Where did tracking error go?

Audiotomb...My system is quite low altitude, but the linear tracking arm benefits are real. I think that elimination of skating force is the most important benefit...much more than the azimuth angle issue.

The term "tracking error" relates to the change of azimuth angle which occurs as a pivoting arm goes from the outside grooves to the inner ones because the record was cut with a linear tracking arm. I believe that azimuth error has more to do with distortion than mistracking, where "mistracking" is taken to mean that the stylus loses contact with the groove.

Azimuth error is only one of many considerations in the setup of LP playback equipment, and is not realy correctable by careful adjustments in context of a pivoting arm, so people tend to focus on the things they can usefully adjust.

I use a linear tracking arm, and find it to be effective and trouble-free.

Dan_ed...I don't claim to be an expert on adjustment of antiskating force...in fact the futility of getting this right across the diameter of the LP, along with several other angles and forces, is what led me to seek out linear tracking. With linear tracking there is NO skating force, (not just low) and therefore no anti force to tweek up.

By the way, not all linear arms involve air compressors. The objective of an air bearing is to be frictionless, so that the pickup will move without sideforce. Well, perfection is hard to achieve, and there will be some sideforce. Another way to achieve a frictionless bearing is to use an electronic servo, and that is how my arm works. Don't be taken in by the criticism that use of a servo will inevitably result in "hunting". (Constantly moving back and forth trying "to get it right"). Only a primitve or badly designed algorithm will cause a servo to hunt. The basic control concept of my arm is to move the pivot point of its short arm at a steady rate that corresponds to nominal groove spacing. The arm angle is constantly measured, and if the groove spacing is other than nominal an arm angle will develop and then the pivot movement rate is slowly modified so as to restore zero arm angle. Note that the arm pivot point movement never stops or changes direction, so there is no jerkyness due to friction. Also, the servo does not move the arm, which is free to pivot, but only the pivot point. According to spec, the arm angle (which translates to cartridge azimuth angle)is maintained within +/- 0.05 degree.

Zaike...I didn't mean to say that azimuth angle (also solved by linear tracking) is unimportant. The importance of skating force became evident to me when my Shure V15mr got through the Shure tracking test at 1/2 gram. It took 1 gram to do that with my pivoting arm. This is an objective (not subjective) measure. I still run the pickup at 1 gram, for other reasons.

I came to linear tracking as a result of attending a seminar on how to set up a vinyl playback system. Linear tracking was not even mentioned at the seminar. However, as a result of the seminar I learned about all the geometry, forces, and angles, and how they can mostly be adjusted only to compromise values, good only at one or two points on the LP. Some things, like making sausage, it is better not to watch. If I hadn't attended that seminar I would probably be happy with a pivoting arm!

Zaike...Well, I didn't know that terminology. It is a bit strange because "Azimuth" in any context except audiophillia, means an angle that lies in the horizontal plane. IMHO, the proper terminology would be "Azimuth" "Elevation" and "Roll", but then this is just an engineer talking.

Question...I just looked over a brochure that came in the mail from Audio Advisor and it states that "A high-quality turntable system removes 90 percent of the record surface noise...". That might be a reasonable claim for a record cleaning machine but I am quite at a loss to see how, physically, a turntable could do that. Ideas anyone?