Straight Arms vs S Arms

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Shepherd_of_Anu
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Straight Arms vs S Arms

Post by Shepherd_of_Anu »

I have an opportunity to pick up a deck at a reasonable price but it has a straight arm and I have never owned one before. I have always had S arms. I have read a lot of conflicting stuff about the subject. Are straight arms as bad as some people say with regards to record wear and sound quality? I am not much into scratching so the whole tracking thing doesn't matter much to me. I am more interested in sound and record wear. Normally I wouldn't even bother with a straight arm but its a good price. I would like to know if any of you have used both straight arms and S arms and noticed any difference. I can't trust the word of audiophiles because nothing is ever good enough unless you need to take out a second mortgage to finance your equipment.
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Michael^Heaven
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Post by Michael^Heaven »

Although I prefer S arms, I've used straight ones & they're fine. One of my mates has a Numark turntable with the straight ones. The only complaint that I have is not with the arms but on that model, the arms lock when pulling away from the platter. So, you can't go any further back than the edge of the deck itself. Curious, what company makes the deck that you're considering?
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cloutier
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Re: Straight Arms vs S Arms

Post by cloutier »

straight arms are better for scratching, because it gives you more inward force and a bit more push on the vinyl, but historically the needle sits at a weird angle which digs in to the grooves and can cause more wear on records.

i'd say stick with the s-tone arm. its been doing just fine for years.
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Shepherd_of_Anu
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Re: Straight Arms vs S Arms

Post by Shepherd_of_Anu »

Michael^Heaven wrote:Although I prefer S arms, I've used straight ones & they're fine. One of my mates has a Numark turntable with the straight ones. The only complaint that I have is not with the arms but on that model, the arms lock when pulling away from the platter. So, you can't go any further back than the edge of the deck itself. Curious, what company makes the deck that you're considering?
Stanton sr8-150. They guy wanted $200 which seemed reasonable. I have never used them but I have read lots of good reviews and nothing bad so far. That is generally unusual for any product.
cloutier wrote:straight arms are better for scratching, because it gives you more inward force and a bit more push on the vinyl, but historically the needle sits at a weird angle which digs in to the grooves and can cause more wear on records.

i'd say stick with the s-tone arm. its been doing just fine for years.
Yeah, I decided I am going to pass. The downsides are a little too much for me. Besides... straight arms just look weird too.
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Re: Straight Arms vs S Arms

Post by simonb »

As far as I'm aware, straight arms are better for scratching and S are better for sound but the difference is very marginal on both sides.
Johbremat
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Post by Johbremat »

Discuss this elsewhere, just recently. Just some points that someone may/may not find useful in the future:


RECORD WEAR:
A straight tonearm CAN, but does not implicitly MEAN, increased record wear. Find me a hi-fi turntable without a straight tonearm. Seriously. Guys who spend upward of AUD/USD$25K on a wooden-plinthed, belt-driven deck are NOT going to risk their records for better tracking.

The s-arms help to create the tangential angle, approximating the point at which the stylus is perpendicular to the concentric circles (well, spiral) that is the groove cut in to a record. In doing so, the stylus isn't fighting the edges of the groove but roughly maintains it's position on the apex.

Mr. Scruff tours with custom Vestax PDX-2000 with Grado tonearms. If we can ever find a pic to post on this thread, you'll note that rather the tonearm's head is angled to spindle, rather than being 180° off the tonearm. Again with the tangential angle.

(You'll also see, looking at the Ortofon SH-4 headshell that was released with the S-120 OM the two white lines? Used to assist in creating that angle we're referring to)

YES. The tangential angle can be approximated on straight-armed DJ turntables, too. You're just doing it from deeper within the deck.



DECKS:
I'm using ST-150s. Disregarding the shape of the arm and position of the target light, they're the same deck. They're built like tanks, have some (genuinely) useful features and the numbers ARE lying: don't personally comprehend a ten-fold increase in wow & flutter over 1200s (my mixes are holding for quite a while...maybe I'm doing something wrong)
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