Tonearm tracking error to a maximum of 0.008
john195 -- Tue, 07/06/2010 - 01:37
The Swiss made Thales Tonearm has a tracking error to a maximum of 0.008 the website claims, any opinions ?
http://www.tonarm.ch/index.php?page=simplicity
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Shucks, my air-bearing, linear-tracking Walker Proscenium Black Diamond Mk II has tracking error of 0.000000.
Ok JV you are correct that the air-bearing, linear-tracking ceramic tonearm of the Walker Proscenium Black Diamond Mk II has tracking error of 0.000000. and is one of if not the best tonearms ever made, but I think in the last few years a lot of manufacturers of tonearms that are made and sold at a lower cost are trying the get on the low tracking bandwagon with other geometry solutions or making longer arms, SME V-12 & 312s, DaVinci Grandezza & Noble 12in, TW-Acustic Raven 10.5 (yes it's new BTW), Thorens TP125 12in (DaVinci), Ortofon RS-309D (12in) for the SPU Royal GM 2 & many others.
Long live Vinyl and all the Best JV & SS.
John,
I was just kidding ya. I actually saw and heard an earlier version of the Thales two years ago at the Munich trade show. It really is a unique design--kind of a cross between a linear-tracker and a pivoted arm. I wanted to review it, but so far...no dice.
Jon
Linear tracking is cheating :)
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
Any more opinions ?
I just went to the web site listed above (thank you John!). If I'm seeing the Simplicity's picture correctly, it looks like a high-quality version of the idea introduced by Garrard of all companies, back when they made the Zero 100. While I'm sure there's no quality comparison, the Garrard did seem to be audibly better in the inner grooves than a comparable conventional arm in a similar 'table, say the old Lab 80. As ususal, very little new under the sun conceptually, but execution and materials science has made great strides. I'd love to see a review on this!
Golden Ear 52
Thank you sir, it looks roughty like a HQ version of the Garrard Zero 100/SB, and looks like the firm has 3 tonearms:
Thales Original: Effective Length 6/11 inches, Effective Mass 12g
Thales AV: Effective Lenth 6/11 inches, Effective Mass 16g
Simplicity: Effective Length 9 inches, Effective Mass 19g
click on this for more info Thales Site http://www.tonarm.ch/
I found the Australian prices at Puremusicgroup.com: Simplicity - AU$8500, Thales AV - AU$14500, Thales Original - AU$16000
I think JV seen the Original, so lets hope for a review (yodel).
0.000000, or 0.0008 are meaningless figures, since they dont come with any units. Are we talking degrees, radians, percentages, or some other invented values?
Even if it were possible to get a tangential tracking arm set up absolutely perpendicular to a record's radius, there's still the issue of the cartridge being set up absolutely perpendicular. since thie is done without jigs or fixtures, i cannot imagine for one minute that it will be accurate to within a ten-thousanth of whatever. Even an air bearing will have a degree of free play or hysteresis of at least a few microns, which at the end of a 6 or 8 inch tube turns out to be quite measurable.
Cantilevers and styli are not that precisely set up, which becomes pretty obvious if you look at a batch of identical units under a microscope. Even new the facets on elliptical, shibata, gyger etc look nothing like the neat engineering drawings used to demonstrate their profiles.
The devil is in the details and she loves hiding behind numbers and obscure formulae. Open minds and open ears are a good defence.
Happy listening
Ok tektaff, it must be 0.008% tracking error.
If you go to the website it states; "The Simplicity comes with a special tool ( jig ) to make sure that the installation is as precise as the manufacturing. The headshell can be taken apart easily for the exact placing of the cartridge ( with jig ). The surfaces of the tubes are bronze anodized, using 0.1 g of a specific salt per litre electrolyte. All side forces are balanced by two little magnets, integrated into the counterweight.
All the Best and thank you for your input.
Looks like Michael Fremer got to use this tonearm, and he likes it !...
http://www.stereophile.com/content/hifiction-thales-av-tonearm
My Nottingham has a 294 mm tonearm (12"). I cant hear any difference comparing the sound at the outside, middle or inside of a record. Maybe that's because the thing sounds so good.
Jack D II