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

I have been able to be demonstrated many Tonearm Designs, not all in my system.

Many years in the past, through 'sat in front of ' experiences, I deselected many arms of interest and settled on the Gimble Designs as my Tonearms of interest..

Somewhere during this period, I again had been pro-active in achieving demonstrations of different Brands Gimbal Models and made my selection.

The discussion on Tonearms will prove to be endless, especially when 'flaws' are in the remit. 

I suggest experiencing both designs in use, and attempting to discover where the presentation is to be found, that is proving to be most attractive to yourself.

There will be plenty of suggestions for a Model, once there is a sureness brought about, as a result of discovering the design that is of most interest. The only limitation will be Budget and compatibility with other devices wanted to be used. There is plenty of subjective suggestion, that certain Cart's don't perform to their best when coupled with a particular Arm, and the same can be subjectively suggested that certain Arms struggle to reveal the most attractive performance  when coupled to a particular type of TT.

The selection of a Tonearm is only one piece, to create the Trilogy needed to replay recorded music on a vinyl medium. Ask how many are all using the Same Trilogy of Devices ?,   

Note: From the Poorest, through to the most Well Executed of designs, each are able to perform their role for the replay recorded music quite successfully. What really matters is the design that is most attractive in use to the end user, and how much they intend to spend on the pursuit of the most Well Executed of designs. There is a cut off point for any spend. The Budget for such a selection will need to range from approx' $300 - $60 000. In general a prudent purchase within a $1000 - $5000 range can offer a lot of attraction to a performance that can be achieved.   

A Cartridge and TT will also need to be accounted for as well, preferably ones that are known for being able to compliment each other.  

If you use Google, there are endless discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of each type of arm.  In the end, I think it comes down more to the design and execution of each type, rather than whether the arm is unipivot or gimbal.  

Both gimbal and unipoint can be designed to work well. Among the arms in my collection are a Grace 707 gimbal and a Mayware Formula 4 unipivot. Both are low mass with small diameter arm tubes and no headshell. I used both on my Ariston RD11S TT. Both sounded excellent and tracked LPs without any problems. Right now I have the Grace 707/ Denon 103 on the Ariston. For those that don't know the Ariston RD11S is the Scottish cousin to the Linn Sondek - they are sonically equivalent. 

Both designs seem to be made in more/less equal numbers....and on all levels/price-ranges of TTs...so no real advantages on either?  Taking in to account a "synergy" approach of arm, base, cartridge then both gimbal & unipivot design can perform well/exceptional or poorly if mismatched...I get it.  Those with personal experience with both designs - advantages/disadvantages? If you had the option to step-up or upgrade your next TT system and offered the same table, same arm, same cartridge - but offered in a gimbal vs unipoint design...which would you choose & why? If it was your "last"/final TT - which design & why? Do you only look at the TT, arm, cartridge...unipivot/gimbal does not matter...is it just an afterthought... it comes with the rest of the system...so done deal?

My experience with a unipivot arm was a mixed bag. When it was calibrated, it worked fine but almost every time I wanted to spin vinyl, I had to recalibrate the arm(VPI 3D 10 inch unipivot). It was a total PIA. The arm was always cocked to one side or the other and I had to keep tweaking which I hate. After 3 years of ownership and not spinning many records, I traded in the Prime TT and bought the new Technics SL1200G with the magnesium gimballed arm. This TT is a keeper and now I spin vinyl joyously and very often.