Dynamic Servo Tracer Tonearm

[gillsev]

I have a fairly warped LP that when observed as playing causes the tonearm to seesaw a bit, affecting piano harmonics to be "watery" as this tonearm action rides the wave. Of course that was through my Dual 701 turntable which I thought was Dual's flagship in 1974.

Now I play the same warped record on my Denon DP 62L with the Dynamic Servo Tracer Tonearm. Not quite sure on its claim but according to my research, Denon's Servo-Tracer tonearm is a decided help in coping with warped records. This unique arm is guided by an electronic device which compensates for the seesaw motion caused by the record warp and keeps the stylus pressure constant despite these up-and-down undulations.

Wow, I noticed the difference in sound reproduction immediately! The distorted harmonics played through my Dual 701 was nowhere to be heard through the Denon. It's totally clear as if the record being played was totally flat (even though you still see the seesaw action happening!). Not a hint of distortion whatsoever! I am very impressed by this feature, yet quite unclear yet as to how this arm compensates. Has that something to do with the "Q Damping" adjustment knob? Anyone have some insight??

[trollgirl]

You seem to have answered your own question. Yes the servo arm takes care of vertical tracking force and bias. It also helps the stylus/cartridge/arm system to stay on track in spite of warps and off-center spindle holes. I did have the BOTL servo-arm Denon TT, but sold it, hoping to buy a better model - that may have been a mistake.

Laz

[emaidel]

Ever since my near disastrous experience in the 70's with the clunky arm on the infamous Garrard Zero-100 (that all but destroyed the stylus assembly of the fine ADC XLM cartridge), I've been concious of a tonearm's ability to cope with warped records. That described in this thread is more of sloppy manufacturing, and something I never paid much attention to, even though I owned a Denon DP-62L for many years.

It replaced a far superior turntable - the Onkyo CP-1280F - but I won't go into the reasons why. (Perhaps being laid off by Onkyo, along with 9 others one day has something to do with it!) The entire time I owned the Denon, I never understood what the "servo-controlled" nomenclature meant, nor the purpose of the "damping" adjustment. I simply set it, according to the manual, the same as the tracking and skating forces. The turntable worked nicely, but never impressed me one way or another. It's pretty amazing that, now that I no longer have it, I know what all of that stuff did.

Of far more importance (to me) is the tonearm's ability to handle the up and down warps that are so much more common on records than off-center stampings. The arm on my Dual CS-5000 does an oustanding job of coping with these warps, and I find I'm able to actually play several records which never played before. The CS-5000 is far from the best turntable ever made, but it's the best I've ever owned, and for $300, including a perfectly operating Shure V/15 Type V Mxr, as well as a 78 cartridge (for which I have no use), it was an out and out steal. I also can't complain that it sounds far better than the DP-62 either.

There are newer and better turntables out there, but I have no idea how much one would have to spend to best the CS-5000's performance. They still crop up on ebay most of the time, and are certainly worth looking at if someone wants a really good turntable and is looking for a bargain as well.

[gillsev]

I had a Garrard Zero 100 before. I thought it was a pretty handsome turntable with the novel arm. But it's all hype. There's just too much friction to be considered in those pivots that the cantilever wiggles more than the head itself! It's all for show turntable - stylish with ingenuity but not a performer.

The Duals are far better and I'm also thinking of the CS 5000 (OPS Tonearm), but could they really outperform Denon's Dynamic Servo Tracer tonearm (or could any tonearm for that reason since most of them just rely on weights)? That I have to see for myself yet.

[emaidel]

I'm also thinking of the CS 5000 (OPS Tonearm), but could they really outperform Denon's Dynamic Servo Tracer tonearm (or could any tonearm for that reason since most of them just rely on weights)?

I can only speak for myself, but in my case, the answer to that is a definite, "Yes." The differences I detected from switching from the DP-62 to the CS-5000 were all over the place: more open, dramatic reduction in surface noise, much better bass response, far less inner groove distortion, virtual elimination of what I'd previously considered overmodulation distortion, and an increased clarity across the board.

Right now, there's one on ebay with a current bid of $205. It's likely to go up still, but worth looking at. That particular unit has a cheapo Audio Technica cartridge in it that you should just throw out, and it also comes with a platter mat with a series of holes cut into it. I have no idea why these holes are there, but I replaced the mat on mine with an Achromat (for $100) that made a very significant improvement, so you might want to consider doing that too.

I know I tend to go on and on and on about the CS-5000, but I really do think it's that good. That is, until I get something better!

[gillsev]

I can only speak for myself, but in my case, the answer to that is a definite, "Yes." The differences I detected from switching from the DP-62 to the CS-5000 were all over the place: more open, dramatic reduction in surface noise, much better bass response, far less inner groove distortion, virtual elimination of what I'd previously considered overmodulation distortion, and an increased clarity across the board.

But the numbers are better on the Denon (located some spec sheets).

Wow & Flutter on the Dual is 0.015% (wrms) as opposed to 0.008% only on the Denon.
and S/N ratio on the Dual is 80 db as opposed to 82 db on the Denon.

Looks pretty obvious who's the winner here.

[Jorge Cifuentes]

In 1982 I was curious about the servo tracer TTs marketed by Denon so I bought the DP11F - the cheapest model - to experiment with an off-center LP. The result was incredible for me, for the first time I could listen to that record just as if it were a normal one. The DP11F gave me more satisfactions when I set it up with an Ortofon VMS20E Mk II; it performed so well that I kept it as my main TT for many years.

[JoeE SP9]

But the numbers are better on the Denon (located some spec sheets).

Wow & Flutter on the Dual is 0.015% (wrms) as opposed to 0.008% only on the Denon.
and S/N ratio on the Dual is 80 db as opposed to 82 db on the Denon.

Looks pretty obvious who's the winner here.

There's more to the sound of a TT than specs alone.

[Jorge Cifuentes]

There's more to the sound of a TT than specs alone.

Wise words!

[hifitommy]

perhaps having one of the servo arm tables in reserve for warped audiophiles, i mean-LPs, may be a good idea. for everyday use, i will stick with my sota sapphire/mmt.