Is there anything wrong with linear tracking turntable technology?

[tengiz]

My kids caught the vinyl bug, so I had to play along. I went through a range of modern turntables - from cheap to fairly expensive - and I just couldn’t stand it. The childhood PTSD came rushing back the moment I heard the speakers pop with the sound of a needle dropping on a record for the first time in 40 years.

So I started looking for something that might appeal to me too - specifically, a technology I’d skipped before switching to CDs: linear tracking.

But I quickly noticed that almost no new linear-tracking turntables exist today, aside from a few obscure offerings like The Wheel. Cool, yes - but with multiple tracking axes and swipe-style controls, it feels like overkill.

In the end, I picked up a recently serviced Technics SL-5 on eBay - and I really like it. Not for the rumble, crackles, or pops, but for its electro-mechanical hybrid design: simple, functional, and remarkably convenient.

Which makes me wonder - what’s wrong with the core technology? The linear tracking mechanism can be elegantly simple, with no need for anti-skating or tracking angle adjustments. And this model, the SL-5, is surprisingly stable on its little isolation feet.

With modern stepper motors, DSP control loops, and precise sensors, building a reliably good linear tracker seems like a straightforward undertaking.

So why is there no market for them?

 

[EERecordist]

I like and recommend them. But I think most people don't think it looks like what they are used to. A radial arm looks like what it does.

Linear systems are automatic, press-start, it plays, and then stops on its own, some can find tracks.

I have had the SL-5. I got rid of all my vinyl. I'm working on overhauling all the capacitors on my Revox 795 before I sell it. There is a service ecosystem and spare used/rebuilt parts for the Revox.

Linear tracking was the pinnacle for mass manufactured turntables, mainly Japanese companies. Then turntables died out, now they are back.

Record lathes are linear. For all the interest in low distortion, a radial arm has a lot. There are some modern parallelogram arms out there which is another way to solve the problem. Your suggestion of a modern linear turntable is good, but the arm would have a large parts count and the market in the mid-price range is very fragmented, so the volumes might be low.

 

[tengiz]

Revox 795

It looks awesome - and the rotating tracking arm assembly is so cool!

 

[Mart68]

I've discussed this with high end turntable afficianodos who think nothing of paying thousands just for a tonearm.

Universally they believe that 'linear tracking creates as many problems as it solves.' Because that's what they've been told by people with a vested interest in conventional tonearms.

That's possibly why we don't see any high end linear trackers.

For mass market a good implementation will be more expensive than a 'normal' arm. Since the market is polarising into budget or high end, with little in between, there's no market for a quality linear tracker which would inevitably fall into that gap, price wise.

As noted above, it is also not what people are used to or expect with a turntable.

I also suspect most companies do not have the required in house skills to build a linear tracker. They'd have to buy in, making it a risky investment if it didn't sell.

I have owned a couple in my time. A beautiful TOTL Kenwood which I've regretted selling for 30 years, and a Technics SL6.

One of the best turntables I ever heard was a Technics SL1200 motor unit, encased in concrete, with an air bearing linear tracking arm. The arm used an electric motor from a fish tank pump which did make some noise and needed to be sited in an adjacent room, ideally.

 

[kiwifi]

I have an SL5 and love it!

 

[lini]

(...) That's possibly why we don't see any high end linear trackers. (...)

See there: https://www.dereneville.de/Products.html

(...) In the end, I picked up a recently serviced Technics SL-5 on eBay - and I really like it. (...)

Nice one. My first own hifi turntable back in the 80s - and upgraded with an Audio Technica AT132EP it was really good. Shouldn't have sold it, as my later Thorens TD160Super with Grace G707 and Yamaha MC-505 combo was just a bit better, but way less comfy to use.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Mart68]

See there: https://www.dereneville.de/Products.html

That looks good! 70K Euro though.

 

[Gregm]

That looks good! 70K Euro though.

You can buy the arm for less, and even get it in your colour of choice!

 

[mhardy6647]

You can buy the arm for less, and even get it in your colour of choice!

Colour choice?! That's gotta have an impact on the sonics!

 

[Gregm]

Colour choice?! That's gotta have an impact on the sonics!

Indeed! That is a well known and documented property of colour pigments & shades.
For example, blue tends to favour mid-high frequencies while dark brown & black bring clarity to bass notes...

 

[DVDdoug]

There was a post awhile back by someone who deals in vintage equipment. Linear turntables are on his list of "things I don't buy/sell". It's because they are unreliable and unmaintainable. Of course, a new one might be OK for several years.

And it's probably one of those things like optical pickup that "looks good on paper" but doesn't make much, if any. difference in the real world. ...And of course, the records themselves are the biggest limitation. You've never going to get digital quality from vinyl, so IMO it's not worth "going crazy" trying to make tiny improvements.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Universally they believe that 'linear tracking creates as many problems as it solves.' Because that's what they've been told by people with a vested interest in conventional tonearms.

I mean, it's not completely off-base. Without the leverage provided by a conventional tonearm, you either need absurdly low bearing friction, case in point:

One of the best turntables I ever heard was a Technics SL1200 motor unit, encased in concrete, with an air bearing linear tracking arm.

...or the equivalent of power steering. Neither is particularly trivial to implement. (Good luck sensing lateral forces on a stylus.)

Just for the, erm, record, here's a little series on SL-5 maintenance I found:

 

[tmtomh]

I agree strongly with the majority of the comments so far - I've been a fan of linear trackers since I got my first turntable in 1981 when I was 12. It was the Technics SL-5 that's been mentioned and discussed above. It was always rock-solid and a pleasure to use - and as the budget Technics linear tracker it was particularly impressive because its speed was not quartz-controlled and it didn't have a particularly heavy platter or weighty build. But it tracked like a champ and its speed accuracy seemed top-notch to me.

I sold it after I got rid of most of my LPs in the mid to late '80s when I transitioned fully into CDs. But a few years ago I thought I might get back into LPs just for fun and I picked up a mint condition SL-7 that had been fully serviced, for $300. It uses the same super-compact form factor but its speed is quartz-locked and it has a 15-lb (if memory serves) aluminum platter. That thing was fantastic! The only limitation is that it uses p-mount cartridges, which limits your selection, but I found a decent one for less than $50 and it was totally fine, a pleasure to listen to. I ended up not getting back into LPs and so I sold it for about what I paid for it. I went the opposite direction and reduced my CD listening in favor of even more convenient computer-based streaming of my ripped CD collection.

But for anyone looking to get into vinyl, I recommend seriously considering an SL-7 - if your budget is $400-500, you should be able to find one in good shape, pick up a nice cartridge for it, and maybe even have some money left over to cover shipping costs and a couple of new LPs.

The other great benefit of those linear trackers is that they happen to have come out in the early 1980s, which were the peak years of affordable but rock-solid Technics direct-drive motors. Most modern turntables cannot match the speed and wow performance of those 1980s DD units.

 

[Curupira]

The best rippers use linear trackers AFAIK, with PbtHal being the most prominent one.

If his works are anything to go by, linear offers the best performance in regards to IGD that I've heard yet.

But most vinyl audiophiles don't seem to be bothered by this peculiar type of problem, which always puzzled me since I can't unheard IGD on a LP once I've noticed it.

There are also the difficulties in installing a linear arm in a TT if it doesn't come with it, which is a major problem since there are so few stock ones that offer the technology.

 

[levimax]

I agree strongly with the majority of the comments so far - I've been a fan of linear trackers since I got my first turntable in 1981 when I was 12. It was the Technics SL-5 that's been mentioned discussed above. It was always rock-solid and a pleasure to use - and as the budget Technics linear tracker it was particularly impressive because its speed was not quartz-controlled and it didn't have a particularly heavy platter or weighty build. But it tracked like a champ and its speed accuracy seemed top-notch to me.

I sold it after I got rid of most of my LPs in the mid to late '80s when I transitioned fully into CDs. But a few years ago I thought I might get back into LPs just for fun and I picked up a mint condition SL-7 that had been fully serviced, for $300. It uses the same super-compact form factor but its speed is quartz-locked and it has a 15-lb (if memory serves) aluminum platter. That thing was fantastic! The only limitation is that it uses p-mount cartridges, which limits your selection, but I found a decent one for less than $50 and it was totally fine, a pleasure to listen to. I ended up not getting back into LPs - in fact, I went the opposite direction and reduced my CD listening in favor of even more convenient computer-based streaming of my ripped CD collection.

But for anyone looking to get into vinyl, I recommend seriously considering an SL-7 - if your budget is $400-500, you should be able to find one in good shape, pick up a nice cartridge for it, and maybe even have some money left over to cover shipping costs and a couple of new LPs.

The other great benefit of those linear trackers is that they happen to have come out in the early 1980s, which were the peak years of affordable but rock-solid Technics direct-drive motors. Most modern turntables cannot match the speed and wow performance of those 1980s DD units.

+1.... I had an SL-7, they are not hard to work on (usually all they need is to clean out old hardened grease and replace with new) and mine was trouble fee and worked great. Definitely regret selling it.

 

[tengiz]

There are some modern parallelogram arms out there which is another way to solve the problem.

But they still require some kind of anti-skating? I mean, tracking angle aside, a pivot mechanism cannot avoid the skating force problem entirely, unless I'm missing some clever mechanical tricks.

 

[DVDdoug]

But they still require some kind of anti-skating? I mean, tracking angle aside, a pivot mechanism cannot avoid the skating force problem entirely, unless I'm missing some clever mechanical tricks.

I'm pretty sure the skating force is present no matter what's holding the stylus.

 

[JeffS7444]

Main SL-5 gripe is that it's pretty microphonic. I used to lay a thick paperback book on the dustcover.

Technologies like affordable and reliable linear tracking, even linear motors (Sony/Denon Biotracer) were products of vinyl's golden era, and have never really been equaled since.

 

[Rit]

I believe B and O is introducing something new this year.

 

[tengiz]

I'm pretty sure the skating force is present no matter what's holding the stylus.

If you’re talking about some lateral force in a linear tracking arrangement - yes, it's necessary for tangential tracking to function, of course. But the required force can be very small and constant, since it’s independent of stylus pressure.

In contrast, with a pivoted tonearm, the skating force is proportional to the stylus pressure and cannot be reduced independently - it can only be compensated. Unless, of course, there's some clever trick I’m unaware of.