When the Aro was first announced, it was around the same time that Linn announced the Ekos. Most LP12 owners had been thoroughly indoctrinated with the idea that rigidity was everything. When Naim showed the wobbly Aro, it seemed almost impossible that the thing could work at all, let alone be a top flight performer.

However, when the actual mechanics of the situation are explained, it suddenly all makes sense. the tracks in a record groove produce drag on the stylus. the patterns in each grrove wall are what produces the left and right channels of sound that we hear through our systems.

Have a look at the illustration of a stylus in a record groove. In this, the record would be moving toward you, and the tracks in the groove cause the stylus to move, mainly from side to side. What happens when the modulation on one groove wall is much more energetic than in the other? There are four main possibilities:

1. With sufficient tracking force, the stylus will continue its path through the groove relatively undisturbed. However, it will also shave off a pile of vinyl, which you will find accumulated like fluff on the tip when the record is finished.
2. If tracking force is too low, the energy will simply cause the stylus to jump out of the groove slightly, which is what we hear as mis-tracking. This is why correct tracking force is so important.
3. If a rigid tonearm is used, the cantilever will actually twist slightly, so that an eliptical type stylus will have a reduced contact on the groove wall with the higher signal level. This causes the coil assembly inside the cartridge to be mis-aligned with respect to the magnet assembly, and also causes torsional stresses on the area in

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