Why are modern arms so ugly?

Hey Halcro - thought you might like to read up on the original Vector by AJ Conti -

The Vector 1 tonearm utilizes a hybrid bearing featuring a point contact, .020” radius polished male pivot fabricated from hardened tool steel. The female cup is ground and polished from sapphire and is precisely radiused to achieve self-centering with the pivot. The entire weight of the tonearm is concentrated on the primary pivot, with an innovative stabilization bearing controlling azimuth as well as guaranteeing stability of the vertical rotational plane of the stylus. This new, advanced bearing system solves the problems with all previous fixed bearing arms (bearing chatter, lack of azimuth correction) as well as the problems with unipivot bearings (azimuth “rocking” reaction reducing bass and dynamics, “loose” hand operation, unstable azimuth reaction to vertical record warps). The result is a tonearm of unprecedented sonic performance and superior tracking, guaranteeing reduced record wear.

The Vector tonearm is designed with a center of gravity offset from the main pivot, generating a couple (torque) about the axis of the armtube. This torque creates a secondary force resulting in a constant side-load against the stabilizing bearing, which consists of an azimuth guide arm riding against an ABEC 7 precision ball bearing. The guide arm is ground and polished to a .060” radius, creating a point contact against the .125” radius bearing. The secondary bearing is loaded in a purely radial, uni-directional fashion, eliminating all free play as well as any requirement for the bearing to support axial loads. With a radial runout of .0001” or less, the secondary bearing guarantees azimuth stability to within .01070. The secondary bearing is submerged in an extremely temperature independent damping fluid, guaranteeing no possibility of bearing chatter. The azimuth guide arm is angled at the exact angle of the headshell, forcing the tonearm to maintain azimuth while traversing record warps and at all VTA settings. The above arrangement yields a silent bearing that is supremely stable, resulting in effortless sound and pinpoint, stable imaging.

Look familiar.

This has been around for years. Better add the Vector to the list of true advances in tonearm science. AJ Conti has also been championing a balance centre of mass approach to unipivots as well, ie dont hang the balls too low, because if you do when the arm hits a warp, the low riding weight acts as a pendulum and tracking force increases as the arm has to lift the balls through a wider arc.

So what's new about the Continuum - did they invent the ABEC 9 bearing ??

Dover,
That's right....the Cobra and Copperhead arms are dual pivots. Not too many of them around?
All the tonearms you define without headshells actually have very well defined headshells. The Syrinx PU2 even has a solid bar fixed across its armtube to which the cartridge is screwed. The other arms have a flattened out shaped metal headshellsl welded to the armtubes. Because you can't see the welds doesn't make the headshell invisible?
All the counterweights you cite are well above that of the Continuums but more importantly, change their Moments of Inertia about the pivot with each addition or subtraction of a counterweight.
Because the Continuum's counterweights face downwards, the Moment of Inertia about the pivot remains constant.
The ET2 wiring exits from the top and lies loosely across the arm putting lateral force into the arm tracking. There is no vertical support hoop as in the Continuums?
But the most important and revolutionary impact of the Continuums is the shape and material (not carbon fibre) of the tonearm and the way this shape and construction were calculated with the aid of aerospace computers.
A pivoted tonearm is a very complex structural diagram to plot.
It is not a full cantilever because it is semi-propped by the stylus.
It is also a counterweighted cantilever which gives a totally different vector forces diagram than a pure cantilever.
Almost every tonearm in history has tended to ignore this structural complexity and make the armtube constant shape from pivot to cartridge whilst others have tapered the tube in a classic cantilever response to stresses.
Neither one is structurally correct and when lateral movement is added to the equation, these two basic solutions are unsophisticated.
For the first time in history, the same computer power that designs the structure and air effects of Formula 1 cars is utilised for tonearms.

As for the fit and finish of the DaVinci qualifying it for 'advancing' the state of the art.....you surely jest?
I have the DaVinci, the FR-66S and the Copperhead head to toe on the Raven AC 3 and the 35 year old FR-66S looks newer than the 4 year old Grandezza. The Copperhead is perhaps a fraction below the fit and finish of the DaVinci...but not far at all. The SAEC WE308 is a notch higher than the Grandezza whilst the SAEC 407/23 is another notch further up and the Mixro Seiki MA505S is a clear 3 notches higher.

You obviously don't wish to see the facts behind these revolutionary arms but there are better judges than you or I who have already written their verdicts :^)

Dear all,
As no one is following my advice to look underneath the Cobra arm and the ignorance level is rising (like that word, picked it up in another thread - sorry) may I add:

which tonearm provides a magnetical supported armboard allowing adjustment (hard, soft)?

and to my knowledge it is the most expensive tonearm - but this is an innovation of a different kind.

best @ fun only

Well Dover,
You play with your Vector.......uh....do you even have one?
And I'll listen to my Copperhead.
One of us will keep smiling :^)

Dear Thuchan,
We are talking tonearms only.
When you take the Cobra or Copperhead off the Caliburn or Criterion and put them on a normal TT......you don't have a magnetically supported armboard. Pity ;^)