Avid acustus reference vs TW acustic raven AC3

I have owned the Acutus with new motor (not Ref) and Raven AC1. Not exact model you are asking but similar.

Acutus: More detailed and airy presentation. I had severe footfall issues with suspended wood floor. I need to sneak around like a ninja to avoid skipping. Even though it can accomodate different arms, the platter tilt to the arm side and if arm is heavier than SME 5 and the converse is true. You can spend a lot of time dialing in a precise setup but when the springs are set into motion, I have some doubts whether the setup is preserved. The manual says don't obsess with setup and you have to be happy with that philosophy.

AC1: The quantity of bass was not more than Acutus which surpised me, The texture of bass is better and midrange is harmonically richer. Very easy to setup and immune to footfall. Accomodate multiple arms so this does it for me. Table does not have topend air like the Acutus.

The Acutus is like an OTL amp and AC1 is like a Jadis.

I have an Acutus (ordering a new Acutus Reference these days) and find it difficult to understanding your problem with footfall. I have a suspended wood floor as well and have never had any problems crossing the floor, even if I can see the turntable move up and down when I step on the floor.

The platter should be parallell to the arm, but the older players had a higher "base" of the center spindel. I bought a new spindel for my turntable and the new one doesn't "bend" the LP as much, helping the LP stay parallell to the arm. (Sorry for my english).

Footfall issue was related to contruction of the house. Major problem with 70+yr old house I was in. In my currenly 12 yr old house, it is less of an issue.

thanks for your feedback, actually I have Jadis gear, JPS3 as phono preamp, JPS2 as line preamps and JA200 monoblock poweramps, with maggies 3.5. Which tonearm cartridges combinations would you recommend with the AC or AC3? I was thinking of a Breuer tonearm 10.5 inches with dynavector XV-1s or air tight PC1 or koetsu rosewood platinum but I am not sure yet. What would be best to have wide soundstage and airy highs like with the acutus?

If you go with the TW AC3 and Breuer, try an Allaerts cart. A couple of friends that I know run the Breuer with it and prefer it to the Xv-1s in that arm.