Graham Phantom Supreme?

I must have been lucky....
In contrast to your experience (Egrady) everything happened strictly "by the numbers" for me.
I found that once the arm was levelled for VTF, the ideal mid-range setting of force for the Lyra Delos was perfect.
Whenever I change the VTA to suit a given weight of disc, I optimise for the best sound then find that, coincidentally, the bubble ends up bang in the centre. Nice when that happens.
My previous cart was the Music Maker III whose instructions specified that the cart face should be strictly perpendicular to the disc surface for best VTA. The arm I was using at the time, a Linn Ittok LVII, was not helpful for precision tuning of VTA (if you unlocked the arm pillar to make a super-fine adjustment there was no guarantee that you'd actually achieved it!) so in common with a lot of folk I made up for it as best I could with VTF adjustment. The cartridge actually sounded fine and tracked well at both 1.53g and 1.58g. (Range 1.5-1.6)

Hi All,

I had my Phantom II upgraded to the Supreme status a while back and finally had a chance to install it. Some comments:

1) this arm has incredible macro and micro dynamics. It's is one of the first things that stands out. Dynamics start continue and die out in the sharpest way that I have ever experienced. This is real, natural dynamics without any glare or break-up.

2) the amount of detail is significantly increased. Inner details are easily rendered.

3) this arm has perfect timing. It is not slow or fast....just right

4) all of the above create a timbarally, detailed and dynamic presentation which is much much better than the original II.

I have compared it side by side with the triplanar-7 uII and is unquestionably the superior arm in my system.

It's is a highly recommended upgrade.

Andrew

Thanks for the post, Aoliviero. My Supreme-upgraded Phantom II should be here in a week--after a four month absence. I'm really looking forward to it. I have that Triplanar, too, and thought the Phantom II was already a wee bit better.

Wrm57,

I agree I felt the Phantom II was better than the triplanar. You will be shocked by the Supreme. The new version has a very live attack without sounding threadbare or strident. The triplanar is a little fuller but is missing a lot in comparison. The Supreme can also sound full but there is now a larger gap between recordings. The triplanar tends to have a house sound where the Supreme is mores neutral.

I still like the tripalanr and plan to keep it.

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Your description of the Tri-planar is right on, IME. That fullness is quite attractive, especially when paired with a cartridge that compliments it well. I have a Soundsmith-retipped Shelter 901 on mine now and works surprisingly well--better than my A90, actually. Ordinarily, I find the 901 a bit exaggerated at both ends but the Tri-planar fills it in nicely. It's a delightful arm and I'll keep mine, too, but I'm really looking forward to the Supreme!

Bill