To shed a little light and (I hope) not too much heat on this debate, I know from experience that Raul notices and values some aspects of audio reproduction while not noticing or valuing others as much. We all have listening biases of course, but some of Raul's may have a direct bearing on the issue being discussed here.
Raul does not much notice or care about two things that happen to matter a great deal to Paul and me: very low level detail and harmonic overtones. This was evident during his visit last year when we compared his preamp with ours. OTOH, Raul is very attuned to strong, tight extended bass and full dynamics, among other things. We each have our listening biases and those, IME, are his.
The reduced tracking angle error possible with a longer arm will be most audible in reduced HF distortion and tighter, more stable imaging. These are areas where Raul's sonic antennae are less sensitive than some others. Not a dig, just an observation.
OTOH, a shorter arm is (all other things being equal) less flexible and should therefore produce stronger dynamics and tighter bass. Raul is highly attuned to these areas, so in a shorter arm may indeed sound more lifelike to him.
Of course the materials and manufacturing advances referred to by Zieman and others may now indeed allow arm manufacturers to provide the best of both worlds. But I thought it might help understand the differing views being expressed if one participant's listening preferences were explained by a third party with no axe to grind in this particular argument.
Raul does not much notice or care about two things that happen to matter a great deal to Paul and me: very low level detail and harmonic overtones. This was evident during his visit last year when we compared his preamp with ours. OTOH, Raul is very attuned to strong, tight extended bass and full dynamics, among other things. We each have our listening biases and those, IME, are his.
The reduced tracking angle error possible with a longer arm will be most audible in reduced HF distortion and tighter, more stable imaging. These are areas where Raul's sonic antennae are less sensitive than some others. Not a dig, just an observation.
OTOH, a shorter arm is (all other things being equal) less flexible and should therefore produce stronger dynamics and tighter bass. Raul is highly attuned to these areas, so in a shorter arm may indeed sound more lifelike to him.
Of course the materials and manufacturing advances referred to by Zieman and others may now indeed allow arm manufacturers to provide the best of both worlds. But I thought it might help understand the differing views being expressed if one participant's listening preferences were explained by a third party with no axe to grind in this particular argument.