I was never quite sure why Rowe-AMI went with the tone arm on the left and the reverse rotating turntable. I always assumed it was to avoid infringing Wurlitzer’s IP as far as the Wurl-o-matic mechanism of the same era. It used a similar carousel and transfer arm setup (but with the carousel mounted horizontally) so maybe the arm/turntable were reversed as a point of difference. Rowe-AMI had absolutely stellar amplifiers and speakers though, right to the very end.
The explanation I heard was it was a method to control anti-skate, which in the early days stereo was a bit of concern. And AMI always had the best sound systems, starting with the model D abd onward.
