Tbh Mike, couldn't your 180 degrees return to pivoted tone arms and your trumpeting them as now superior to air arms in solidity of bass also apply to the newest, baddest belt drive tts now having the performance edge over DDs like your NVS and eg GP Monaco etc etc?
Belt drives at the top echelon like Air Force and Kronos surely must be, like the best modern pivoted arms, superior to non belt drives
This comment is from an owner of a rim drive tt and an air bearing arm, in no hurry to switch out either
let's separate arms and tt's and I will respond.
regarding tone arms; after my experiences I'd say that the best pivoted tone arms I've heard do most things better than the best linear tracker I've heard. specifically if we talk about the Rockport Sirius III linear tracker there is no doubt that as a 'system' the whole package did space and authority in a special way, part of which was the linear tracker. but since you cannot separate the arm from the 'system' I am left to offer opinions on what caused what.
in terms of detail and overall musical flow, and specifically bass articulation and impact, the best pivoted arms surpassed the linear tracker sitting next to them. in terms of space it was slightly toward the linear tracker. 9 months after I sold the Rockport, I purchased the Herzan active isolation. when that was added to my turntable set-up with the pivoted tone arm, possibly it equaled the space rendition from the Rockport system. but as it was then gone that is an educated guess.
I do believe that a linear tracker inherently does space better than a pivoted arm due to it's potentially perfect alignment. but exactly how that plays out in real life I only have my imperfect experience to say.
as far as turntables and drive systems, so far I slightly prefer direct drive overall to what I've heard. but I've not spent real quality time with the top belt drives, and maybe I even prefer an uber idler such as the Saskia to the best belt drives. but they are all so good at the top of the heap that it would not surprise me with any outcome if I could have all these best examples to live with for awhile. so no strong tt drive dogma from me at this point. are ddk's vintage thread and belt drive 'heavyweights' superior to others? don't know. I'm skeptical but open eared and open minded.