$7K to spend on new turntable + arm

I will answer for Stringreen: A unipivot is less "stable" than a gimbal bearing or linear tracking tonearm with respect to azimuth. True, the action of the stylus tracing the groove can cause the azimuth to "creep" during play. However, none of the modern unipivots are without some mechanism or another to prevent or ameliorate that problem. I don't think your earlier statement that the "VPI tonearm" is "unstable" is quite fair, if this is what you were thinking about, because it infers that there is some unique problem with the VPI. The VPI tonearm is a unipivot and therefore it has to deal with that issue, just like any other unipivot. However, some of the finest tonearms ever made are in fact unipivots. All tonearm designs are compromised in one way or another.

Thanks Lewn, but just to clarify myself....I just think it is unjust for people to denigrate VPI or anyone without just cause. All you say is true about unipivots, however, I really never rock it. I shove it to the beginning of my LP, and use the cuing device to lower it. It is rock stable when playing a record. I raise it with the cuing device and move it to its rest. All arms, turntables, amps, cables et al have their own sound....one can like it or not. If one is better than another, we tend to respond to that particular sound. I have had many arms...they all sound different..some do their job better, some worse, but VPI ranks in the highest category with maybe 3 others.

Lewm, good question.

During this thread I have spent more time reading articles and opinions regarding Dr. Feickert's tables. His tables seems to resolve two issues that I believe will technically lead to a better sounding table than the Scout that I own.
First, the Scout is susceptible to external vibrations. A small footfall and you have a 60Hz sound going through your speakers and low bass sounds from my speakers seem to find their way back through my system. Not frequently, but I just feel like there is better here. The VPI Classic 3 seemed to have mitigated the external resonance issue as well, hence the reason why I had chosen it first.

Second, Dr Feickert focused on speed stability as well. I measured the Scout and it was one to two revolutions slower than 33 RPM. I did this because some records sounded slow. I didn't noticed this when I first purchased it 4 years ago so I presumed it was due to necessary TT maintenance ( new grease, new belt, changing to a new 300 RPM motor). I felt like I had no recourse if the maintenance didn't fix the performance. Dr. Feickert's table allows more adjustment precision.

I put a high priority these areas of technical excellence. It has to be ultra quiet and ultra stable. I just want something that is rock solid as a platform, so I can the focus on upstream components. I may go to 10K for this very reason.

In addition, and probably equally important, I am looking for a classic looking table. Something that is technically excellent that looks too modern/technical is not going to work for my significant other. I've shown her pictures of the tables suggested here and she wasn't impressed by the aesthetics regardless of price or performance. I'm sure some of you understand. Besides, I like the classic look as well.

Once I decided I was not going to go VPI this time around, I wanted to commit to another brand. Why not hear all of my albums all over again through a different design ( a different ear). This is why I listed some suspended tables.

So in looking at my short list, you see two turntables that are classic looking and likely to be technically excellent. I hadn't heard any of my audio gear prior to purchasing. I've relied on recommendations and articles. I do like the setup that I have currently, but I would like to step up. There is a risk in that this will be my most expensive audio purchase to date and it could flop. I could fly to CES in Jan to listen to the table as Dr. Feickert with be there, but its bound to sound different than it would in my system/environment.

Well said, Jmcgrogan2!

Correcting an earlier post by stringreen, the VPI arm will NOT compete with any tonearm.
No way, no how.