I use unipivots almost exclusively

Posted by ToddM (A) on June 24, 2015 at 09:08:55

In Reply to: Gimbal vs unipivot vs air bearing tonearm posted by mondial on June 23, 2015 at 20:10:06:

The setup for the ones I have (Sonus/Mayware, Decca, AudioCraft, and Magnepan) is very straightforward - I've never had some of the persistent issues with setting them up that others have reported. The ones that use damping fluid in the pivot bearing cup could be a bit of a hassle if you have to replace the fluid without knowing the specs for viscosity. You have to be careful when moving them to keep from pinching the wires, maybe a bit more than gimbaled arms.

The best thing is that all of them have adjustable (at least tweakable) azimuth at the pivot, which I have found really improves the tracking & stereo separation when set correctly - again, if you don't like occasional repeated fiddling to get it dialed in, that could be a disadvantage. I've used shims in a fixed arm to get it right, but that's kind of a pain, and feels hack-y.

I have a few gimbaled arms, too and have no complaints, I just don't get quite the same liquid results and smoothness in tracking. I don't have any really high-end ones, though - Rega, a couple Technics (whatever their default arm was on the SL1200 et al). I'll never get one again without a removable headshell. In all honesty, I actually think the original AR and Thorens arms are just fine on those tables (XA and TD series from the 70's), so there goes my credibility in some camps ;)

I used a DIY air-bearing arm for a while and it sounded great, but it was a huge pain to arrange, with the pump, smoothing tank, air lines, etc. I've read comments from people who used them and immediately became converts and found it hard to listen to pivoted arms of either type, but I didn't find that to be the case. They seem great on paper, but in my experience are more pain than they're worth for whatever small margin gain of improvement you *may* get. In a ne plus ultra setup, I could maybe see going that way again.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Gimbal vs unipivot vs air bearing tonearm - mondial 20:10:06 06/23/15 (11)

Few Records have perfect Azimuth. - Self-Inflicted 17:19:58 06/24/15 (0)

RE: another bearing type worth consideration... - user510 16:08:48 06/24/15 (2)

The cord will wear out? - Penguin 06:33:15 06/25/15 (1)

RE: The cord will wear out? - user510 08:05:23 06/25/15 (0)

RE: Gimbal vs unipivot vs air bearing tonearm - flood2 14:42:05 06/24/15 (0)

Have all of these. - RedM 09:26:51 06/24/15 (0)

I use unipivots almost exclusively - ToddM 09:08:55 06/24/15 (0)

RE: Gimbal vs unipivot vs air bearing tonearm - John Elison 08:55:32 06/24/15 (3)

RE: Gimbal vs unipivot vs air bearing tonearm - mondial 19:32:30 06/24/15 (2)

RE: Gimbal vs unipivot vs air bearing tonearm - John Elison 20:18:57 06/24/15 (1)

RE: Gimbal vs unipivot vs air bearing tonearm - mondial 05:15:01 06/25/15 (0)

Follow Ups

I use unipivots almost exclusively - ToddM 09:08:55 06/24/15 (0)

I use unipivots almost exclusively

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