Gimbal vs unipivot tonearms

Sorry to everyone for my error about the SME arm.

It's in a box downstairs, I thought I had sold it, now I remember that knife edge, thanks for correcting me. 

What I wanted to say, is

there is a difference between seeing the parts, knowing gravity has been equalized (as you do with the SME)

and trusting that it has been i.e. quality of my Gimbal's machining/parts, and the resulting 'equalization' of forces/freedom of movement.

and trusting unseen parts, like my Acos Lustre GST 801's internal magnets.

The methods of retaining settings, again like the SME, can give great confidence, or, like my Acos, requires 'belief' after setup.

I rarely checked my SME after setup; I often check my Acos's unseen magnets. 

@lewm , It is due to be in production mid July. They have their entire crew back now so it should speed up. I have the arm and all the cartridge mounting plates (various weights). The Smartractor is on standby. 

@rodman99999 , Son of a Gun, another Tact user. I used an LP 1 for 4 years on RH Labs subwoofers, a landmark product. The Tact is so superior in regards to bass management you can't compare them, not fair. What makes you believe the Tact does not go below 20 Hz? My 2.2X goes down to but not including Zero. Get one of these https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-OmniMic-V2-Acoustic-Measurement-System-390-792 You will be amazed. You can then create individual target curves for each channel so they match perfectly. The Tact does not allow you to see the system's frequency response after correction. You will not believe how your image will snap into place.
I have used every type of tonearm known to man except the Schroder LT which I am dying to try. The best tonearm you can buy at this time other than the LT is an intermediate mass, two axis, 9 inch arm. The advantages outweigh the greater tracking error. My experience and test results measuring distortion by oscilloscope bear this out.  Theoretically a lighter arm with a high compliance cartridge should have lower distortion but the problem becomes making the arm stiff enough to dampen all resonance in the audio band. None of the ultra light arms have been stiff enough not to mention that it seems the day of very highly compliant cartridges is over. vinylzone is a typical example.
@daveyf , air bearing arms are not worth talking about especially with the Schroder LT available. They are a defective design right from the start. The only way to make a straight line tracker is with an animated carriage like the original Goldmund turntable. But that is a crazy expensive and complicated thing to do and maintain. None of these tables survived. I think the B+O was the most successful but, it sold to a different audience. Audiophiles have to be able to tinker. This is one of the reasons turntables survive. Digital is no fun! Tinkering with the B+O was impossible. 

@mijostyn-   If you're still using the TacT; have you upgraded the power supply?   If not: get the highest (Watts) output supply that Mean Well now offers (I haven't kept up with their offerings, of late), replace the regulator with something better, like either Bellesons or NewClassDs and every electrolytic, with Sanyo OsCons.  

                                         The stock/OEM board:

                     https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/MEAN-WELL/PT-65B?qs=pqZ7J9Gt%2FmrUvp2%252BT2RNJA%3D%3D

     If you're using analog I/O boards; replace every one of the crappy, surface-mount, electrolytics, with Elna Silmic IIs and the regulators with the same as mentioned above.

     The Elnas are considerably bigger than the surface mounts, so: you have to be creative, with SOME of the larger values' positioning, on the boards.

      Parts Connexion has everything needed, to perform the above.  

Getting the leads soldered to the tiny pads, left when removing the old caps, and you want them short as possible, as I did, is quite the chore.

  Should you choose to undertake an upgrade, if your haven't already, I'd happily walk you through it.

   This isn't just a, "trust me" issue!      YOU WILL be amazed at the transformation, such an, "upgrade" (in this case: a VERY apropos term) makes.

    " The Tact does not allow you to see the system's frequency response after correction."

     I have a Behringer DEQ2496, left over from a pro installation and in a closet, that I use SOLELY (if you get my drift), for it's 1/3 octave Spectrum Analyzer.    That works quite well, in conjunction with the afore mentioned test LP.

                                    I use my ears from there.

                                          Happy listening!

Dear @rodman99999  :  Very appreciated your time and advise.

Now, The time when I was willing to buy almost every vintage/today tonearms was many years ago when I was in that " score " of my audio life and I owned 25-30 different tonearms and from that came my " curiosity " to try the Magnepan. 

Not any more but thank's.

R.

Mijo, the Goldmund T3F LT tonearm was a straight up ripoff of the Rabco SL8E, which was designed by an engineer who lived here in bethesda, MD, not a gnome in Switzerland. I always wondered whether it was done under a contractual agreement, and if not, whether there was a resulting law suit. Both of those tonearms  would have been prone to generate noise, and neither of them was a true linear tracker, because the action of the tonearm depends upon the stylus inscribing a tiny arc which then activates a switch which then turns on a motor that moves the pivot end of the arm wand down its track. Back in their day at one time or another I heard both, and I actually did not perceive any issues, but the demonstrations were usually in audio salons under poor conditions for critical listening. You are old enough to have heard them as well. Did you really like them in comparison to a good air bearing linear tracking tonearm? I never made that comparison myself.