Reed 5T Opinions

Larry, Reports from my friend who has taken up a formal study of zenith error tend to agree with yours, to the effect that cartridge manufacturing errors are paramount in determining the error.

Also, I agree with your point about inertial mass of linear trackers (air bearing or otherwise). Some reputable engineers evidently think that high inertia in the horizontal plane is desirable for best bass frequency reproduction. Not only do we see some pivoted arms like the Moerch with outrigger weights at the horizontal pivot but also we have the Dynavector tonearms which very deliberately also strive for high horizontal effective mass. I have mentioned this at least once before, but one rationale for that goal arises if you consider that bass frequencies, increasingly as f goes down, are generated by increasingly horizontal motion of the stylus tip. Since these frequencies generate a lot of energy at the stylus/cantilever, the high inertial mass would be seen to stabilize the pivot relative to the stylus tip, so that the tail does not wag the dog (from side to side). Fremer often repeats his bias view that horizontal and vertical effective mass ought to be nearly equal, and, right or wrong, his opinions have had an effect on others’ perceptions. I suppose he learned his opinion at the feet of one or another tonearm designer who feels the two should be about equal. But I have never heard or read a good argument for it.

This bit about zenith is fun, and it probably does show us another way in which vinyl is flawed. Now I will go back to ignoring it and enjoying the music. For a perfectly constructed cartridge in a perfect conventional overhung pivoted tonearm, zenith can be perfect for only two brief moments, at each of the two null points. Zenith is a correllary of tangency. For those who really want to fret about zenith, the only solution is a perfectly set up linear tracking tonearm. I don’t own one of those. The definition of zenith that I am using is: correct zenith occurs when a line drawn from one contact point through the other contact point on the stylus tip,if extended will pass through the center of the spindle. And, by the way, even a perfectly set up linear tracker won't get you to perfect zenith, if the stylus was not mounted square with the cantilever, and if the cantilever is not perfectly straight. (Well, to some degree you can correct for a bent cantilever by twisting the cartridge body.)

Mijo, if you re-read my post I did qualify my remark about skating force with the phrase “in a conventional pivoted tonearm”, which the 5T, 5A, LT, Thales, etc, are not.

"Normally this friction just generates heat." ...and the skating force in a conventional pivoted tonearm.

The term "zenith" seems to have been re-invented for our particular obsession.  If you look it up, there is no dictionary definition that fits Mijostyn's definition, but I think he got it right as it now applies to vinyl reproduction.  A friend who is well known in the industry has been looking closely at zenith for typical cartridges and typical alignments.  As I understand his messages to me, he finds that almost never is it perfectly right.  We are all living with bad zenith.  BAD, I tell you!

Sounds like the Reed 5A is somewhat like the Swiss Thales.  It just stands to reason that the complex bearing structure, no matter how beautifully wrought, must generate friction.  It remains to be seen how or whether that affects SQ.  Based on Molly's testimony probably not much if at all.