Curved and Straight Tonearms

OK, here goes.  Although it is correct to say that an "S" shaped tonearm often facilitates the incorporation of a removable head shell into the design, it is not axiomatic that this would be so.  Case in point, the SME Series III is an "S" arm which does not have this feature.  Rather it incorporates a similar interchangeable arm design to my Prime.  It is also problematic to make bold statements about bearing configurations.  For example, my Prime single pivot tonearm was recently modified and significantly improved sonically by the addition of a second pivot, developed by VPI.  The GAE has a double gimball bearing arrangement.  Using the same cartridge, the two TTs/arm combinations do sound somewhat different, but as to which is "better" or more "accurate" I cannot say. There will be those that make decisive statements about the merits of direct drive vs. belt drive, complete with golden ear claims about tone/pitch perfection and such, most if not all of which have been debunked over the years in repeated double blind tests.  My SL1200GAE does have very steady speed, is quiet and all that.  But my Prime, with it's heavy platter, excellent bearing and tripple belts, and aided by Phoenix Engineering Roadrunner Tachometer and Eagle PSU, is it's equal both measurably and sonically.  In short, these are two superb turntables and both sound terrific.  They are different ergonomically, with the GAE easier to setup and to use perhaps appealing to the record collector, the Prime perhaps appealing more to the true audiophile.  I am not sure which of these two TTs is the better of the two.  I am reminded of the wisdom of Bertrand Russell, "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."

So, who first promulgated that thought, Bertrand Russell or William Butler Yeats? In the Second Coming, written in 1919, Yeats wrote:
"The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

It doesn’t matter, really. We see evidence of the truth in these sentiments on a daily basis, emanating from the White House and its environs.

It is a sad commentary upon the times when we can't sort out definitively the pluses and minuses of a mature technology like tonearms, but have no trouble at all getting a bead on the emanations Tweeting from the White House.  Which is way off topic.  My apologies.

@billstevenson  Thanks for your thoughtful reply. My original question related to pros and cons of each type of arm and your comments are certainly in that vein. I know all of this can be very subjective and system/room dependent. I want to experiment a little with different cartridges and your "ease of use" comment relating to the Technics is something I need to consider. And please, to the group. I don't want to start a war of VPI versus Technics. I know VPI makes great tables. But, at my advanced age ease of use is a plus.   

There's no real advantage to curved arms. TT manufacturers began making them because the convenience of removable headshells allow for quick cartridge swaps and easy setting of the offset angle. The advantage is the ability to place the cartridge square in the headshell and achieve offset angle. Like many trends in turntable design, the bends give no appreciable advantage in resonance control. Another marketing gimmick that doesn't produce any discernable difference under real playback conditions.