Albert, not quite in the same town. I was in London, him 100 miles away.
As I moved away from the main dealer/big magazines input on gear choice to more online searches, I first found my Zus, and then the whole world of idlers. LT arms were, and still are, a real niche product.
Having heard a few modded 301s, 401s, L70s, mainly w 12" pivoted arms, on a variety of plinths, I more and more considered this my future (back to the future, circa 1964 lol).
In 2011, I ended up buying a slate plinth 401 w Terminator arm from Vic, but for a variety of reasons, it didn't work for me, and returned it. However, I'd been vaccinated now w the whole concept, and Vic was bringing out his rim drive Salvation.
Well, I loved the concept, the likely synergy of tt/arm design, and kept contact w Vic.
Demo in 2013 was slam dunk, and Vic installed it, getting by my original 401 poor setup killer.
And here I am today, 7 yrs later with the tt heavily modded (LPS to motor/Stacore isolation), and Andrey's 2019 Terminator/Owen's aluminium arm mount/transformer to pump.
Albert, the arm has snuck up on me. I kind of bought into the concept before I knew what it could really bring to the (turn)table (Lol).
From a vague impression of improved speed, stability, bass, over my SME V, and zero null point tracking issues, 7 years of 1000 lp plays/yr, getting setup right, and now the move to Andrey's 2019 Terminator/Owen's aluminium arm mount, I can absolutely see this arm as a landmark product in analog, audio history full stop. It is THAT impressive.
So, awareness of idlers online, and random catching of this Ebay ad from Vic...that's how close I was to never going down this path.