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TT Arm-base Unipivot vs Gimbal-base Designs...

Any thoughts/insight on a single-point needle unipivot tonearm base vs a gimbal based design for turntables? Have you had both in your TT systems - what are your preferences and why? Pros/Cons...your own personal experiences?

- Function, quality of design, usability & ease of use, design purpose to actual performance - is there a notable difference? Does each system have inherent flaws - what are they?

 

Your insight is appreciated,

J

jmrrobbie1

Showing 2 responses by melm

melm
1,057 posts
 

Yes, a lot of care to the beatings . . . but also to the bearings.  Sorry for the typo.

melm
1,057 posts
 

Uni-pivot arms have zero friction. Period. That is their principal advantage. Gimbal designs have to be made with much care to the beatings, and with enough care (and expense) the friction can be made so low as not to matter. No doubt but that both arms can be made to sound great. No apparent sound advantage of one over the other with proper design.

I am amused at those who can’t abide the slight wobble when handling a uni-pivot arm. How they can put up with all of the inconvenience of analog and be bothered by this little thing is beyond my understanding.

That being said, I use a second (sapphire) pivot on my 12" VPI 3D arm. It does get rid of the wobble, but that never bothered me. I do it principally because it makes setting azimuth (which I do by ear) much easier. I consider careful azimuth setting the most important of all stylus adjustments. It is almost impossible to do easily on many (most?) of the popular gimbal designs.

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