VPI 2nd Pivot for 3D

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.

"The important issue here it's that the skate force exist through all the cartridge ridding in a pivoted tonearm...we just can't say: I like it more with out the antiskate mechanism."

For goodness sake Raul yes yes yes we an say that we prefer to use a pivoted tonearm without anitskate because everyone has their own opinion and in fact quite a number of experts who actually manufacture key components to our Music Reproduction Systems say that very thing I am talking bout experts such as Harry Weisfield and Peter Ledermann at Soundsmith these are people who have actually developed products for use in analog-based Music Reproduction Systems and are not simply theorizing from the comfort of a couch in there parents basement! Of course in your world Raul it is all about theory and you rely on developing theories based on others theories but in the real world where actual facts matter things are not so simple so please stop telling people here what to think and instead tells us what you think and maybe WHY you think what you think based on actual experience instead of your idle theories thank you!