what are some of best tonearms you own or experience with.

You didn't mention a budget. For $2K and under, Rega makes the best arms for the dollar. It's not even close. RB3000 ($2200), RB880 ($1200), even the BR330 at $600 will outperform ones that are several times the cost. They also have a super expensive one made out of titanium not available for a standalone purchase that comes with their super rare/expensive Naiad that was used as the basis for their high end tables.

Above that, I leave it to the big spenders who patrol AG. I know there is an interesting one for $4K that doesn't touch the plinth from Integrity HiFi in Canada. Only found out about it because I bought a Tru Lift arm lifter from them. They swear it makes any cartridge sound great. Conceptually it makes great sense to have total arm isolation with no motor or platter noise or vibration. Anyone ever try an arm totally separate from the table?

@viv - what table and cartridge/phono stage are you using the tru glider with? If you don’t mind telling, what was the total rig investment?

Are you kidding me?

@dover - the next generation of Rega arms, especially the higher end ones (RB880, 2000- now 3000) have dramatic improvements. The 2000 came out with the RP10, which has since been replaced with the P10, so it has been a while since the new design and build was introduced. 

I can speak first hand as I had  a P5 with the stock arm, the RB700, which was very good, and at the advice of my friendly neighborhood Rega dealer who was adamant about the new arm improvements and guaranteed I would be blown away or he’d give me my money back for 3 months, I took him up on it and was absolutely blown away. As a matter of fact, I subsequently traded the P5 for the P8 and although it was a modest improvement, it was not nearly the discovery of the RB880. It has better cables and plinth and platter, and the plug in to the PSU is better, and the dust cover is much more convenient to remove while playing, so I don’t regret it, even though the price difference was more than the arm difference. 
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the RB880 or RB3000. I’ve been told it is not worth the difference for me to upgrade the 880 to the 3000 which I was considering. I think a $4K arm might be worth to consider for that level of expenditure, but for arms below that, Rega delivers more value for the buck.

@dover-you didn't mention Rega. What are your thoughts regarding them relative to their pricing of $600-$2200 (actually $1200 one, RB880 is excellent). Many tables use them as an OEM with the Moth label. You have such extensive experience, it would be good to know what could be a potential improvement if I ever got the itch. In the context of a VDH MC One-Special. 

@rim  - and they have the nerve to charge $4K for a plastic arm that you have to worry about its straightness.

@jperry - those are my thoughts as well. Over $4000 or so, I would consider other arms, and tables for that matter.

The one I mentioned earlier that doesn't touch the plinth from integrity hifi (I think it's called Tru Glider) for example at $4K sounds interesting and someone posted that they loved it.

@rim - my problem with VPI is their arms. I don't like unipivot and as discussed their laser printed Fat Boys sound flimsy at best - $4K is a joke. They started out making bases for Denon tables, and I wouldn't have a problem using one of their tables with a different arm. They look pretty solid.

I've also heard good things about Live Origin and Well Tempered Labs but haven't heard from anyone on this discussion regarding those.

@rim - guess I won't be considering a VPI in the future. Sticking with what I've got for the long haul now that it is insulated from vibration and sounding great. I have it on a Townshend Seismic platform sitting on a wall mounted shelf. Adding those were tremendous improvements. I was a non-believer, but I was amazed at the SQ from my system.

FYI Rega makes spacers that may be able to help, but in general they say VTA doesn't impact their tables unless the cartridge is so deep that the back of it hits the record when playing. I think the whole VTA thing is overhyped as the cantilever and suspension on cartridges are there so the stylus fits nicely within the grooves if the arm and cartridge are of high quality.

In general, I think Rega arms are simple to work with and provide great value for the world of table/arm combos of $5K or less. I heard that SME is no longer selling arms on a stand alone basis.