VPI's new "Vanquish" Ultra High-End turntable is a STUNNER!

"Audiophiles eat their young"

That is going a little to far sturgus. Audiophiles just can't afford to feed their young. 
Fleschler that is because the SME and Tri Planar are superior arms in large part because they do not use unipivots.

Yes, I have had two unipivot arms prior to the SME (back in the 1980s). First an Audiocraft then a longer Ultracraft. Good arms but not great arms. One had to dial in the correct amount of damping oil in the trough to use them. I have heard good sound from Graham unipivot arms at shows on ultra expensive tables such as the TechDas. I thought my next arm would be a Tri-Planar or a Thales, but the SME sounds excellent and is still being made and sold with a new SME table.

A few members of VPI’s target market had a terrible day today. 

I don’t know what you mean.