what are some of best tonearms you own or experience with.

Does either of you have a clear idea of what the resonances do that is detrimental to the overall sound?
Regarding the problem of VTA setting, I too have found it difficult to regulate arm height in repeatable fashion

When I got rid of the arm tube resonance in the SME, it was immediately less bright and more detailed; images in space were more palpable. My 'tweak' for the VTA was to make a little mark on the height adjuster know with tiny bit of Whiteout. That was I was able to track how many turns or fractions of a turn I had done to get it right.


By contrast the Triplanar VTA is adjustable on-the-fly, and it has two scales to show you where you are.

Thus far, the Pro-Ject 9cc....good enough for me. 😁

I'll throw my hat in the ring and say that the Thales Easy is one fine tonearm. I have it mated to a modded out VPI Scout in a separate tonearm pod and this thing sings. Eliminating the tracing distortion inherit  with pivoted arms has been a revelation. I have a Benz Micro Wood with ML stylus on it running into a Sutherland Engineering Little Loco phono stage and am gobsmacked every time I sit down for a listen and I've been spinning vinyl for 35+ years. Of course, YMMV...