I’ve been wasting time watching audio-related YouTube videos, with turntables being a favorite topic. Back in the 80’s, electronics manufacturers did what they could to modernize turntables, while at the same time promoting their CD players. Along with direct-drive turntables and P-Mount cartridges, there were linear-tracking tonearms.
The music that’s played to demonstrate the turntable is by Jeremy Heiden. Something about the first track reminded me of an early 80’s Steve Miller song, with maybe an added splash of the Police from the same era.
Laser turntables are still available, faithfully capturing the sound of every micron of dust. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_turntable
The old Edison cylindrical phonographs had a threaded rod that drove the carriage along the cylinder, so spacing was very rigidly fixed.
Yeah, he really overdid the AutoTune. I was wondering the same thing about the HK/Rabco mechanism. Groove width and spacing varies, and the platter motor driving the tonearm runs at a fixed speed. In the late 80’s a friend had a linear-tracking P-Mount Sony turntable, but not the vertical model. It was small and light, and very “modern,” compared to every turntable I had owned or used. Mitsubishi also made a vertical linear-track table. Having a servo constantly hunting for the middle of the groove would seem more prone to tracking error than a pivoted arm, but the operation and sound of my friend’s Sony was impressive.
AutoTune — yecch! Ah well, interesting and informative otherwise. I always wondered how the tonearm was moved along on linear tracking tables. Seems to me problematic in that the spacing is not always consistent. So I gather that there *must* be some pivoting going on there still, like the Technics style.
My favorite (looking, that is; never had one…) linear tracking table is the Sony PS-F5 vertical one. Super weird!