Linear tracking turntables, whatever happened?

Back in my linear-tracking days I would have initially believed the people who said it's a problem-free solution to record playing issues.  My ET-2 worked perfectly and I loved it.

Then I sold table and arm when a "good deal" presented itself in the form of a VPI TNT Mk. II and an identical ET-2, this one including a Wisa pump and Airtech surge tank.  This one had no end of problems.  I drove poor Bruce Thigpen crazy as we tried and failed to trouble-shoot what was wrong.

Turned out the Wisa pump was defective AND the Airtech leaked air but by the time I discovered that, I was heartily sick of the whole linear-tracking concept and never went back.

I still use my Phase Linear 8000 table from time to time, works great (over 30 years old). After Phase Linear stopped making them, Pioneer marked the same table under their name. The dealer had it set up to A/B with a $10,000.00 setup. Did the $10,000.00 system sound better? Yes. Was it over $9000.00 better? Not to me (the Phase Linear was $750.00 at the time). It still sounds great to me.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7842/31760371087_a1d3b7c7d8_b.jpg

The Universal looks like a fairly conventional pivoted arm. What mechanism does it have that makes it tangential?

@cleeds My bad. I mistyped and meant pivoted.

Very happy 20 yrs + user of a linear tracker, the great ET2, here.

First, while he has mentioned his thread, I think it should be stressed what a great resource ct0517’s thread is; not just for users of the ET2 to learn about proper setup and to get “outside the box” practical tips, but for anyone contemplating “going linear”.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/eminent-technology-et-2-tonearm-owners


By the time that I acquired my ET2 I had owned and lived with several pivoting arms including the SME V, Grado Sig, Sumiko The Arm, Premier MMT, Alphason and Syrinx PU3 (only one I still have). I have used more different cartridges than I can remember of both the MM and MC type and I consider myself fairly adept at tonearm setup, but far from a perfectionist in that respect. I still own several of those cartridges from way back and none have suffered cantilever or suspension issues due to use on the ET2.

There is no question that living with a linear tracker is more complicated than using a pivoting arm for the reasons already mentioned. However, once set up, I did not experience at all the need for constant fiddling and one of the beauties of this arm is that it makes the rare need for relevelling so easy. Which brings up what I feel is one great advantage of an arm like the ET2; I can’t speak for any other linear tracker as I have never owned any other. The ease with which the various setup parameters can be adjusted makes getting the best out of a cartridge infinitely easier in my experience. VTA on the fly is a miracle and I think many would be shocked at just how much just this one feature of the arm helps.

For me, the most important advantage of the arm is that, compared to all the pivoting arms that I have used, there is a fundamental difference in its sonic presentation that I find to be more realistic both tonally and in the way it portrays the soundstage. All those pivoting arms always left me with the impression that the shape of the soundstage and it’s boundaries were dictated by the arm and not necessarily what was recorded. None of them came close to conveying the sense of wide open ambience and stable layering of instruments that the ET2 is capable of conveying. The size of intruments and voices relative to each other always seemed distorted to one degree or another by the pivoting arms compared to the ET2 which tended to sound more realistic in that regard.  I also experienced far fewer instances of having a cartridge which had a tonal flaw that I could not live with which I could not make livable by adjusting setup parameters; adjustments which were typically far more difficult or impossible with the pivoting arms.

A very condensed account of my experiences only and I have no interest in presenting them as definitive; just one more bit of support for linear trackers. Happy New Year to all.