Basis 2500, 2800 or Debut - which would you use?

Yes, I did hear it at Goodwins. I was shopping for cables and was treated to their big room with my LPs. It was very memorable.

I could also tap on my stand under my SME table with no audible effect, but the sound did improve when I put the 150 lb Vibraplane plus a 130lb piece of steel ballast under my table. It was like jumping up to a higher lever cartridge with the added low level resolution from the improved isolation.

I admit I have no experience with your 2200. Seems like a nice table. I like the looks of your room. I'm sure a dedicated sound room would do wonders for my system.

I had no idea an acoustically designed room could make such a difference. Good luck in your TT search - you have a very nice system.

Interesting comments made above. I heard a 2500 that had both a Phanton and a Vector arm on it. I liked the sound of both arms, though the table's owner and another friend very much preferred the sound of the Vector arm when using either a Transfiguration Orpheus or Lyra Titan cartridge. The Phantom arm combined with either cartridge sounded a bit less lively, but, I did not think it was quite that big a deal. This particular table was quite sensitive to footfall problems on suspended wooden floors and needed some kind of additional isolation.

I have never tried any other arm than a Vector 3 on my Debut vacuum table. I like the combination a lot. The sound is very weighty and solid, while not sounding dead or "dark." But, it is more in the high mass, well damped camp than the lightly sprung suspension camp (e.g., Michelle) so the sound may reasonably be characterized as less lively and punchy than such tables.

The Phantom verses Vector raises a point I'd like to make. There are many variables in optimizing the performance of your arm/cartridge. While the Vector can certainly be set up for optimal performance, I went with the Phantom Supreme because, in my opinion, it is easier to set up. Since I have no local dealer, nor am I well versed in mounting a cartridge while the arm is still on the table, I felt I could get much closer to 100% of optimal with the Supreme as opposed to the Vector.

Very slight changes in azimuth and VTA can make more of a difference in sound than the quality of the arm. That is, when you're talking about arms at this level. The Graham system allows even an idiot like me to come close to 100%. Even if the Vector 4 outperforms the Supreme on an absolute basis, I'm not sure I'd have the skills to obtain it.

AJ Conti designed the Vector so that it could be set up by anyone with decent tt skills. You can buy setup DVDs from Basis in which AJ walks you through the tt and arm setups step by step. I'm not saying you would be able to do it as well as an expert, but it's not a big deal. Really.