A New Turntable-Arm Design
EDGAR VILLCHUR"
Incidental to a description of a new product in the realm of record-
playing equipment is this thorough analysis of the physical principles
and the geometry involved in the design of an arm and turntable.
T
HE INTERDEPENDENCE OF TURNTABLE
AND TONEARM in a record player is
analogous to that between a speaker
and its enclosure. The correct mounting
of the tonearm depends on its relation-
ship to the turntable in exact position-
ing (both vertical and horizontal) and
in the necessity for common mechanical
isolation from the motor, from external
stimuli, and from acoustic feedback.
Deficiencies in record player per-
formance result from unwanted relative
motion between the arm and platen.
The design approach described here
therefore considers the arm-turntable as
a single mechanism.
Requirements of a Good Record Player
A record player that is excellent in
performance will not noticeably intrude
its characteristics into the signal a t all.
Record player design is advanced enough
for this goal to be a realistic one.
The following qualitative criteria of
performance were considered most sig-
nificant when we undertook the design
of the AR turntable:
1. Rumble to be inaudible on program
material
2. Wow and flutter1 (including verti-
cal warp wow) to be inaudible on
program material
3. Speed to be accurate, and stable
with time, with changes of line
voltage or of mechanical load
4. Arm to be capable of tracing
warped and/or off-center records
5. Tracking-error distortion to be
low
6. Isolation from mechanical shock
and from acoustic feedback to bc
adequate for even severe condi-
tions
7. Convenience in handling, rugged-
ness, and safety to be provided
* d c o ~ ~ s t iResearch,
c Inc., 24 Thorndike
St., Cambridge 41, Nass.
1 In the American Standard Acoustical
Terminology "flutter" refers to any devia-
tion in frequency; "wow" is a colloquial
term used to describe those deviations
~vhicliare relatively slow in rate and rec-
ognizable as pitch fluctuations.
AUDIO SEPTEMBER, 1962
IN TWO PARTS-PART 1
Quantitative Standards on rumble,
flutter, and speed accuracy were estitb-
lished in 1953 by the NAB, then called
NARTB, for broadcast equipment. These
Standards call for rumble a t least 35 db
below 1.4 cm/sec peak a t 100 cps
(equivalent to 6.3 cm/sec a t 1000 cps
on the RIAA curve), flutter and wow no
greater than 0.2 per cent peak in re-
producing turntables and no greater
than 0.1 per cent peak in recording turn-
tables, and a speed accuracy of r 0.3 per
cent (21 dots/min. drift on a standard
216-dot 33%-rpm stroboscope card).
Unfortunately these Standards do not
provide adequate guideposts for describ-
iilg a completely self-effacing record
player, in that they do not take into ac-
cou& the frequenEy destribution of the
rumble or the predominant rates of the
flutter. While an over-all rumble level
of 35 db below the NAB reference is a
very low figure when measured as speci-
fied by the NAB, it is an incomplete
specification. Rumble a t the higher bass
frequencies needs to bc considerably
lower in level than the NAB Standard
to be inaudible, because of increased
hearing sensitivity in this range, while
subsonic rumble much higher in level
than the Standard will offend neither
the ear nor the amplifier.2 The NAB
document specifically points out that its
rumble measurement reflects only an
electrical effect, not aural annoyance
value.
Flutter whose rate is in the 3-cps
region is of the order of three times as
noticeable as flutter a t 30 cps, and twice
as noticeable as flutter a t 0.5 cps3 An
ASA Standard of 19544 established a
2 While rumble that is subsonic in fre-
quency is inaudible, it cannot be ignored
because it can load the amplifier. The order
of amplitude involved in rumble which is
anywhere near the NAB standard, however,
is so low as to rule out any possibility of
loading the amplifier significantly. Rumble
which is no more than 20 db below refer-
ence, for example, will only drive the am-
plifier t o deliver an additional 1 per cent
of power.
3 F. A. Comerci, "Perceptibility of flutter
in speech and Music," JSMPTE, June,
1955.
unit called "flutter index" which takes
into account the subjective influence of
flutter rate, but no scale of values is
suggested.
On the basis of this incomplete state
of Standards relative to record players,
it was decided to design a unit which
would meet NAB specifications, and
would in addition stand u p to more
stringent measurement criteria that were
weighted for subjective sensitivity to
rumble frequency and to flutter rate.
Such weighted measurement data werr
available through the use of a flutter
and rumble meter, referrcd to later on.
The NAB Standards call for a rumblc-
level meter with the same ballistic char-
acteristics as a VU meter; this speed of
needle response has been found to cor-
respond well to aural effects. Both
rumble and flutter measurements can be
"improved" by employing a more highly
damped meter movement. Another
method of showing a dramatically lower
rumble figure is to make the measure-
ments with the pickup working into a
flat preamplifier rather than one with
the normal RIAA equalization. With a
flat preamplifier, the rumble measure-
ment relative to a 7-cm/sec 1000-cp?
test signal will be approximately 1 9 db
lower than the corresponding NAB fig-
ure. Such a measurement does not rep-
resent the actual level of the rumble
under operating conditions, but it ap-
pears to be in use by one testing or-
ganization.
Solutions to the problems of turn-
tables and arms appear to the writer to
br a matter of correct design rather
than of expensive processes and ma-
terials. Since the record-player a r t is
well advanced, the AR design borrows
liberally from good engineering prac-
tice existing a t present, combined with
some new approaches.
Mounting
Aberrations in record plnycr per-
formn.nce must result from any relxtivc
4 "American Standard Method f o ~Ds-
term,zng Flwtter Content of So~cndRecord-
ers and Reproducers," 257.1-1954.
19
 <
quency oscillation. The floor and room
structure provide a path of positive
feedback from the speaker back to the
pickup; proper shock-mounting of the
player assembly opens the feedback
loop.
Foam grommet
A qualitative method of testing for
acoustic feedback from speakers to the
record is to place the needle on a record
a t rest, and then to observe how f a r
the volume and bass-boost controls can
be advanced without creating feedback.
While the information gained by such
a test is entirely relative, the adequacy
of a particular installation can be eval-
uated roughly by turning the volume and
bass controls to the maximum position
in which they would be used in that in-
stallation, placing the needle on the still
record, and stamping lightly on the
Mounting suspension (one of three) floor near the turntable or tapping the
table surface on which the turntable
rests. Any tendency to feedback will be
evident in a train of low-frequency os-
cillations following the mechanical ex-
citation.
Fig. 1. Suspension system of the arm-turntable assembly. The tonearm pivot and
platen bearing are connected by a steel I-beam, which i s suspended from the top The positions to which volume and
plate by three springs. Note that neither the tonearm nor the platen touches the top bass controls can be advanced is a func-
plate at any point. tion of pickup output, preamplifier sen-
sitivity a t low frequencies, and room
notion between the arm and platen. A the isolation from external forces. As conditions. I n a typical installation the
player can tolerate all sorts of violent the frequency of a stimuating force is AR turntable does not show feedback
motion so long as the arm and platen lowered below resonance, the mounting instability with the volume control a t
do not move relative to each other. suspensions act increasingly as though maximum and the bass controls fairly
Therefore the main platen bearing and they were rigid. The practical figure well advanced.
the tonearm pivot are ideally mounted chosen for mounting resonance was 3.5 A simple method of choosing mount-
as rigidly as possible with respect to cps. I n this range the resonant fre- ing springs is to use the formula
",
each other. The AR design uses a steel quency of a mounted turntable assembly F = (10/D) where F is desired resonant
I-beam as a basic frame on which these can be determined simply by giving the frequency and D is the static deflection
two parts are mounted, with a crossbar spindle a push and counting the rate of of the spring in inches when loaded with
to form a T-shaped mounting structure. free oscillation. Unfortunately many rec- its mass. If one wanted to shock-mount

---
The rigidity achieved could be equalled ord players are mounted with a much an assembly weighing x pounds with
by a very heavy steel plate, but a t much higher resonant frequency, often so high three springs, for example each spring
greater expense and inconvenience. As that the frequency cannot be determined would be tested with a n x/3-lb. load.
i t is, the entire frame can be suspended visually. Performance of such record F o r a resonant frequency or 3.5 cps the
with springs from a top plate that is players can be improved considerably by static deflection would have to be 13/16
both light and inexpensive. a more wmpliant mounting. Stability in in., which is to say that the length of the
This system decouples the arm and the presence of floor shocks is increased loaded spring a t rest would be changed
platen from the motors, and also shock- greatly, and perhaps more important, from its unloaded length (either
niounts the arm-platen assembly as a acoustic feedback is reduced or elimi- stretched or compressed) by this
unit against external mechanical shock nated. amount.
and acoustic feedback. It is possible to The importance of the latter is often Figure 1 illustrates the T-frame sus-
deal a moderate hammer blow directly not recognized. Acoustic feedback is pension system of the AR turntable.
to the top plate or to stamp on the sometimes responsible for a seemingly Foam washers that help center the
floor violently without making the needle inexplicable "boomy" quality of repro- spring also provide a light amount of
jump grooves. duction or for an apparent increase of damping, which is desirable. Note that
Balance is an important element in rumble, created by incipient low-fre- the platen bearing, T-frame, and tone-
shock mounting. With an unbalanced as-
sembly there would be a greater tend-
ency for the entire unit to rock, that is, PIVOT
to move rotationally. The inertia a t the
different points of support would not be
equal, and one suspended point of the Fig. 2. Three types
assembly would move farther than an- of static balance: A
other in response to the same external (A) unstable, (B) B
force. Therefore the points of spring stable, a n d (C)
suspension are located so that they are neutral.
equidistant from the center of gravity
of the complete assembly, and are spaced
on equal arcs.
C
The lower the resonant frequency of
the shock-mounted assembly the better

20 AUDIO SEPTEMBER, 1962

arm pivot will move as a unit if excited
through their mounting springs. Shock-
mounting either the tonearm or the
platen independently would tend to in-
crease rather than decrease relative mo-
tion between the two.
The H. H. Scott turntable and the
more recent Stromberg-Carlson unit
used a similar design approach in sus-
pending a rigid arm-platen assembly
from the top plate.
Tonearm Balance
There are three kinds of static bal-
ance-unstable, stable, and neutral.
There is also dynamic balance, which
has no significance for tonearms and
which will be discussed a little later.
Unstable balance exists when the line
connecting the centers of gravity of two
sides of a balanced system passes above
the pivot, as in A of Fig. 2. If either
side is tipped it will continue to move.
This is undesirable for tonearms, be-
cause the stylus force will not be the
same in all arm positions, and will vary
with warped records. It is easier for the
needle to skip when it hits a bump.
Stable balance, useful in scales, exists
when the line between centers of gravity
passes below the pivot, as in B of Fig. 2.
I n this case there is a tendency for the
system to return to the horizontal if it
is tipped. The stylus force of a tonearm
in stable halance is again different for
different arm positions. As in the case of
the unstable arm, a warped record will
creatc instantaneous changes in stylus
force, although in the opposite direc-
tion. When an arm in stable balance is
lifted by an uneven record surface,
stylus force will increase, creating a
tendency for the needle to dig into the
record.
Neutral balance, most desirable for
tonearms, is illustrated in C of Fig. 2.
Here the line between centers of gravity
pnsses through the pivot. The system
pill be in equilibrium a t any angle, and
stylus force does not vary with vertical
motion of the arm.
Neutral balance for the horizontal
plane can be provided in various ways,
but the principle is the same; the line
between centers of gravity of the for-
ward and rear sections of the arm must
pass through the pivot for horizontal
motion.5 Five different methods of keep-
ing the horizontal pivot on this line are
currently employed (see Fig. 3) :
( A ) The counterweight and cartridge
shell are connected by a straight arm,
which must then enter the offset car-
tridge shell obliquely (Gray, GE, Strom-
berg-carlson).
(I3) The counterweight and cartridge
shell are in line as in (a), but in order
to allow the arm to enter the shell at a
right angie the arm is given a double
curve (ESL, Weathers, Ortofon, AR).
5 I am indebted to John McConnell of
EST, for first calling my attention to the
significance of balance in the horizontal
plane.
AUDIO 0 SEPTEMBER, 1962
' height needed for neutral balance the
Fig. 3. Five ways of achieving neutral
horizontal balance: la) straiaht arm en-
tering cartridge sheli bff-cenjer, (b) arm
with reverse curve, (c,) offset counter.
weight, (c,) additional "outrigger"
weight, and (c,) offset horizontal pivot.
(C) A single-curve arm enters the
cartridge shell at a right angle, and the
center of gravity of the counterweight
is shifted in the opposite direction either
through the Of the counterweight
(C,, Dynaco), by an additional adjust-
able side weight (C,, Grado, Relt-o-
Icut), or by moving the horizontal
pivot inward from the vertical pivot (C,,
Empire).
Stable balance in the vertical plane
does not need to be perfect. The quanti-
tative effect of different degrees of un-
stable balance is the given by the follow-
ing examples. I f the pivot is l/z in. be-
low the line connecting the arm centers
of gravity, the net force of gravity on
the pickup, with typical arm parameters,
would vary roughly 1%grams for every
inch the pickup was lifted above the
record surface. I n a reoord with a 3/16-
in. warp (about a s much as can exist in
a playable reoord), the instantaneous
stylus force would vary by 3/s gram. If
the pivot were only Ys in. from the
Fig. 4, Geometry of vertical warp wow. When the needle is swung up and down by
vertical warp, it must also move horizontally (distance d) along the groove. p = pivot
height, w = warp height, I =arm length.
variation in stylus force would be cut
irl four, to 3/32 gram.
It was decided to position the AR pivot
exactly in line between centers of gravity
because there was an additional ad-
vantage involved. The AR arm is so
designated that if it is dropped from a
point several inches above the record
its rate of fall is slowed u p by a damp-
ing mechanism (released when the arm
touches the record). An unvarying
downward force on the pickup to a
distance of three or four inches ahove
the record was therefore desirable, to
keep the rate of fall constant.
It is no more expensive to design an
arm with neutral balance than one
which does not have it. There is an allied
problem, however, which affects the
the form of this design-vertical warp
wow.
VerticalWarpWow
A11 records must be considered as hav-
ing normal warp which creates vertical
a& motion. EV& a record that fulfills
NAB Standards of Good Engineering
Practice is allowed a 1/16-in. vertical
\Tarp, and obviously all records do not,
particularly after use, meet this stand-
When the cartridge moves u p and
down along an arc the needle must move
back and forth along the groove, as
illustrated in Fig. 4. The instantaneous
relative speed between needle and groove
will therefore be changed. I t makes no
difference, of course, whether the platen
has actually changed speed or the needle
moved along the groove; the audible and
measured wow is the same.
I t can be seen from Fig. 4 that there
nil1 be minimum longitudinal needle mo-
tion when the pivot controlling vertical
motion is as f a r back as possible, and
when the height of this pivot brings
it as close to the plane of the record
surface as possible (more precisely, to
the average plane of the warped sur-
21
 face). W a r p wow as high as 1per cent
has been reported; a little geometry ap-
plied to Fig. 4 will show that such a
high percentage can be achieved by using
a very high pivot and a very short arm
for vertical motion.
The vertical pivot-to-needle length of
the AR arm is 9 in. With an arm of this
length, and a hypothetical pivot set 1/2
in. above the record surface, longitudinal
displacement of the needle along the
groove (d in Fig. 4) for a normal 1/16-
in. warp would be .0032 in. Assuming
that i t takes 0.15 seconds for the needle
to travel this distance-representing a thus exerted on the horizontal pivot
not atypical bump in the record cover-
ing about 60 degrees of arc-the wow in-
troduced would be an undesirable 0.1
per cent. This is to say that the instan-
taneous needle-groove velocity (19.2
in/sec a t a 5-in. radius) would be
changed by 0.1 per cent, just as if the
turntable had been slowed or speeded
u p by that amount. This much wow
from a single cause is significant in re-
lation to the NAB limits for wow stem-
ming from all causes of 0.1 per cent for
recording and 0.2 per cent for reproduc-
ing turntables. On the other hand, the
pivot could not be lowered from this
height without creating unstable bal-
ance.
The way out of this dilemma was to
lower both pivot and counterweight. The
line between centers of gravity of the
forward 'znd rear sections of the arm,
using a typical lightweight cartridge,
tken passes through a pivot y4in. above
the reeord surface. This is the pivot
height actually used in the AR turn-
table. Warp wow under the conditions
described above is approximately 0.05
per cent.
The rear section of the arm slopes a t
an angle of 1.5 deg. to the horizontal,
the slope of the line between centers of
gravity. This is so that neutral balance
will not be disturbed a t any adjustment
of the counterweight.
A warped reeord tends to exhibit more
vertical motion when it is supported a t
its center than when it rests on its outer
surface. The outer section of the AR
turntable mat is therefore raised slightly.
Dynamic Balance
The te~-ln"dynamic balance" has been
described by writers in the field as re-
ferring to: a) the use of a counter-
weight, b) the use of a statically bal-
anced arm with stylus force supplied
by a spring, or c) static neutral balance
i i ~both horizontal and vertical planes.
Dynamic balance as a standard term in
i physics has a more specific meaning.
Dynamic balance is a condition of bal-
ance in which forces created by rota-
tion of the arm about the pivot do not
upset the balance conditions that exist
a t rest. Static balance has to do with
the forces of gravity, while dynamic bal-
ance has to do with iuertial forces. An
22
example of combined static balance and
dynamic imbalance given by the Inter-
natidwal Dictionary of Physics amd Elec-
tronics ( D . Van Nostrand CO., 1956) is
shown in Pig. 5, and this system illus-
trates the type of dynamic unbalance
that can occur in a tonearm.
The system of Fig. 5 is in neutral bal-
ance statically, and will remain in equi-
librium and a t rest when left in any po-
sition. When the system is rotated, how-
ever, the centrifugal force of each
weight creates a force perpendicular to
its own arm. Two opposite forces are
shaft a t two different points, creating
a "couple" that tries to turn the shaft
about an axis perpendicular to the
plane of the weights.
Applying this concept to tonearms it
will be seen that dynamic balance re-
quires that the line between centers of
gravity on each side of the arm not only
passes through the pivot but is perpen-
dicular to the axes of rotation. Offsetting
the counterweight horizontally as is done
Fig. 5. Example of combined static bal-
ance and dynamic unbalance given by
the International Dictionary of Physics
and Electronics, 1956. Courtesy D. Van
Nostrand Co.
in some current designs, or vertically as
is done in the AR arm, or using side
weights, loses dynamic balance.
Dynamic balance was deliberately
ignored in the AR arm, as i t is in most
current arms, in order to lower the
counterweight and make it possible to
use a lower pivot for vertical motion
without losing neutral static balance.
This means that when the arm is moved
horizontally by an off-center record, tiny
vertical forces will be created because
of the application of centrifugal forces
at two different points on the axis of
the pivot.
The magnitude of this vertical force,
assuming the worst possible conditions
of record eccentricity and dynamic uu-
balance, is measured in thousandths of a
gram and has no significance for reeord
players, even with stylus forces of a
gram or less.
Tonearm Mass
When the tonearm is set into motion
vertically by record warp, or horizon-
tally by reeord eccentricity, inertia be-
comes a controlling element. The greater
the inertia a t the end of the arm the
more the stylus will alternately dig into
the groove and try to leave it.e
This inertia must not be confused
with stylus force, even when the stylus
force is provided by unbalancing the
counterweight. I n order to set the arm
into motion the inertia of both front and
rear sections must be overcome. The
momentum of both cartridge and coun-
terweight i s in opposition to the re-
quired reversal of arm motion when rec-
ord warp changes slope, or when an
eccentric center hole swings the arm
back and forth.
Thus the effect of the inertial mass of
the counterweight must be added to, not
substracted from, the total inertial mass
in both horizontal and vertical planes.
Clearly the arm should be as light as
possible for maximum stability. I t
might seem contrary to common sense
that a heavy arm will not keep the needle
in the groove as well as a light one in
the face of record warp and eceentricity,
but it is true. No matter what the stylus
force, once a heavy arm is set into mo-
tion either sideways or upwards, the
chances of the needle leaving the groove
are greater than in the case of a light
arm.
I n previous years too light an arm
involved the danger of allowing too hig:~
a resonant frequency of the needle-sus-
pension/arm-mass system, with a n at-
tendant bass-response peak in the au-
dible range. Modern cartridges have
such highly compliant needle suspen-
sions, however, that it is possible to
work for minimum arm mass and still
keep the resonant frequency in the sub-
sonic range. Further, in the case of the
AR turntable the drive motor has a
fundamental frequency of 6% cps (400,
r ~ m ) and
, the arm resonanee, which is
iu the 10-eps region with typical stereo
cartridges, should not fall too close in
frequency.
The first prototype of the AR turn-
table employed an arm with an alumi-
num cartridge shell, which turned out to
be heavier than desired. By changing to
an acrylic plastic the weight was re-
duced by more than half, to 7 grams.
This is a double saving, since the re-
quired mass of the counterweight is also
reduced.
The tracing capabilities of an arm
(ability to maintain proper needle-
groove contact) may be tested by sub-
jecting the arm to severe adverse eon-
ditions such as those provided by a
badly warped record. Some years ago
C. Q. McProud suggested a tracing test
that consisted of playing a 45-rpm ree-
ord placed eccentrically on the turn-
table, that is, with the spindle against
6 R. E. Carlson, "Resonance, tracking,
and distortion," JAES, V. 2, No. 3, July,
1954. Mr. Carlson uses the concept of
"equivalent mass" referred to the stylus
tip in discussing inertial effects.
AUDIO SEPTEMBER, 1962
one edge of the large inner hole. The
arm is swung back and forth-creat-
ing, of course, severe mow due to the
changes in path length-but the needle
is espected to maintain contact with
the groove.
The hIcProud test was conceived in
terms of the needle forces then current,
~vhichwere generally in the six- to eight-
gram rnngc. As the stylus force is re-
duced the tendency for the needle to be
thrown from the groove in the McProud Fig. 6. (a) Tonearm damping release mechanism. The arm is damped if dropped,
test is correspondingly increased. The but has 34" free vertical play while playing a record. (b) Side view of damping re-
inertial force tending to throw the arm lease mechanism.
sidewa?.s and the horizontal-pivot bear-
ing friction remain the same for a given external mechanical shock by a balanced Delrin slecve, and the silicone provides
arm, while the downward force holding system. So f a r as tilt is concerned this the necessary drag.
the needle in the groove is reduced. suspension system provides a degree of When the needle comes to rest a t the
The McProuci test a t six grams verti- self -leveling sufficient for the normal lowest point on the record there is no
cal force would not be a stringent one slopes of floors and furniture. longer any force between the stopper
for modern arms, but it becomes in- On the other hand simple mass coun- hole and the pin. Then, when a warped
creasingly difficult as the stylus force is terbalancing presented the positive ad- section of the record lifts the arm, the
reduced. The AR arm begins to fail the vantage of reliability of setting. There stopper hole and pin are free of each
JfcPrond test in the range between 1/2 is no reason for the stylus force, once other and no force is exerted on the
and '?/4 gram. The exact value depends set for a particular cartridge, to change. damped bronze shaft. The arm lifts on
on the mass of the cartridge, which con- its operational pivot, consisting of pol-
tributes to the total inertia of the arm. Tonearm Pivot ished steel conical set screws turning-
The first prototype of the AR arm iu Delrin bearings.
Counterbalance: Spring vs. Weight
employed damped pivots in both vertical The arm is allowed this freedom over
Thcre are three methods currently and horizontal planes. The advantages a vertical distance of 3/s in. at the stylus.
used for providing vertical stylus force: sought included suppression to tonearm When the arm is lifted by hand the back
a ) , the use of a spring to cancel out all resonance and convenience in handling. edge of the stopper hole engages the
but the desired mass of the cartridge While the damped pivot7 did provide pin and forces the bronze shaft to turn
and arm, with no coiinterweight, as in these advantages when it was designed, again, resetting the damping mechanism.
Horizontal arm motion remains un-
the Bogen; b ) , the use of balanced its use with modcrn high-compliance
damped a t all times.
masses, with a spring applying the de- stereo cartridges presented new prob-
sired force, as in the ESL, Grado, Shure lems. I f enough damping were used to The release of the damping mcchnn-
(universal), Empire, Dynaco, and so brake the prototype AR arm adequately ism during record play makes it pos-
on; and c), the use of an underbalanccd when dropped, the impedance of the sible to use the necessary degrre of
counterweight to provide stylus force, arm pivot while playing records was in- damping for the arm drop, without hav-
ing to consider the effect on tracing rec-
aa in the Pickering, Weathers, SME, H. creased to an undersirably high value.
ords. I n order to keep the same velocity
H. Scott, Shure (integrated), Pritchard The needle suspension, rather than the of drop a t different adjustments of the
ADC, and AR. total arm, tend to yield to record warp
counterweight (for different cartridges)
There is a rationale to each of these and eccentricity, and the arm tended to
the absolute amount of viscous friction
methods. The counterweightless, all- "hang up" on warped records.
must be adjustable. This is accomplished
spring system provides the lowest in- The advantage of a damped arm drop
by changing the pressure on a spring-
ertia, but the greatest sensitivity to ex- appeared very attractive, however.
loaded washer resting against part of
ternal mechanical shock and to tilt of There are few people who have not a t
the silicone-soaked bronze shaft. The
the turntable because of the extreme some time fumbled a tonearm and al-
pressure is varied by turning the tone-
unbalance of masses. The balanced-mass, lowed it to slip from thcir fingers onto
arm spindle relative to the arm itself.
spring-loaded system provides the great- the record.
est stability under conditions of im- A design was worked out (for which Tracking Error
perfect leveling and exposure to external patent application has been made) in
mechanical stimuli, other things being which the arm drop is damped to the The equations for minimum tracking
equal. desired degree-the arm takes several error distortion are well known.8,
Once ncutral balance was established seconds to reach the record when Tracking-error index is a function of
in the AR arm, stylus force had to be dropped. As soon as the needle reaches tracking error divided by record-groove
provided, either by adding a spring or its destination, however, the damped radius, since the same value of tracking
by unbalancing the counterweight. The bearing surfaces are disengaged from error creates increasing distortion a t the
latter method was chosen, mainly for the arm by a simple dcvicc, illustrated inner grooves. Offset angle and overhang
simplicity and reliability. ( I t must be in Fig. 6. are calculated on the basis of the maxi-
understood that the advantage of neu- When the arm is dropped the front mum and minimum groove radii the
tral balance, in keeping stylus force edge of the stopper hole presses against arm is designed to play. I t must be
constant a t different arm positions, re- the stopper pin, which is smaller in noted in passing that an arm designed
mains.) It was felt that the problems diameter than the hole. This stopper pin (Continzted on page 69)
solved by the balanced-mass, spring- G rigidly mounted on a porous bronze
loaded system did not exist in the AR shaft impregnated with silicone fluid. 8 B. B. Bauer, "Tracking angle in phono-

turntable, although this system could The shaft is forced to rotate inside a graph pickups," Electronics, March, 1945,
certainly provide advantages in other p. 110.
7 W. S. Bachn~nn, The tlpplicxtion of 9 J. D. Seagrave, "Minimizing pickup
applications. The AR turntable is al- damping to phonograph reproducer arms. tracking error," Audiocraft, December
ready isolated to an unusual degree from Proc. I.R.E.,40, 2, Feb., 1952, 133-13'7. 1956.

AUDIO SEPTEMBER, 1962

distance of the AR arm was made ad-
justable. The turntable is factory-set for
a cartridge with a %-in. distance be-
tween mounting centers and needle tip.
For any other cartridge dimensions the
effective arm length is adjusted and
tested with a plastic template that fits
over the spindle. When the needle rests
in the small template hole the overhang
is correct--0.688 in.
A 9-in. arm (pivot-to-needle) with
minimum tracking-error index (and
therefore minimum tracking distortion)
whose design is calculated f o r record
radii of 5.7-in. outside and 2.4-in. in-
side, will show a maximum tracking
error index of 0 . 3 2 deg. per inch. This the manual turntable you can play automatically
means that, a t any groove radius, the
maximum tracking error that will ever A superbly engineered unit developed especially counterbalanced tone arm and 'feather-touch'
for use in high quality music systems for faith- pushbutton automatic controls. Model 10H with
appear will be 0.32 deg. multiplied by fully reproducing high fidelity stereo and mono- hysteresis-synchronous motor, $99.50; Model 10
the radius. A t any given radius the phonic recordings. Plays single record manually, with heavy-duty induction motor, $89.50 (prices
actual tracking error may, of course, be automatically or continuously, and up to 1 0 rec- are less cartridge and base). Descriptive litera-
less. The maximum tracking error over ords, automatically. Operates a t r-------------------------- ture at your dealer, or write to
the entire record occurs a t the outer- four speeds. Has a heavy die-cast, ! ENJAM N ! Benjamin Electronic Sound Gorp.,
most groove, and is 1.8 deg. Minor dif- 12-inch balanced turntable, mass- ! MIRACORD ! 80 Swalm Street, Westbury, N.Y.
L--------------------------A
ferences in the value of maximum track-
ing error for a correctly designed 9-in.
arm will exist if the arm is designed for
a slightly different range of groove radii.
However, a conventionally pivoted arm
9 in. or less which is rated as having
a maximum tracking error significantly
lower than 1.8 deg. reflects either im-
proper design (achieving a lower figure
for maximum tracking error a t the ex- CIRCLE 69A
pense of higher distortion a t the inner
grooves) or a copywriter's misguided
enthusiasm.
To say that the AR arm design pro-
vides the theoretical minimum of track-
ing-error index for a 9-in. length is
merely reiterating the validity of equa-
tions that have long been known and ac-
cepted. The statement applies to any
ot,her arm designed from the same equa-
tions. There still remains the mechanical
embodiment of the theory, in keeping the
overhang and offset angles accurate in
actual production. One measure taken
here for this accuracy is to form the
aluminum tubing with a permanent die; 388 GIANT-SIZED
another is to provide the plastic over-
hang adjustment template referred to.

Electrical Capacitance
Some modern cartridges require low
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It's from the I
capacitance across their output termi-
nals. The shielded cable supplied with Check these exclusive Lafayette benefits
the AR turntable has a capacitance of Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded. Free 30-Day Home Trial.
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posely kept down to 4.5 feet. Within the V S ~ e c i a lHi-Fi System Prices VNO MONEY DOWN. UP TO 24 MONTHS TO PAY
arm itself the cables are not shielded 1' LAFAYETTE M A I L O R D E R & S A L E S CENTER
SAYETTn
until they leave the rear housing in or-
der to keep the capacitance down. The
WL aa 111 JERICHO TURNPIKE, SYOSSET, L. I.. N. Y.
curved section of the arm, being alumi- 1
New York( I
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num tubing, acts as the shield. Total LAPAYETTE RADIO Mail the coupon TODAY for
capacitance between the cartridge shell . Your FREE lga lafaYetteCatal0~ I I
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TO BE CONTINUED CIRCLE 69B

AUDIO SEPTEMBER, 1962

 A New Turntable-Arm Design
EDGAR VILLCHUR"

Incidental to a description of a new product in the realm of record-

playing equipment is this thorough analysis of the physical principles
and the geometry involved in the design of an arm and turntable.

IN TWO PARTS-PART 2

Two types of motors are in general

use for turntables. These are the in-
duction motor (4-pole for the better
units) and the hysteresis synchronous
motor. The induction motor can be made
with high starting and running torque-
about three times higher than that of a
hysteresis motor of similar size and
rating. A disadvantage of the induction
motor is that its rotor speed is less than
that of the synchronous rotating field, a
phenomenon referred to as rotor "slip."
There must be a relative velocity be-
tween the rotor and the rotating mag-
netic field, or no current and no mag-
netic poles will be induced in the rotor.
The exact amount of the slip, which
determines the motor speed, can vary
with changes of line voltage, mechanical
load, and temperature. Measures taken
to counteract this speed drift, however,
can result in stable induction motors.
The rotor of a hysteresis synchronous
motor, unloaded mechanically, turns a t
the same speed as that of the rotating Fig. 7. Motor drive system of AR turntable.
field. The rotor, being a t rest with re-
spect to the field, sees fixed poles which
induce the rotor poles, and the motor is the small motor normally intended for the use of a minimum number of moving
works on these directly induced poles. clocks and other time-regulation appli- parts.
Its speed in the unloaded condition is cations. The motors of this type that The low speed of these motors also
thus purely a function of the number have appeared in turntables have some helps in providing reduced motor vi-
of stator poles and of line frequency, un- definite advantages, over and above low bration. What small vibration there is
affected by line voltage or motor tem- cost, over previous motor designs. The includes a component that is subsonic
perature. central feature from which these ad- in frequency and inaudible as rumble.
When the mechanical load of a hys- vantages stem is a low rotational speed. As has already been pointed out, rumble
teresis synchronous motor is increased This makes it more convenient to use a a t a given level that is very low in fre-
sufficiently, however, the motor will slow single-step drive system, that is, a sys- quency has greatly reduced annoyance
down and work a t sub-synchronous tem which employs a single belt or fric- value.
speeds on new sets of rotor poles, in tion wheel from the motor pulley to the The outstanding disadvantage of the
spite of the relatively high retentivity turntable platen, with no idler wheels time-regulation motors that have been
of the rotor material. To overcome this 01. other intermediary coupling devices.
used is their low torque, requiring light
difficulty hysteresis motors are typically These motors turn a t 600 rpm, and the
speed reduction ratio for 33% rpm is platens. I n order to overcome this dis-
made heavy, with the attendant increase advantage partially, and to provide
in cost. only 18 to 1. With the standard 1800-
rpm 4-pole induction or hysteresis mo- greater stability of turntable speed with
One type of hysteresis synchronous changes of load (caused by differences of
motor that has been used in recent years tors, the speed reduction ratio would be
54 to 1. A single-stage system carries stylus force, and so on) tmo such motors
* Acoustic Research, Inc., 34 Thorndike with it the advantages of simplicity, re- are sometimes used.
St., Cambridge 41, Mass. liability, reduced coupling slippage, and The motors of this type currently used

34 AUDIO OCTOBER, 1962

in commercial turntables are rated by
the motor manufacturer as having 30
in.-oz. of running torque referred to 1
rpm, which means that the two-motor
units have 60 in.-oz. I n the case of the
AR turntable a heavier platen is used
-the total platen weight is 3.3 1bs.-
and more torque was desired.
A third type of motor was investi-
geted, and found highly satisfactory for
turntable use from several points of
view. This is the permanent magnet syn-
chronous motor. The rotor of this syn-
chronous motor, as the name implies, de-
rives its magnetic field from permanent
magnets. The recent development of
ceramic magnets with high retentivity
has helped considerably in PM motor
design.
The P M motor cannot work a t any
speed except synchronous speed, since
its poles are perlnanently fixed, and it
has high synchronous torque. The mo-
tor selected provides about 150 in.-02.
of running torque, even though its phy-
sical size is small. Unfortunately this
motor has very poor starting torque,
and it is not unidirectional, that is, it
is a s willing to go clockwise as counter-
clockwise, depending on the direction in
which it is first urged. Mechanical "no-
back" devices, which allow rotation in
only one direction, tend to be noisy.
The configuration that is used in the
AR turntable for the motor system is
shown in Fig. 7. The drive motor to the
left is of the permanent magnet syn-
chronous type, an 18-pole, 400-rpm unit.
The starting motor on the right is the
same hysteresis synchronous 600-rpm
type currently used in other turntables.
Although the latter motor adds about
30 in.-oz. of running torque to the sys-
tem, its real function is to start the PM
motor, and in the right direction. The
total torque of 180 in.-oz., which can be
translated to a little over 5 in.-oz. a t the
platen itself, is still not tremendous and
will not saw wood, but it is entirely
36
adequate for its reproducing applica- tolerated by a turntable which requires
tion. much greater effort to stop by hand.
One especially desirable characteristic One method of determining useful
of the permanent magnet synchronous torque is to see how much additional
motor is that it does not slow down weight can be added to the pickup,
gradually with increasing load before while it is playing the outside grooves of
stalling, as does the hysteresis synchro- a record, before the speed is changed
nous motor. Unlike the hysteresis rotor 0.3 per cent. Such a speed change repre-
sents a drift of 21 lines/min. on a
the permanent 111agnetrotor cannot shift
standard stroboscope card. The lines
poles. It maintains its correct and exact must be counted while holding a pencil
speed within its torque capabilities-it or some other point near them, as i t is
cannot run off-speed unless the line fre- easy to be misled by merely glancing a t
quency is changed-and then stalls out the card.
abruptly. Placing a U. S. penny on the pickup
The PM synchronous motor is inferior shell adds 3 grams; a nickel adds 5
to the hysteresis synchronous motor in grams. The significance of this added
the smoothness of velocity within one test load is indicated by the fact that
revolution. The filtering requirements of the difference in drag imposed by a
a permanent-magnet-motor drive sys- pickup when playing the outside grooves
of a record, and the drag when the
pickup is on the inside grooves, is typi-
cally equivalent to about 2 added grams
of stylus force. The drag of a "Dust
Bug" is equivalent to about 6 extra
grams. A heavily recorded passage may
slow the turntable to the equivalent of a
gram or two extra stylus force. The
above data will vary somewhat with the
Fig. 8. The com- friction of different records and needles,
plete A R turn- but it gives the general order of equiv-
table. alent values.
The carrying of a few extra grams
by the pickup may seem too light a
trial for a turntable, but there are units
that will not pass the nickel and/or
penny test. The degree of sensitivity to
increase of mechanical load of a group
of five current commercial turntables,
includin~the AR turntable, was meas-
ured an; compared by this kethod. The
tcm, compared to those for a hysteresis- turntables were not a random sampling
motor drive system, are therefore of available makes, but were selected to
greater. illustrate particular types. Three of the
turntables-#1, #2, and the AR turn-
Useful Turntable Torque ta.ble--kept well within the NAB 0.3
per cent speed limit when the pickup
I t is possible for a turntable to be was loaded by an extra 5 grams from
driven by a large amount of power, y!t
an initial 2%-gram needle force. Turn-
be unable to maintain stable speed m table #1 had a heavy-duty hysteresis
the face of only a slight increase in me-
motor and a very heavy platen. Turntable
chanical load. The test of useful turn-
table torque is tho force required to #2 was of the "light" type, in both
slow the platen beyond the NAB limit motor torque and platen weight. Com-
on speed inaccuracy, not the force re- pared to these two the AR turntable
quired to stop the platen. would be classified as medium-weight.
The willingness of a turntable to run The other two turntables-#4 and
a little slow with only a slight increase #5-were slowed down more than 0.3
i c mechanical load often bears little re- per cent when the pickup was loaded
lationship to the size or power of the by a 3-gram penny, and were slowed
motor. This speed inconstancy may be down considerably more when the pickup
a function of the type rather than the was loaded by an extra 5 grams. #4
size of the motor, or it may be due to had a heavy motor and platen, and #5
coupling slippage between the motor and would be classed as a lightweight.
platen. It is of special interest that i t takes
Useful turntable torque cannot be some effort to stop turntable #4 by
tested by trying to stop the platen by hand, while the AR turntable and turn-
hand. A turntable which can be stopped table #2 can be stopped with relatively
easily with a finger may keep its speed light pressure from a finger. Turntable
within the NAB 0.3-per-cent limit in the #4 nonetheless has less useful torque
face of a greater load change than that than either of the latter. #4 will con-
AUDIO OCTOBER, 1962
time to revolve, at an unusably slow
speed, under mechanical loads which
would cause the AR turntable or turn-
table #2 to stall out.
I t should be clear that the index of
useful turntable torque is neither the
"heavy" or "light" classification of the
turntable, nor the force required to stop
the platen by hand.
Speed Accuracy
The AR turntable will slow down sev-
eral tenths of a per cent if sufficient
increase of mechanical load is applied
to the pickup in spite of the fact that
the permanent magnet synchronous mo-
tor is incapable of running a t reduced
speed without stalling. Exali~inationof
the rotor under conditions of increased
mechanical load show that it is still
revolving a t exact synchronous speed.
The slowing down of the platen is caused
entirely by belt slippage.
The accuracy of the diameters of the
belt surface of the platen and of the
drive pulley are kept to a sufficiently
close tolerance that the speed from one
turntable to another is always within
0.16 per cent (sixteen hundredths of one
per cent). This alone does not ensure
speed accuracy, because of the element
of belt slippage. The actual turntable
speed is partly determined by the fric-
tion between the belt and the drive sur-
face.
A calculation of the diameter ratio
between the belt surfaces of the pulley
and of the platen would show that the
pulley diameter is slightly smaller than
the exact speed ratio indicates. With
the correct calculated value the turn-
table will run too fast.
I t may seem illogical that belt slip-
page will cause a turntable to run fast,
yet this is what happens in the typical
belt-drive system. The drive pulley re-
volves in jerks from one motor pole to
the next, and the instantaneous speed
of the pulley is a t times greater than its
av,erage speed. The belt filters out the
roughness and picks off an effective
speed which turns out to be slightly
higher than the average.
Flutter
There appears to be unanimous agree-
ment among academic authorities that
raw flutter readings (per cent fre-
quency deviation) have limited meaning
until they are qualified by information
on flutter rates.1° All of the writer's ex-
perience in development work on the
AR turntable bears out this conclusion.
10 O p . cit., J S M P T E and 257.1-1954.
The statement that turntable X has
flutter of 0.1 per cent and that turntable
Y has flutter of 0.2 per cent does not
reveal which of the two turntables has
better flutter performance. If the 0.1
per cent deviation occurs a t a flutter
rate of 3 cps, and the 0.2 per cent devi-
ation occurs a t other rates, the turn-
table with the higher raw flutter may
have a lower flutter index. Since its
flutter has less nuisance value it ob-
viously deserves a superior flutter rating.
I n spite of the above considerations,
turntable performance continues to be
described in terms of per cent raw
flutter. The meaning of this number is
easily understood, but it may have little
aural significance by itself.
Although the AR turntable does con-
form in flutter performance to the 1953
NAB Standards of Good Engineering
Practice for broadcast equipment, which
are in terms of raw flutter, (the flutter
nleasurelnents yielded results closer to
the recording rather than the reproduc-
ing figure), the significant production
line testing a t the AR plant is per-
forlned by a weighted flutter meter
whose indications take into considera-
tion the instantaneous flutter rates, and
are actually in ternis of an aurally sig-
nificant flutter index. This flutter index
is a unit solnewhat similar to that sug-
gested .by the American Standard11 re-
ferred to previously.
Rumble
As in the case of flutter, rumble con-
tinues to be described inadequately, in
terms of raw amplitude below a given
reference level without consideration for
the frequency distribution of the rumble
energy. The frequencies in the rumble
signal may be subsonic, in the 30-cps
range, or as high as 120 cps. The dif-
ference in perceptibility between 10-cps
rumble and 30-cps rumble is tremendous.
( I t is assumed that the rumble ampli-
tude is low enough so that it does not
significantly load the amplifier.)
The AR turntable meets the NAB
rumble standard, but more significant
information in production line testing
is provided by a rumble meter which is
weighted according to the frequency
characteristics of hearing sensitivity.
Both of these testing functions-pro-
viding weighted flutter and weighted
rumble readings-are performed by a
Dataservice Corp. flutter and rumble
meter, model FM-3.
Correlation between the test informa-
tion given by this meter and standard
flutter meters is relatively low. Correla-
11 Zbid.
tion with simple listening to a 3000-cps
flutter record is excellent. The latter is
a particularly good test method when
several turntables are being compared,
providing information of much greater
significance than that of a raw flutter
reading. No turntable or professional
tape machine to the writer's knowledge,
is capable of reproducing a 3000-cps
pure tone in a reverberant room in such
a way that flutter cannot be readily
heard, but it is relatively easy to com-
pare the flutter effect of different re-
producing machines. I t should be re-
membered that very slow flutter corre-
sponding to one change per revolution
at 33y3 rpm (0.55 cps) is much less an-
noying in music than flutter whose rate
centers around 3 cps.
The flutter index in the AR turntable
is kept to low values through the use of
the simplest possible one-step drive sys-
tem, mounting of the tone arm for mini-
niunl warp wow, ~nachineddrive pulley
and platen, machined bearings, and pos-
sibly most important of all, a precision-
iliachined belt (machined after freez-
ing). Most of these features are conlmon
in turntables in which professional per-
formance standards are sought.
Correlation between the weighted
rumble information provided by the
DSC meter and NAB ratings is also low.
Correlation with listening tests in which
different turntables are compared-using
the same "quiet groove" record, pickup,
and reproducing equiplllent-is excel-
lent. Two turntables with the same NAB
rumble rating may be lniles apart on a
runible listening test. The weighted
rumble in the AR turntable is kept to
low values through the use of low-speed
~iiotors, compliant belt drive, isolation
of the rigid platen-arm assembly from
the motors, and a ir~achined platen
bearing.
Safety and Convenience
The AR turntable is supplied with its
wooden base and transparent plastic
dust cover included. If this turntable
were sold without the base, Underwrit-
er's Laboratories approval, which has
been applied for, would not be avail-
able. UL approval requires that the mov-
ing parts and electrical terminals be safe
from prying fingers. The individual elec-
trical components used in the AR turn-
table, from motors to power cord, al-
ready have separate U L approval.
A dust cover seems a logical and in-
trinsic part of a record player. The
convenience from the housekeeping point
of view is obvious, but more important,
the turntable mat is protected from dust
which can transfer to the record.
Fig. 8 illustrates the complete unit. E
AUDIO OCTOBER, 1962