Why Linear Tracking never took off?

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.

Sirspeedy, I'd have to disagree about the advantages of tonearm/cartridge damping. On well mastered and well engineered LPs (most frequently classical and well recorded jazz), I agree: I don't use any damping. But there are many LPs, particularly pop and rock, where a lot of high frequency hash is encoded in the record grooves adding an edginess and overall distortion that makes the record difficult to live with. On these "bad" sounding records, dialing in just a slight amount of damping (as the Walker Audio tt allows one to do, for example) often will clear up that high frequency edginess and make the record listenable. Add too much and you can over-deaden the sound; but when you find the Goldilocks point, you really hear it positively. I've salvaged "listenability" for a number of LPs that way.


www.6moons.com/audioreviews/walker4/sota_6.html
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I read:

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what was the rational behind their creation?
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IMHO:
-strive for zero tracking angle error; not really the case on most designs.
-low effective arm masses

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...Are there any good used tables to consider...
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Underrated, cheap and really good- sounding: Technics models like SL-5 SL-7 and SL10. Balanced designs IMHO.

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or is this design long gone?....
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Nononononono..... Njet! There are current models in the Clearaudio and Rauna (Swedish, next street) line:

http://www.rauna.com/

The rauna (once called "El Cheapo") tangential arms are like all Clearaudio Southern models passive tangentials: the goove delivers the movement- energy.

Still there are many tangantial freaks who have built copies of the famous Ladagaard's Air Arm, a tangential floating on a layer op compressed air.

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the simplicity of operation intrigues me...
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There is nothing more simple as a passive radial arm. Some tangentials are amazingly simple too. But most active models are not very simple in my point of view.

I own a lovely little Technics SL- J2. A cute capsulated quartz-DD active tangential player. The enclosure is not larger than a LP- sleeve!
Jan.

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.

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.