VPI 2nd Pivot for 3D

"  Imagine when in true motion ridding those grooves with all those  huge ( every direction ) generated forces ! !"

I know you "imagine" these huge forces Raul but it doesn't make any sense perhaps you should check your VTF todays cartridges track around just a few grams there's no need for "huge" forces if you are using huge forces you are damaging your phono cartridge/stylus/cantilever assembly AND your records! Please get a modern tonearm with a properly matched phono cartridge and the forces you'll need to deal with will be on the order of around just a few grams give or take a tiny bit. Good luck, Raul!

Dear @folkfreak : So, those tonearms are not any more true unipivots ( good. ) but neither a fixed/gimball design.

Anyway, anything out of an unipivot design is just better by a wide margin.

What can be really interesting on the whole subject is to take the best quasi-unipivot design and the best fixed one and through an electronic microscope in slow motion see what is happening at the stylus tip/groove on playback becaause at micrtoscopic levels you, me or any one can't see if exist that wobble in those unipivot designs.
At those microscopic levels we can see that the stylus tip is literally " jumping " in the grooves when ridding and between other things that's why is so important to achieve always a " safe " resonance frequency number between the cartridge/tonearm.

I think that any tonearm must be designed to fulfill the cartridge needs. Understanding those complex cartridge needs.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Raul....Interesting that you mention your objection to VPI arm regarding their serious needs for anti-skate.   I've listened carefully with and without anti-skate on my metal 10.5 arm, on the 3D with and without the 2nd pivot and in all cases, the sound to my ears is better with a/s removed completely.  I've listened a number of times but once I heard the difference, it was clear, I did not want a/s on my arm.

I've had the second pivot for a few months now and have another on the way for my spare arm wand.  It's easy to hear the difference and if you don't like what you hear it's easily removed.  

Dear @stringreen : Yes, for years I had the same kind of experiences through several tonearm/cartridge combinations.

The important issue here it's that the skate force exist through all the cartridge ridding in a pivoted tonearm.
That skating vector is part of all the different kind of " forces " that has influence in the stylus tip groove ridding " job and we just can't say: I like it more with out the antiskate mechanism.

Again, I'm talking on what we need to do or better: what the cartridge stylus tip needs and not what we like it because as " usual " we are accustomed to higer distortion levels that what we can think or imagine it.

Perhaps a " trouble " with AS mechanisms is that the developed skating force is a variable one all over the LP side and at each groove is changing and for that skating force can't has real influence we need a very preise antiiskating mechanism that can mimic exactly the inverse skate range at each groove and till today I don't know any single tonearm that fulfill that needs.

But all those does not means  the cartridge ridding does not need it because we are talking that we have to have extremely care for the stylus tip pick-up precise groove information and the AS if not compensated goes against that target.
I know, that the AS task is almost imposible to do it in the rigth way.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.