To the origin OP,
I have owned both arms: TW 10.5 an a 12inch Davinci. I tried both arms with 4-5 carts. Of these two, I would pick the TW over the 12inch Davinci.
On the sonic side, I feel the 12inch Davinci slows the transient attack slightly and imbue the sound with rich wood tone. This translate into "luxorious" listening experience which some people like but not what I am after. The TW is able to portray a wider contrast betw the different carts.
On the ergo side, I prefer to have Azimuth adjustments to tease out the last degree of channel separation. I dislike the VTA adjustment on the Davinci. For upward VTA adjustment, YOu need to loosen up the clamp screw and manually lift the arm pillar. While holding the arm pillar, adjust a side screw to touch the arm base in order to support the arm pillar . Now slowly twist the screw to decrease VTA. After that, fasten the clamp, twist the side screw so it no longer touches the arm base. I don't insist on VTA on the fly. Arms like centroid, dyna 507 don't have VTA on the fly but still much more convenient and repeatable. The antiskate is call magnetic dumping in the Davinci if I understand correctly. For some carts, I could not dial in enough antiskate for the 12 inch arm. I suspect the skating force is applied at the stylus tip which translate into more torque for the antiskate mechanism to contend with.
If I have to get the Davinci again, I would rather have 9inch or 10inch for lower effective mass and hopefully better transient reproduction. The 9 or 10inch may also allow for azimuth adjustment.
The new design may have corrected for a lot of the inconveniences I mention.
Good luck
I have owned both arms: TW 10.5 an a 12inch Davinci. I tried both arms with 4-5 carts. Of these two, I would pick the TW over the 12inch Davinci.
On the sonic side, I feel the 12inch Davinci slows the transient attack slightly and imbue the sound with rich wood tone. This translate into "luxorious" listening experience which some people like but not what I am after. The TW is able to portray a wider contrast betw the different carts.
On the ergo side, I prefer to have Azimuth adjustments to tease out the last degree of channel separation. I dislike the VTA adjustment on the Davinci. For upward VTA adjustment, YOu need to loosen up the clamp screw and manually lift the arm pillar. While holding the arm pillar, adjust a side screw to touch the arm base in order to support the arm pillar . Now slowly twist the screw to decrease VTA. After that, fasten the clamp, twist the side screw so it no longer touches the arm base. I don't insist on VTA on the fly. Arms like centroid, dyna 507 don't have VTA on the fly but still much more convenient and repeatable. The antiskate is call magnetic dumping in the Davinci if I understand correctly. For some carts, I could not dial in enough antiskate for the 12 inch arm. I suspect the skating force is applied at the stylus tip which translate into more torque for the antiskate mechanism to contend with.
If I have to get the Davinci again, I would rather have 9inch or 10inch for lower effective mass and hopefully better transient reproduction. The 9 or 10inch may also allow for azimuth adjustment.
The new design may have corrected for a lot of the inconveniences I mention.
Good luck