J.R. Boisclair and I Visit "The Audiophile Junkie" and Explain Pros and Cons of Tangential vs. Pivoted Arms

Audiophile Junkie is not a vinyl guy but we felt obligated to clarify

Our friend Charles Kirmuss appeared on The Audiophile Junkie YouTube channel recently and claimed the superiority of tangential tracking arms without explaining the negatives. There are positives and negatives to everything in this hobby so J.R. and I asked to make a joint guest appearance to "cavitate" the situation.

The video is below. The comments so far are interesting. My favorite is this one:

"Excellent information. Very enjoyable. I sent this video to my son who has a huge LP collection. As for me, I'll stick to my CD collection."

Comments

2024-08-16 08:52:52 PM

Come on wrote:

So far I didn’t hear of any real knowledgeable audiophile, finally preferring tangential over pivoted. A reason I may have doubted in this, would probably be Kirmuss, propagating it.
2024-08-17 01:32:05 AM

Lemon Curry wrote:

Great conversation! Nice to see J.R., who always takes the time to talk on the phone about using the WAM products I've purchased. ("How can I use this WallyTractor to make parallax adjustments for stevenson setup?") I recently bought a WallyFulcrum to improve azimuth on my table, and it's made a huge difference. In my case, it brought that mysterious center channel into focus, sweetening up what was previously a bit sibilant. I also like that inversion table off to the left :-)

Keep these videos coming!
2024-08-17 02:39:19 AM

Anton wrote:

Any way they could create a transcript?

I think we could read an hour’s worth of video in 8 minutes and have more time for listening to records!
- 2024-08-17 04:37:33 AM
  
  Christer Hedin wrote:
  
  Yes, please!
  - 2024-08-17 04:40:32 AM
    
    Christer Hedin wrote:
    
    To clarify; I agree with Anton
    - 2024-08-17 10:26:52 PM
      
      Jeff 'Glotz' Glotzer wrote:
      
      Yes! What Anton said!
      - 2024-08-17 10:29:23 PM
        
        Jeff 'Glotz' Glotzer wrote:
        
        No, perhaps my flip response could be construed as dismissive of the video. I didn't watch it yet, but transcripts do sound nice! I just watched a Doors video with it used.
- 2024-08-17 08:27:59 AM
  
  Come on wrote:
  
  Yes, as nice as the guys always are, some of us are not of the YouTube generation and can hardly stand the enormous waste of time related to the summarized information. I personally didn’t ever watch even a 20 minutes video without scrolling, and getting the relevant information with scrolling isn’t easy either. But that’s the time we live in. Those guys here at least quite constantly stay on topic and deliver facts while being entertaining, but most other audio or music (or other topics) YouTubers mainly seem to have a kind of personal online therapy around a topic.
- 2024-08-17 03:31:21 PM
  
  bwb wrote:
  
  MF, agree completely, I can read much, much faster than you can talk. I appreciate the time and energy you put into the videos, but I rarely (like never) watch them because there is no way I'm going to spend an hour of my life doing so.
2024-08-17 11:21:57 AM

Michael wrote:

Any experience from M. F. with this modern servo arm: https://www.dereneville.de/Prod_DTT03SL.html
2024-08-18 04:35:54 PM

Volki wrote:

Great video! Only JR's statements to anti-skating are incorrect, he should rethink his experimental design.
- 2024-08-18 05:58:53 PM
  
  WallyTools -J.R. wrote:
  
  I invite you to reveal your claim and your identity.
  - 2024-08-19 07:11:48 PM
    
    Volki wrote:
    
    I will call you. Please have look to the manual of the SME 3009-R https://www.theanalogdept.com/images/spp6-pics/SME/SME3009R/ModelsRtype.pdf Reed #1249 and rething your experimental design!
    - 2024-08-19 07:46:32 PM
      
      WallyTools -J.R. wrote:
      
      I am familiar with that arm and that manual. Nothing in there I see that is not consistent with my claims related to skating and anti-skating force. Also not sure what you are referring to as my "experimental design". Talk to you soon, I hope.
- 2024-08-18 09:56:19 PM
  
  Come on wrote:
  
  I recently bought the Wallyskater and made use of it with great success.
  
  Even if one might have a different theory about how to determine the magnitude of antiskating to apply, the option to verify the preloading of one’s arm/cabling/horizontal plane alignment alone is worth it.
  
  When one talks or mails with JR, his helpfulness, his will to go through all alternative thoughts and to explain his reasoning undogmatically and with a ton of patience is priceless. I think we can be more than happy that there still are a few around who think that much about the details of our hobby and tell all the little secrets to anyone asking or listening, without charging a fortune or by even providing it for free. In case you even just anonymously explain your “better knowledge”, I’m sure you’ll experience openness and possibly, not unlikely, “been there-done that” and even better knowledge.
2024-08-19 06:20:08 PM

Robert Nakata wrote:

Great insights. I was especially fascinated to know that, due to the nano measurements in the groove walls (that are perceivable), manufacturing tolerances are larger and therefore have greater potential for causing errors.

Separately, since tracking errors occur towards the label area (especially bass reproduction according to the conversation), would it be possible to optimise pivoted tonearm placement and/or alignment for 7" vinyl playback? In other words, a turntable optimised for 7" playback? (Aside from those old, plastic close-and-plays).
- 2024-08-22 10:16:30 AM
  
  SUPATRAC wrote:
  
  Yes, a geometry optimised for 7 inch singles will deliver very low tracing error for grooves nearer the label, and undermines the theory that tangential tracking has any advantage. You can select a 7 inch optimisation using the Vinyl-Engine's alignment calculator here: https://www.vinylengine.com/tonearm_alignment_calculator_pro.php
  
  I agree with MF and JR that it is very difficult to produce an air-pressure tangential arm bearing which doesn't allow play and noise in the time axis. Some of the mass-market Japanese servo-driven arms from the 1980s, e.g. Technics and JVC seem to me to be theoretically the best designs and I have heard them performing superbly. The current air tangent arms I've heard sounded impressive in high frequency effects but inaccurate and I felt the lack of guts and emphasis on acoustic/echoic sugar would lose my interest quickly.