Interesting...Does that mean the VPI gimbal design isn’t much of an "improvement?" Guess it’s in the ear of the listener. The gimbal looks just as low tech comparing the uni pivot.
Never found the uni pivot to be "unfriendly" on my now 13 year old Classic.
Any of the Audio Technica OC9/ART series sound great on a VPI.
Yes my experience was that also the differences between Gimbal and Unipivot will be subtle, for most cartridges. If you have a Koetsu, they seem to prefer the stability of Gimbal (or at least a dual pivot). More of the arm’s sonic signature seems to come from its arm tube construction and materials: metal vs. 3D vs. Fatboy. The 3D & Fatboys are warmer / darker / smoother sounding - much like the VPI tables (Aries, HR-X, Avenger) themselves. If you have a Colibri, VPI with 3D or Fatboy is a pretty good bet for it. Generally, the unipivots are no big deal once you get used to it - I feared them for years before this. The Gimbal Fatboy's bearings are silky smooth.
There is good reason VPI chooses to partner with Van den Hul and Audio Technica (I’m just extrapolating with the AT’s, it is not from experience) cartridges: they have an energetic, detailed top end that complements the VPI’s nature.
I also think the later versions of VPI’s metal unipivots are rather underrated - I like them. They’re less reactive / resonant in bass frequencies versus the 3D materials. And in my 2nd system where I had this stuff, those were the troublesome frequencies. It would probably be a different story if on concrete slab.