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They were the rage at one point several years ago and now there's not much written about them. I thought his latest Tangential Tracking Pivoted Tonearm was rather revolutionary. He claimed it produced zero tracking error and also zero skating force. I actually saw it and listened to it at RMAF 2012 and it sounded great, although I can't remember ever hearing an expensive arm that didn't. At the time, I thought it would produce a frenzy in the vinyl community because there was finally a pivoted tonearm that supposedly eliminated the two most serious flaws in pivotal tonearm design without introducing the excessive mass of air-bearing linear trackers. It seemed like a true masterpiece and yet I hear little to nothing about it these days.Was it too good to be true? Or, was it too expensive? Whatever happened to the revolutionary Tangential Tracking Pivoted Tonearm from Frank Schroeder.
Edits: 04/28/15 04/28/15Follow Ups:
When you are that good who needs the writeups--the knowledge and generous attitude
to those that speak to him is exemplary -taking his time to explain to me the special bearing
SKF had manufactured for his use.
One of the finest Arms out there equal to my personal fav the original Breuer.
Wish I could afford an LT!
Every success
Des
Steve Dobbins handles the game changing LT in the US. It is my understanding that unless arranged otherwise he will deliver and install all US arms personally. Steve's customers speak highly of him, and his tonearm mounting skills are top-notch.
My experiences with him have been positive, as well. ...competitor that he is ;-)
tour last sentence.
Yes, & more.
This forum doesn't work as well as it used to before the recent so-called upgrade. It won't allow special characters like the "o" with two dots on top. If I try to use special characters it causes all sort of problems.
Here is an example:
µ ⅓ π ö ω Ω
They are alive and well. I'm currently building turntables for customers who will use them. If anything, demand outruns production.
Have you had a chance to play with the new Tangential Tracking Pivoted Tonearm? What did you think? Does it actually eliminate tracking error and skating force as advertized?
> > Does it actually eliminate tracking error and skating force as advertized? < <I suspect it would, or why go to there.
A more important question:
Does the new "bearing"/"assembly" compromise rigidness?
Edits: 04/29/15
I was in the company of some gurus this weekend (some friends of Win's in fact), two of whom had had direct experience with the Schroeder arm, which is called the "LT", I think. We did not discuss the technical aspects, but they both were very impressed with the design and the performance.
I totally agree with you, when that tonearm came to market I thought it would be a whole new ballgame for tonearms. I advised a wealthy friend to jump on it, but he had just finished waiting nearly a year for the top of Frank's line of conventional tonearms and had no appetite for another long wait. I think the reason it does not dominate conversation is (i) demand far outstrips Frank Schroeder's capacity to make them, probably by hand one by one, and (ii) no one else is clever enough to imitate it without outright stealing the design, so no competition to create conversations about it. The Thales is a clumsy gadget by comparison, IMO.
I think you're probably right about the limited production capability preventing the "LT" from receiving any press. After all, there's no sense in advertising something that can't be produced in the quantity required to meet demand. That's also probably the reason Frank doesn't want anyone testing the tonearm. Since he can't meet the demand that already exists, there's no sense in risking a test failure. He might just as well enjoy his prosperity while it lasts. ;-)
Thanks,
John Elison
Hi,
I've had lots of inquiries from the Hifi press regarding a review of the LT arm. They need something new(and unusual) to write about as often as possible. It sells their magazine, but not any more of my arms.
The experiences I've had with reviewers were(with few exceptions) such that I prefer to stick with a very restrictive approach when it comes to having as so-called expert write about an item or a topic that he either doesn't fully understand or that he can spend only a couple of days on, - since the next issue's deadline is ahead. That, after having the item in his posession for half a year...
I also don't like to be contacted time and time again by the advertizement department of the magazine that just reviewed an arm or a deck that I designed.
Lastly, it is not the manufacturing limits, but the number of knowledgeable and service orientated dealers that precludes a wide distribution.
All the best,
Frank Schröder
Hi Frank,
J.Weiss wrote the following:
> OMA (Oswalds Mill Audio) represents Schroder tonearms in North America. You can see and demo virtually the entire range of arms at our showroom in Brooklyn, NYC.
> We also have a new Schroder arm which has a magnetic, pivoting headshell that is tangentially tracking, as opposed to the design which tracks from the arm base.
I'm curious about the rationale for the pivoting headshell tonearm. Is there some advantage to the pivoting headshell over the LT tonearm? It would seem that a pivoting headshell would have less structural integrity than the LT tonearm. What is the reason for the pivoting headshell design when you seem to already have the perfect tonearm in the LT model?
Thanks,
John Elison
Hi John,
The same basic rationale applies to both CBM and LT arms when it comes to reducing the negative influence(intermodulation distorsion, transformer saturation, etc...) of the fundamental arm/cartridge resonance(see my quote as posted by J. Weiss).
On the LT arm, the laterally "giving" link is the magnetic coupling between the guide rail and its adjacent guide arm/magnet, on the CBM it's the pivoting headshell. In both cases you're looking at an anti-resonator with a built-in eddy current brake.
The structural integrity isn't compromised as both engineering solutions are based on pre-loaded bearings. No play, no chatter....
Have a great weekend,
Frank
Hi Frank,
Are you no longer hand building each one of them? Care to explain what manufacturing limits exist? And how is that will effect the price? I know it is a delicate balance between supply demand, distribution channels, etc. And it is still a "Luxury" item so to speak.
deee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
quote by Kurt Vonnegut
Hello deee,
All LT arms to be sold in the US and Canada are assembled/finished by Steve Dobbins (Xact Audio) from parts supplied by me.
OMA sells all other models(all hand made by me)
Robyatt(importer of Miyajima carts) handles a special version of the CB arm(also hand/custom made)
A few other representatives exist in the US as well.
Another version of the CB arm(CF-multi-layer wand) is made by Thrax Audio for the Eastern European market and Australia.
Enough advertizing...
Cheers,
Frank
And fair enough. Final assembly is time consuming.
Dee
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
quote by Kurt Vonnegut
they are made to fit as well :). If you can afford it.
dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
quote by Kurt Vonnegut
Spoke with Frank at RMAF this last October? and it was obvious from our conversation that his waiting list was WAY TOO LONG for a guy my age to be ordering an arm. =:-0
Edits: 04/28/15
Hi guys,
If I may, let me correct a misconception about the long wait times mentioned in this thread. As of the last few months, there is little to no wait for the LT arm in the Americas. I work hard to make sure there are one or two LT arms ready to finish with the customer's wiring option at all times. If that means working weekends or late nights, so be it.
Typically, the only wait is for the travel arrangements. I install, setup and show the owner how to do this for themselves. The LT owner deserves to hear all it can deliver.
Which I understand is assembled by someone else from parts supplied by Frank.
I was speaking of a conversation I had with Frank at RMAF regarding the arms that he makes with his own two hands.
Hi,
I do make all LT arms that are to be sold outside the US and Canada with my own two hands... :-)
Cheers,
Frank
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