Zorin Audio writes: “The detailed explanations about the LT-02 air-bearing linear tracking tonearm innovation are listed below…”
The static electricity is believed to be a common problem encountered by many vinyl record users. The static electricity is generated by friction and/or a slight touch. It’s a very typical physical type of phenomenon. Everyone’s experience varies, but there are some that are more likely to get shocked by static electricity. I personally don’t have this issue. However, there are folks who simply touch a doorknob first and then grab an album. When that happens, the dust immediately clings to the vinyl record because of the static electricity. This results in having to clean the record and cartridge stylus more frequently.
A while back, a fellow audiophile and good friend of mine, shared with me his thoughts regarding static electricity. That’s where I got the idea to integrate the anti-static device into the existing air bearing linear tracking tonearms. The tonearm with an anti-static device was tested and it showed significant sound performance improvement, which was beyond my initial expectations.
Technically speaking, the anti-static device is an ion generator added to the tonearm. There are quite a few ion generators on the market, however, the technology used in the Zorin’s tonearm is very unique. The Zorin’s ion generator not only allows the static electricity to dissipate immediately, but it is also safe to use based on repeated trials, hazardous tests and so forth. As you can see from the photos , the original air suspended tonearm has an exhaust hole above the air outlet pipe and the shaft sleeve is ring-shaped. In the sleeve, the excess air flow leaks out from both sides. Although the air with ions supports the sleeve, it does not directly apply air to the surface of the record. The removal of the static electricity is amazing and so we wanted to increase the efficiency even more. Therefore, the sleeve is updated into a semi-circular shape and the thickness is increased to ensure a more solid structure. An air outlet is also added into the air pipe. In addition to supporting the original sleeve, part of the air with cation and anions can be blown to the surface of the record (Music reference,short tonearm), but the Zorin LT-02 is an air bearing tangential long tonearm with a longer tonearm tube.If it blows downward, most of the air will be blown to the turntable instead of the vinyl disk, therefore an extra guide is installed to the long tonearm. The tape-out directs the airflow to the disk surface, which enhances the efficiency greatly. I have tested the LT-02 tonearm with several audiophile friends’ audio systems. All of them loved it so much that they wish to keep using it on their turntables afterwards. Sonically speaking, the background is much cleaner, the band of frequency extended across the board and the soundstage is improved significantly. As mentioned before, the Zorin LT-02 tonearm also significantly reduces the frequency of record and stylus cleaning.
I highly recommend updating to the Zorin air bearing tonearm with the anti-static feature from the existing Zorin air bearing tangential（Music reference) tonearm.
The ion generator developed by Zorin audio can also be applied to the air bearing tonearm produced by other manufacturers(low pressure).
The new LT-02 ionic type air bearing linear tracking tonearm will be available in July with limited quantity and it will be shown at the TAA Audio Exhibition (August 10th to 13st, 2023.).
Note: The Zorin air bearing linear tracking tonearm with anti static capability is in the process of patent application.