@larryi , The LT is much less expensive, $8K to $10K depending on where you get it from and which version you get. I would get it directly from one of Frank's dealers in Europe. Yes, the Reed is very expensive and complicated. The Schroder does exactly the same thing but in a much more elegant fashion.
There are other factors than just the quality of the bass. No record is perfectly flat or concentric. With high horizontal effective mass the cantilever reacts before the arm, remember the cantilever and stylus have to pull the arm along, then the arm gets going and continues on taking the cantilever and stylus along with it and you get this low frequency oscillation which causes a lot of distortion. I have watched several air bearing arms and Clearaudio arms and you can usually see it happening. The same problem occurs with arms that have a high polar moment of inertia. This is the rational for limiting mass at the end of the arm and is why SME changed their approach to tonearm design with the model V and all the best arms followed suite avoiding removable head shells and unnecessary mass out there. I hate to say this but removable head shells are for lazy people. Some designs like the Kuzma and the method Schroder uses are tolerable. The Kuzma looks bulky but the alloy is very light. He is trying to maintain stiffness and may be going a little overboard. The Schroder design looks sort of flimsy but it is not. The cartridge locks in solidly. I have a new Schroder CB which is waiting for it's turntable. I think if you are a cartridge jockey multiple arms or tables is a better solution than removable head shells of the old SME type that the Japanese are so fond of. Most of us install a cartridge and leave it be for years. I have multiple cartridges but there is always one I like best and that is the one that stays in the arm. The others just sit in a draw. I sold a bunch of them. I decided I'd rather collect records.
There are other factors than just the quality of the bass. No record is perfectly flat or concentric. With high horizontal effective mass the cantilever reacts before the arm, remember the cantilever and stylus have to pull the arm along, then the arm gets going and continues on taking the cantilever and stylus along with it and you get this low frequency oscillation which causes a lot of distortion. I have watched several air bearing arms and Clearaudio arms and you can usually see it happening. The same problem occurs with arms that have a high polar moment of inertia. This is the rational for limiting mass at the end of the arm and is why SME changed their approach to tonearm design with the model V and all the best arms followed suite avoiding removable head shells and unnecessary mass out there. I hate to say this but removable head shells are for lazy people. Some designs like the Kuzma and the method Schroder uses are tolerable. The Kuzma looks bulky but the alloy is very light. He is trying to maintain stiffness and may be going a little overboard. The Schroder design looks sort of flimsy but it is not. The cartridge locks in solidly. I have a new Schroder CB which is waiting for it's turntable. I think if you are a cartridge jockey multiple arms or tables is a better solution than removable head shells of the old SME type that the Japanese are so fond of. Most of us install a cartridge and leave it be for years. I have multiple cartridges but there is always one I like best and that is the one that stays in the arm. The others just sit in a draw. I sold a bunch of them. I decided I'd rather collect records.