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introduction : types of deck : battle packs : functions : tonearm shape :

Tonearm Shapes

Straight arm and traditional S-bend

Just a few words on this to give you some background information and the difference between the two types of tonearm when choosing a turntable.

The tone arm itself follows the shape of the record and allows it to track in the centre of the groove form the outside of the record to the very centre.

Straight arms track best in the centre of the record (in terms of diameter of it) as this is the point where it sits in the dead centre of the record groove. You will notice the cartridge and stylus sits directly in line with the centre of the vertical tonearm mounting.
When scratching, because the tone arm is straight you are creating a pull directly from the front of the cartridge back towards the tone arm in a straight line.
With when you pull the record back the S tonearm, due to the bend in its shape means the cartridge and stylus follow the curve of the record. As you rub the record back and forth you are likely to to get lateral (horizontal) movement in the headshell, thus increasing the chance of the stylus jumping from one groove to the next. Straight tonearms are arguably more stable when scratching.

Increasing stability of the S shape

You can get a S bend tonearm to act like a straight arm by changing the way the stylus is mounted on the headshell, you simply mounting the cartridge onto the headshell at an angle (Shure say its 23 degrees). Instead of having the screws attached to the cartridge in line with each other so the stylus points at 6 o'clock straight towards you as you look at it from the front, unscrew it and turn the cartridge itself so the needle points as much towards four o clock as you can get it. When done correctly the screw on the left of the cartridge will be nearest the front, the screw on the right nearer the back. When you look back the needle should be in direct line with the centre of the vertical tonearm mount.
Job done.

In all honesty this validity of this seems to be questionable and with the above fix should mean there is no difference between the two. Choose which is your personal preference. The only main difference is that straight tonearms are shorter in length so could be favourable if you are getting into turntablism. Quite simply there is less tonearm to knock. However using an S bend decks in battle setup will prevent this anyway.

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