I'm considering the Kuzma especially the airline , how do you find it soundwise and operational wise is it tempermental? Fremmer seems to rate the 4 point higher than the cobra but has mixed comments about the airline.
"And again, one setup produced a brighter, more "hi-fi like" presentation that contained more apparent detail while yielding far less genuine detail—the latter was masked by a hard, icy overlay that excited the ears of less experienced listeners." Comments comparing the airline to the cobra. But this is just one man's opinion.
The airline is such a cool looking arm though.
I'm not entirely clear on the context of the quote, was Fremer saying that the Airline created a 'hard, icy overlay'?
Here's my experience, for what it's worth, and I think you have to take the cartridge into account in making the comparison.
I used a Triplanar (VII?, circa 2006) on the Kuzma Reference (the more conventional looking table that self-isolates) with a Titan i. When I switched to the Airline, it was in connection with the Kuzma XL (the big high mass table with no isolation), keeping the Titan i in place for a while. The bass seemed bottomless on the latter combination, with a "quiet" that made the source sound less like it was coming from a turntable. Seamless (unless the record had pops or ticks or was noisy), and very dynamic. Overall, it sounded 'bigger,' without sounding forced, or strident.
When I switched to the Airtight cartridge, the sound became richer, and the highs less 'spotlit,' to me the change in cartridge made the system less 'hi-fi' and more music.
I really can't isolate what the arm is doing, apart from the turntable, and how the cartridge contributes, beyond what i've described above, and this is based on changes that were first made in arm-turntable about 6 years ago.
The arm is very well built, once set up is not fiddly, but requires an absolutely level platform to work properly. The pump is noisy, spits oil and is generally like what you'd expect from an active air compressor. I haven't had any 'failures' with the pump, but it was a little tricky to get it set up, and it created an electrical 'snap' in the system everytime it cycled. Kuzma provides an add-on box to help electrically isolate the pump, but that didn't prevent the 'snap'. I was finally able to eliminate it over the system by plugging the pump into a 240 volt step down transformer.
So, my take on the arm is that it is very good, and that you should consider alternatives to the pump. The pump manufacturer recommended a larger compressor with a bigger air reservoir, and lo and behold, Kuzma offers that as an aftermarket upgrade for, i think $2,500. There may be other options too. The pump that comes with the arm will work, it is just more trouble than the arm itself.
The VTA setting is easy and feels very solid.
Hope that helps.