Recommendations for a tonearm upgrade on a VPI Classic 4 turntable

+ Stringreen
Counterintuitive from Soundsmith makes azumith adjustments much easier on VPI 3d unipivot. it also helps with slight downforce adjustments.

look for REED 
reed 3p for example, available in  9.5″ 10.5″ 12″ with different armwands

stereo5

... The arm was too fiddly! ... That unipivot arm is not for me ...

It’s just a personal thing, but I find unipivot arms to be kind of creepy. I’ve never met one that I liked. It just seems to me that a pickup arm should be rigid and not floppy and wiggly.

I know that it’s all in my head, because I’ve heard VPI unipivot arms sound absolutely fantastic, and in more than one system. But they are just not for me.

I had the same azimuth problem with a JMW arm.  It needed  adjustment every few weeks.  In the end it turned out to be the teardrop cw was the culprit.  I moved to an Espressimo Audio half moon and could go 4 - 5 months.  Still too fiddly though.   Also, weep, warp and wobble are not uncommon with the 3D.  

When I ordered my Classic 4, I had a new SME 312s sent to VPI to have it installed. The arm sounds excellent but after having lived with it for three years, I have the following minor criticisms:
1) VTA adjustment is imprecise and not doable on the fly.
2) I found azimuth adjustment very difficult to get right. When you tighten the head shell screw, it can twist a tiny amount, which is enough to have to readjust.
3) The arm rest height adjustment requires a tiny Allen wrench, supplied, but it is difficult to contact the hidden screw. I think the screw head is now stripped.

But sonically its probably hard to beat. I find the damping paddle to be very beneficial. I filled the trough up to the top, which has greatly improved imaging and smoothness.