Why hasnt a turntable manufacturer produced a table with automatic tonearm return/shutoff?


I'm listening to my old Technics 1700 turntable, which has the tonearm return/ shutoff mechanism. It's one of the reasons I don't upgrade. The idea that you have to get up to retrieve the cartridge and turn off the machine makes little sense when the technology has been there for years. I know the issue of the mechanism introducing sound into the table, but it seems to me that the mechanism can be isolated and kept off until the record ends. What gives?

kavakat1

@billstevenson  I had that turntable, too! I think I used the multi spindle a few times but never took to it. Got a lot of mileage out of that old Dual.

You don't see it because the manufacturers don't believe there's enough demand for it to bother. Also, most audiophiles and manufacturers believe that it has a negative impact on sonic quality...and as others have mentioned, it's just something else to break.

@billstevenson ..."I used the stacking feature at that time, still have all those records."

I had a number of record players that stacked and dropped between the mid- 1950s and 1970. All of them sounded terrible in comparison to even the most basic high end turntable. But, yes, they were convenient. 

Well, I’ll be... there are some on the market... as if it is a new idea.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Ject-A1-Automatic-pre-Adjusted-switchable/dp/B09RKQGGWL

 

 

why not?

very low priority in terms of actual use. most serious vinyl users would be afraid of other compromises introduced by an unneeded complicated feature. rather put their money on things making the performance better. and the manual process is part of the muscle memory and ritual associated with vinyl playback.

so cultural headwind to have it be something valued. 

@pryso - Tone controls have come back relatively recently; you see them on quite a few newer, very expensive, high end preamps and integrateds, and they can be completely removed from the circuitry if they're not to be used. Usually just bass and treble, but I've seen some that have a 'Mid' adjustment, too.