I had a Maplenoll Ariadne air bearing tt/arm that sounded just plain beautiful but had potential to have an accident involving the cantilever if any of the air supply's many parts failed or disconnected. After selling it, I had many different tt's--VPI Scout, Classic, Avid Diva II with Origin Live Silver II arm. Each of those was better than the prior, but the 'Noll was still quite a bit better sounding. I have a fairly pimped out Lenco with the 10-layer 100 lb. mdf/birch plywood plinth, Mirko's stainless steel bearing, S. Lucchetti's idler wheel, lead tape on the idler arm to damp resonances, JTN's string/weight mod to replace the idler spring, the Lenco chassis screwed directly to the plinth, TTW's 2.2 SS/carbon fiber weight, 2" Audio Points under the plinth, and of course, cleaned and lubed with the speeds set spot on. This sits on a Sistrum rack, which in itself, is a major sound improvement to all equipment sitting on it. I am currently using the same OL Silver II arm with Pete Riggle's VTAF sleeve. The sound is VERY dynamic and can be quite beautiful--the cartridge is Soundsmith's level 2 rebuilt Shelter 501 Mk II--better than the original. I believe if I get the straight line tracking air bearing Trans-Fi Terminator with all its upgrades to replace the OL, the sound would be really quite incredible--everything the 'Noll was and more--jump factor, potent bass, and that wonderfully beautiful sound the straight line tracking arm like the 'Nolls had--I believe the Trans-Fi would be quite a bit better sounding than the 'Nolls and would have virtually zero chance of snapping a cantilever due to lack of air to the arm because of its lack of need for a high pressure air pump to move the arm. In other words, for about $2500 for the Lenco, the Trans-Fi arm, all the upgraded parts, and quite a bit of work by me, I'll have very close to the best there is with very good longevity. I can't picture any belt drive with pivoting arm sounding as good. Plus, you can say you built some of your tt. How cool is that? I had no mechanical knowledge prior to doing this, but I do have some woodworking skills. It came out massive (24" X 20" X 7" H) and quite beautiful--maple veneered and trimmed out on the top and bottom of all sides. Sorry, I have zero experience with the TW Raven to compare to the SuperLenco. However, I had all the tweaks that TTW out of Canada makes on both the Scout and the Classic (over $1100 worth) and the 'Noll still sounded better. The Lenco with Trans-Fi will be awesome.
Please excuse the length of this post.
Please excuse the length of this post.