Ortofon A90 with Graham Phantom

Smoffatt,

If like Stringreen you 'worry' that the bumps are not all under the headshell there may be another option.
Assuming your Phantom has the SME base, you could slide the base a few mm rearwards and move the cartridge forward in the slots to compensate - allowing all the ridges to contact the headshell.

The only negative consequence of this would be that the Graham jig - which expects a fixed relationship - could no longer be used. Obviously any of the 3rd party alignment protractors, such as the Mint, would still work perfectly.

Unlike taking a dremel to your $4K cartridge - this could be completely reversed, should you wish to use the Graham jig in the future.

To be honest, I doubt you'd hear any sonic difference whether all the ridges are under the headshell or not (so long as alignment and azimuth is correctly adjusted for both circumstances).

Paul, that explains the difference.

Smoffat and yourself have Phantom II's. I have mark1 and the left side of the headshell is symetrical with the right, hence their being a gap on both back ridges with mine.

Nice thought re the SME mount. I have the SME mount, so I might try moving thebase back a few mm's. I can then tell you if there is any sonic difference.

I am hoping Bob Graham is reading this thread, as he may have a simple fix - I am guessing a headshell spacer - however since the Phantom headshell is so thick, it is hard to find screws long enough to fit.

cheers

I was trying to be factious with the grinding off, if your tabs offend you, cast them away etc. I myself would not obsess about all three touching at the same time but then I don't spend hours aligning cartridges. I have been setting up tables since 1962 and somehow seem to get them to work. I was serious about the Blutak, it is certainly an easily reversible option. There seems to be a conflict between fastening a cartridge to the arm as tight as possible and some of the coupling devices now on the market. Mapleshade has one but I haven't seen it, there are several others. I use a Graham arm myself and have had no problems, but then I don't use a $4K cartridge. I am a relic of another age when components were suppose to be capable of being used with most other things on the market. Naive of me to expect a $4K cartridge and a $5K arm to work together.

05-20-10: Downunder
Paul, that explains the difference.

Smoffat and yourself have Phantom II's. I have mark1 and the left side of the headshell is symetrical with the right, hence their being a gap on both back ridges with mine.

Yes Shane, I thought that would be the case.
I too have the SME base - so could adjust the base and cartridge position so the ridges contacted. I can't really be bothered going through the realignment process for what I suspect will be zero change sonically. At the moment 2 ridges are contacting and the third contact is with the cartridge top rather than the other ridge - no big deal IMO (as long as azimuth is compensated).
However, if you decide to experiment and find some dramatic improvement - do report it here!

05-20-10: Stanwal
I was trying to be factious with the grinding off, if your tabs offend you, cast them away etc. I myself would not obsess about all three touching at the same time but then I don't spend hours aligning cartridges. I have been setting up tables since 1962 and somehow seem to get them to work. I was serious about the Blutak,

No worries Stan.
Regarding the blutak - that's not something I'd employ with a high performance cartridge like the A90. That would seem to be the exact opposite of what is being sought with the ridges, ie a coherent rigid coupling for extraneous vibrations. Then again, things like the Cartridge Man Isolator works for some people, so who knows.

05-20-10: Stanwal
.......Naive of me to expect a $4K cartridge and a $5K arm to work together.

BTW Stan, just to be clear, the A90 and the Phantom work beautifully together. I didn't think twice about the positioning of the 3rd ridge when hooking up - but then I'd seen this before with the Ortofon Jubilee.
Those that are bothered by this detail can adjust the base and cartridge position - no big deal IMO.