Pioneer PL 1000 and I prefer my Yamaha PX2. They both sport a removable 1/2 headshell. There is easily a half dozen or more vintage Linear Tracking/Tangential Turntables that utilizes an 1/2 headshell still available.
Technics SL-10 is hard to find "in a good shape", over 5 years of research almost every unit i've seen for sale required service, and most functions does not work. Belt replacement requires, lubrication, cleaning etc. There are some nice units already serviced, but the price is crazy nowadays, especially if there is a Technics P205c mk4 cartridge instead of mk3 (or some cheap junk p-mount).
It has absolutely nothing to do with IMHO. Everything that I said is a fact of life. The best linear tracker available today is the Walker and it still has an unacceptably high horizontal effective mass. I will say this again. The horizontal axis has to be servo driven and the arm has to have a horizontal pivot just like a normal pivoted tonearm. Some older linear arms worked by tripping a switch which activated the drive but the arm had to deviate from tangent to trip the switch negating the benefit and the systems tended to be unreliable. When some one develops a reasonably priced system that reads the groove right in front or behind the stylus driving the horizontal axis I am all in. Otherwise you are much better off with a good pivoted arm. How many reviewers use a linear tracker as their reference? Air bearings can create very low friction systems but do nothing to reduce horizontal effective mass. Mass is mass, friction or not and these systems are extremely sensitive to level. Keeping a turntable exactly level under all circumstances is very difficult. Just differences in record weight can change the level of a turntable unless it is extremely rigidly mounted. Then you have all that air rushing around (making noise) and the complexity of using a compressor. With a servo driven horizontal axis level does not mater as much and there is no wind noise. Put your ear next to the bearing and listen. Again, don't believe me watch for yourself. The cantilever should appear dead straight at all times. With any linear tracker you chose you will be able to see the cantilever drift back and forth. I can understand the draw but when it comes down to reality these arms are just not ready for prime time.
That is indeed the table I would go for, the SLM3. But it looks like it’s designed for a Pmount cartridge. Would you know if it accepts more current standard cartridges?
Cool. Nothing wrong with a P-Mount cartridges if you don’t mind to buy some of the best from the golden era. I bought my first P-Mount cartridge this year for use with pivoted tonearms. And i’ve seen many great p-mount versions from Technics, Stanton, Pickering, Audio-Technica ...
The solid build of the SL1200 makes it a keeper. Thus, I was thinking of keeping the unit and just changing the arm. If the SLM3 can accomodate a normal cartridge, I would be a definite option.
I have two SL1210mkII (not in the main system), they are upgraded, but still with stock tonearms. Using many vintage tonearms in another system i’ve noticed some of them could be great for Technics. Linear tracking tonearms are normally monsters, i never thought about them for any turntable. Conventional pivoted tonearms are great and there are many within your price range that can be used on SL1200mk5
Jond A member with a lot more knowledge of ET arms than myself took a look and said it's an ET1.0 arm, an early piece so more of a collector piece than SOTA ( sorry I just HAD to!).
Still the table itself might be a good buy at the right price of course.....
Uber that SOTA ad was what made me think of buying a used table. I also kind if want that table so thanks for the reminder I couldn't remember where I saw that ad. :)
Also don't forget the slm3 was/ is a very complex piece of gear that you may find difficulty in anybody being able to service or repair. Of special concern is that computer controled arm.
One of their technical tour de force for sure though.
@chaksterThat is indeed the table I would go for, the SLM3. But it looks like it's designed for a Pmount cartridge. Would you know if it accepts more current standard cartridges?
The solid build of the SL1200 makes it a keeper. Thus, I was thinking of keeping the unit and just changing the arm. If the SLM3 can accomodate a normal cartridge, I would be a definite option. Great suggestion. 👍🏼
Just for a taste of linear tracking on a beer budget there is the much simpler SL-10. An example of which I own. Pretty affordable, very well built and managed to hold its own pretty well in the sonics department. Sure it's not upper echelon but for under $400 not a bad way to dip ones toes into the water.
Is there a not too expensive (less than $¹⁰⁰⁰) and good linear tracking tonearm that I could mount on my SL1200MK5?
Strange choice for this Sl1200 mk5 turntable Remember Technics SL-M3 with Linear Tracking ? There are some nice images of that old beast. Looks better than MK5 for sure ...
You can buy a whole SL-M3 turntable with Linear Tracking for something like $1200 (i just checked on ebay).
@jagjag, don't take everything you read as Gospel. Different linear trackers have differing amounts of horizontal effective mass. Do look into the current Trans-Fi Terrminator.
jag, linear tracking arms are a waste of time and money. The technology to do it correctly has not yet been developed. The problem is that the horizontal effective mass of these arms is too high creating a very low horizontal resonance point. All you have to do is watch the cantilever closely and you will see it oscillate slowly back and forth. This creates more tracking error than a good pivoted tonearm not to mention oscillating skating force. In order to do this right the tonearm has to be driven in the horizontal plane by a servo mechanism. Little switches are too inaccurate and fragile for this. You would have to have a laser reading the groove right in front of the stylus. It can be done but at this point would be very expensive. If you are concerned with tracking error get a 12" tonearm.
Why dontcha buy the new Trans-Fi Audio T3Pro, now with stiffer carbon fiber/brass manifold, the best bargain in analog audio already since 2008 https://www.musicfromvinyl.shop/ No maintain needed, as long as cheap aquarium pumps are available.
An excellent question that I have been trying to answer in my head for some time myself.
I am of the belief that done right it should be very good but done badly.... Well , done badly is probably the same as trying to do it on the cheap in this instance.
Thank you for the guidance and input y'all. Should I just stick to my full Technics set up and just banish the thought of a linear tracker? Or is it a worthwhile endeavour?
Is there a not too expensive (less than $¹⁰⁰⁰) and good linear tracking tonearm that I could mount on my SL1200MK5?
Depends on what you mean by "good". If you mean one that works reliably and fits on the table then maybe, yes, you can probably find one. If you mean good compared to what the same $1k will buy you in a normal pivoted arm then sorry, no, but thanks for making me laugh.
Be hard to find anything new for less than $1000. Unless you wish to take a chance on some designs from the UK? Like this...... https://www.airprodigy.co.uk/
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