Unipivot and Gimble bearing tonearms?

I know this isn’t really a HiFi forum but here goes.
What are the differences in the two ways of making a tonearm work and what are the strengths and weaknesses of both systems.
What types turntables do the two different tonearms suit etc.
Just interested as to what your experiences have been with these two types of tonearm.

You could actually add knife edge bearings as a 3rd option for a pivoted arm (See SME 3012 & SAEC) or even the thread supported/magenetically attracted approach used by the likes of Schroeder.

They’re all about providing free & frictionless movement but the constraint a bearing provides also determines how it’ll respond to the cartridge being shaken at one end of the arm & possibly motor noise & other extraneous sources of vibration trying to have an effect at the other end.

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There’s also the ‘ball in a tub of glue’ approach of the Well Tempered Arm.

An ideal bearing would allow free movement to rotation but completely prevent any movement back and forth (or in any direction). Such a bearing does not exist, so you can either ignore the small amount of play (most arms) or damp it and hope for the best (most other arms).

It’s real voodoo IMO. I guess that minimal damping at low frequency (to allow for warps and actually moving the arm) but critical damping at audio frequencies would be the best.

Wtf are you on about? Have you started on the gin early or something?

You should probably stick to open baffle speakers. :rofl:

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What is a Viv Lab tonearm then?

Unipivot in an oil bath or somesuch

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The Kuzma Stogi S on my TT is a unipivot in a silicon bath.
At the first Scalford that I exhibited at, I wrote ‘this way up’ and ‘Carry Upright’ all over the box the TT was housed in.
I told everyone to leave the TT and bring in other stuff as I wanted to bring in my TT myself.
I dropped a box in the room I was exhibiting in and turned round to find Rockmeister being exceedingly helpful and carrying in the TT box - on it’s side.
Silicon gloop all over the tone arm.

I cleaned it up and never replaced the gloop, it has worked fine ever since, except you have to lower the cart onto the record carefully as there is no elegant gradual descent, it drops like a stone unless you do it manually.

Should have shanked him.

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I had a unipivot arm on my Kuzma. The website says “Two counterweights allow easy adjustments of tracking force and azimuth.” :rofl: :rage::crazy_face::hot_face:

I really don’t see the issue, Pete has never had any trouble setting mine up for me :grin:

Pete set mine up, but there was a lot of swearing!

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That’s because you hadn’t fed him.

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My Hadcock is really straightforward to setup.

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Best audiophile chat up line ?

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… but my SME has every possible adjustment :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Oh, and it’s gimbal, BTW. :stuck_out_tongue:

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:+1:

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That’s been setting my OCD right off for days :angry:

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As well as arms they are pretty decent solicitors. They did my ppi claim

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I thought that they made washing powder

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