Why Linear Tracking never took off?

If you choose a cartridge carefully ,there is no way "damping"is an advantage.I have had this proven to me on numerous occassions and have finally caved in on this.By the way,Mikelavigne,I also had a room built (dedicated)with dedicated heat and a/c.Do you find the ambient temp.to run generally quite cool in winter?I have added an oil filled elec. heater to make sure the furnace doesn't run too much.

With regards to the Rockport arm,I wasn't aware it is marketed as a stand alone unit any longer,but, it obviously looks like a fine design.I had heard one on an early generation Rockport,some years back,but lacked the system intimacy,or knowledge,at that time to determine it's effectiveness,as compared to the generation of arms of that era.With Andy Payor's track record,it was probably wonderful.I do recall Roy Gregory arguing the SIGNIFICANT superiority of the new Kuzma arm(which I've never heard)over ALL previous competitors,including the Fantastic Air Tangent design,when he reviewed it about a year ago in HI-FI PLUS.

You have already gotten fabulous responses to what is MY love affair with certain linear arms,AND I only own a GRAHAM 2.2,which is not chopped liver,but,compared to what I have heard(on numerous occassions,and through numerous other component changes)the advantages of a Superb linear arm like the AIR TANGENT,which my friend owns,is inarguably superior to any other type of arm.It has certain set up requirments,but,believe me when you hear one there is NO going back to being truly content with Any pivot design.I can almost guarantee that you will soon see a RAVE review of the KUZMA Airline in T.A.S.This design is supposed to improve upon all of it's predecessors,including the FABULOUS Air Tangent.They are very pricey,but,when you consider what some of us have spent on a quality record collection,are well worth it if you decide to make it a final purchase.Also,for those of you who fantasize about how free we could be,to really upgrade to whatever equipment we wanted to buy if the "little Wife" was out of the picture,just let her get a look at the lengthly tubing runs and external pumps(all of which I,myself love)necessary to employ around her precious Yadros and Hummel Figurines.Heh!Heh!Heh!

Rushton,I just read the thread(review info,by Walker)and you may have struck on the fact that perhaps some cartridges could not suffer by adding a bit of fluid to the arm.His info does make sense and I'm always open to new ideas(not that this one is new).My only concern is that I have NEVER heard the benefit of damping with any of the cartridges that I've owned,and my friend's are strongly against the use of it.That does not mean that it could not be beneficial in some cases,I've just not run across any.

Rushton,good point!To me though,I've spent too much time rationalizing the loss of AIR, brought about by damping the arm,to be to be anything other than a masking out of musical information.That is not to say that in the case of really crappy recordings it could not make them listenable,but,then what does one do?Add damping for the bad records,and,take it out for the junk?I don't have that much time in my day to fotz around like that!When producers re-release classic(not classical)music there is a real dilemma that they make as to how much info(noise) to leave on the recording.If you hear some of those re-releases they sound processed,which is what,to my ears anyway,damping does.Please don't think I'm trying to be condescending,If you like the music on a disc,and it is more listenable with some damping,then you should listen to what you prefer.