Desired: Orthosonic Linear Tracking Arm Manual

[soundbug1]

Old arm from the 1960s...I believe this was the first linear arm made available. Pre-dates the Rabco. Would like a pdf copy of the owners manual should someone have one available. I have two of these arms and will be doing some modification to one. would just be nice to see the owners manual.

Thanks

[TomRussell]

Bet you didn't think there was going to be a reply to this Ortho-Sonic post. Oh, ye of little faith. I have a NOS Ortho-Sonic arm. I'm not interested in selling it but I do have the original paperwork that I could copy if you remain interested.

I would be interested in any anecdotal or hard information about the use of this arm. I have a thing for srtaight line arms (Rabco, two ET2.5s, a Maplenoll table). I've never taken the arm away from its' original mounting in the box. I have thought that this arm was historically, and generally, interesting but I never thought it would be a very good arm in use. Have you actually used this arm?

I am a recent re-signin to the forum after a long while away and I can't send a personal message to you. I can receive personal messages. If you like, my email is tomjoy@flash.net

from Dallas,

Tom

[soundbug1]

Tom...I actually came up with the exact thing you have...unused arm, still packed with single page, double sided instructions...However...I also came up with a Brochure, many advertisements from 1950s Hi-Fi magazines, multiple pictures, a review from the Boston Audio Society and the original Patent. I will be donating this collection to the Vinyl Engine soon. I'm in the process of scanning the patent and then adding that to what I have already put into a VERY NICE printable pdf file.

As far as use goes...I have not yet gotten into upgrading one. My guess is that the roller bearings need replacing with the BEST quality available today. This was originally a MONO arm and tracking inthe middle of a groove was not all that important since both sides of the groove carried the same information. With stereo records, the tracking is EXTREMELY important and my guess is that the arm is woefully not up to the task.

I do find it very interesting that this was really the FIRST linear arm that WORKED. There were other designs, some even sold on the market but none worked. It is also interesting that the Souther Linear Tracking arm is basically a modified, smaller version of the Orthosonic. That arm is still in production under the name Clearaudio but you never hear Ortho-Sonic mentioned as a progenitor of the modern linear arm design.

Thanks for your response!