That could certainly be the problem. If you have A VPI unipivot or any unipivot tonearm including the Graham get rid of it. I know of no LOMC cartridge that would be happy in a unipivot arm, way to floppy. The Graham is the best of them being stabilized with magnets but there is no reason to resort to that type of maneuver when for that kind of money you can buy the best bearings made. A tonearm can move in only 4 directions, up + down, side to side. In every other direction it has to be rock solid. This is particularly true with today's low compliance cartridges.
This is way more important than any reduction in friction, if any a unipivot might have. The forces involved playing a record are more than enough to overcome the friction of even the cheapest tonearm bearings out there. If you don't believe me defeat your antiskating and put your arm down on a blank disc and see what happens. Better have your catchers mitt on. It is actually more important that a bearing be smooth rather than the lowest friction. A tonearm can not make a cartridge sound better, but it can sure as h-ll make them sound worse, a lot worse. Way back I know a guy who mounted a Koetsu in a Transcriptor's Vestigial arm. The poor Koetsu would jump out of the groove. Forget about sounding bad. It was totally unplayable. Anyway when you put a LOMC cartridge in a unipivot arm what you usually get is muddy bass and dull transients even if the effective mass and compliance match up. If you really have to use a unipivot arm go find yourself an old Shure V15. If the arm is too massive just drill a bunch of holes in the arm tube.
This is way more important than any reduction in friction, if any a unipivot might have. The forces involved playing a record are more than enough to overcome the friction of even the cheapest tonearm bearings out there. If you don't believe me defeat your antiskating and put your arm down on a blank disc and see what happens. Better have your catchers mitt on. It is actually more important that a bearing be smooth rather than the lowest friction. A tonearm can not make a cartridge sound better, but it can sure as h-ll make them sound worse, a lot worse. Way back I know a guy who mounted a Koetsu in a Transcriptor's Vestigial arm. The poor Koetsu would jump out of the groove. Forget about sounding bad. It was totally unplayable. Anyway when you put a LOMC cartridge in a unipivot arm what you usually get is muddy bass and dull transients even if the effective mass and compliance match up. If you really have to use a unipivot arm go find yourself an old Shure V15. If the arm is too massive just drill a bunch of holes in the arm tube.