Turntables with tangential tonearm

 

— the key difference between tangential tonearms and rotary ones (both straight and S-shaped) is that the needle in them does not move by turning the lever on the axis, but along a special guide perpendicular to the direction of movement of the groove under the needle. Due to this, the stylus trajectory is straight, and from the beginning to the end of the record it maintains an optimal orientation relative to the groove (whereas in rotary tonearms the stylus goes in an arc, and its position changes somewhat). Thanks to this, tangential arms introduce less noise into the sound and reduce record wear to a minimum — however, they are very expensive due to the complexity of the design, while the described advantages are relevant mainly for enthusiastic audiophiles. As a result, this option is typical mainly for top-class players.