the perfect tonearm

To Mikeyc8, you may have problems finding what you are looking for such a price in a new arm.

I concur with Dertonarm's recommendation for the Graham 2.2, which is easy to setup and sounds decent. The Triplanars also sound decent, and if you can find either one second-hand and in good condition, I'd go for it.

In a somewhat different direction, you could consider vintage heavyweight arms like the FR-64fx or an IT-245, both of which can sound quite good and don't need to cost a lot of money. Like this:

http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w37585355

FWIW, the Triplanar and other tonearms that have drop-down headshell sides may have problems with wide-bodied cartridges like the Allearts Formula One. When I was using this particular pair, I had to machine a thick spacer to get the cartridge body to clear the headshell sides. hth

FYI - the Ikeda IT-245 was sold (in limited quantities however...) in the USA in the late 1980ies and very early 1990ies as the Rowland Research Complement tonearm (together with the Ikeda EMPL named as "Rowland Research Complement" too). As it is sometimes very difficult for most audiophiles outside Nippon to get any component from a seller listing on Japanese Yahoo it might be a suitable alternative to have a look on the home 2nd hand market for the OEM -Rowland version.
The effective moving mass of the IT-245 is however considerable higher than the Graham 2.2 or Phantom.

Again - I won't stress this point too far, but it is a VERY important aspect worth mentioning again - keep in mind the very easy alignment of the Graham which allows even the inexperienced user to obtain very precise adjustment in a minute and thus excellent results much harder to achieve with other designs.

Cheers,
D.

JCarr, You wrote, "the Triplanar and other tonearms that have drop-down headshell sides may have problems with wide-bodied cartridges like the Allearts Formula One." What model of Triplanar have you used that has such a headshell? I have owned mine for more than 15 years, and, altho it is not sitting in front of me at the moment, I could swear that the under-surface of the headshell is a flat plane with no "sides" to it. Moreover, to my knowledge there has been no change to the headshell design in the entire long history of the product. Your warning would still apply to tonearms that DO sport such headshells, to be sure. Anyway, the Allaerts cartridges are unusually wide-bodied.

Jcarr, yes the FR 64fx does sound and look interesting. I haven't decided on a cart yet, but I'm interested in the Soundsmith Aida which is low compliance. Would it work well with low compliance carts? Is the IT245 comparable to the 64fx in terms of quality and price?

The Micro 505 is also interesting, as it has VTA on the fly I believe.

To clarify, I would buy it used, I realize that $2K for a new tonearm offers very limited choices.

Perfection on a budget? Hmmm...

The alignment jig provided with a Graham does let inexperienced users set things up easily and quickly, but it hardly approaches "perfection". I wouldn't call it "precise" either. Anyone who's aligned a Graham using a mirrored arc protractor will testify to improvements vs. the jig. If cost-effective "perfection" is the goal, the $110 Mint protractor will get you audibly closer with any (pivoting) tonearm, including a Graham.

As to sonics, friends and I A/B'd a 2.2 with a TriPlanar VII, Basis Vector I and all three Schroeders. This was on a two-arm table with Shelter, ZYX and Koetsu cartridges (same cart on each arm).

The 2.2 is among the very best for convenience, repeatability of setup and BQ, but with the above carts its sonic performance was lackluster when compared to those other arms.

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Jcarr mentioned headshells with drop down sides. I don't believe any TriPlanar has had those since at least 1983. The Mk III did not, nor did the Mk IV, VI or any version of the current Mk VII.

***

A used TriPlanar Mk VII would be above the OP's $2K budget, but a Mk VI (if he can find one) might go for that or a bit less. It can even be upgraded to Mk VII by that friend of Ralph's when funds permit. Of course by the time a VI shows up, he may have saved enough for a used VII! :-)

A used Basis Vector should fit the budget. VTA on the fly is a challenge and VTF/azimuth adjustment interact, making fine tuning a chore. Solid, good sounding arm though.

Depending on the turntable, Chris Brady's add-on VTA adjuster is very well built, easy to use if you have access beneath the armboard and provides precise, on-the-fly height adjustment and repeatability. It could make many tonearms lacking this feature eligible for consideration under the OP's criteria.

Friendship disclaimers (so Dertonarm won't yell at me):
Dung Tri Mai
Frank Schroeder
Not Bob Graham or A. J. Conti, but only because we've never met except online. Otherwise I'd disclose them too!