Unipivot tone arms

Daveyf,

To the extent that a unipivot might tilt when encountering some sort of irregularity in a groove, might this degree of freedom be a plus in that the stylus will tilt to accommodate the shape of the groove rather than plowing through the groove?  This is at least an interesting theoretical issue.  Thank you for raising it.

I have a VPI, the arm doesn't bother me.

I rotate carts every month or so and it's like setting up any other cart like on say a Rega.

Now that I use a unipivot, it kinda bothers me that a gimbaled arm can only track in two axis, while the unipivot is free to track along a theoretical infinite axis.

Last time I looked, most records aren't perfectly flat.

Wow!  Great post!  Thanks to all for the excellent responses.  I learned quite a bit!

Another Schiit Sol owner here, The first time you send that tone arm flying with the slightest touch is pretty scary. I mean, it is totally unconstrained! You read the manufacturer’s info to see if that’s supposed to happen. But like anything else, once you’re set up and everything is working smoothly, you just get used to it and life is good. I still sometimes wonder how that big old cartridge body (Grado Opus3) remains stable balanced between the pinpoint of the stylus and the needle point of the unipivot. But it does.

After 30 years using the original Rega arm, I have no doubt that the unipivot 3D arm on my VPI Prime is a significant upgrade. However it sounds a bit better since I added the Dual Pivot, which also solves the possible problem with azimuth because it doesn't wobble anymore. Setup is easier because now I adjust azimuth by turning the screw on the Dual Pivot which is dramatically easier than rotating the counterbalance while try to keep the tracking force from changing.  

I don't know why VPI decided to start using gimbal bearings. I think they are just responding to the market and the anti uni-pivot chatter. I say that because when I met Harry W in the late 80's and told him I was thinking about switching the aluminum platter on my 1st generation HW19 turntable to his newer ones with a more vinyl like surface he told me not to. He though the aluminum sounded better but Sota was kicking his butt with its claim that that records sound better on a surface that was more like vinyl. I'll point out that now, all VPIs use metal platters.