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Tonearm choices

hey all

newbie here but like many, I have been getting advice from you guys for years....and thank you:)

I recently had all my kit stolen including my TT. If you ever see a TW Raven One with a broken Jelco 10.5 and cantilever-less Benz Wood LP, it was mine :)

I was fortunate to have some a little 'windfall' which I used partly for a new/used Merc and wife and whatever left went to the audio. So I got myself a great deal on a TW AC and Transfiguration Orpheus, Whest Audio MC REF V Mk4 phono preamp, Ayre K5 and V5 pre-power and Wilson Watt Puppy 8.
The puppies they did not take!!! I wonder why?

I have spoken to a few people about arms but have now got it down to about 4 arms. TW Raven tonearm, Graham Phantom, Triplanar OR wait another 6 months to see what happens.

James at Whest Audio recommended the Graham and TW but favours the TW because it might take a while to get a Phantom (so he was told) and he has heard a lot of positives about the TW arm. My dealer recommended the Triplanar because he has one and feels it is MUCH better than the Phantom. A good friend and Phantom user recommends the Phantom but has not heard the other 2.

I like the Whest approach as there is no bias there.
I like the dealer approach as he is a triplanar user.
My friend is a nutcase but I believe him.

Which way do I turn? At present I'm using a modified REGA RB351. It's good but I think you all know what I mean. The amazing thing is the Raven AC/Orpheus/ Whest MC REF V/ makes the Rega sound quite stunning. But I tried an older Graham 2.0 and it just blew the RB351 out of the water.

So the question is has anyone compared these 3 tonearms or is there something else out these?

grubbie

grubscrew
barbapapa
244 posts
 
I have a Raven AC with full BN upgrades for more than 10 years. Allways had Da Vinci Grandezza 12´´ . Finally wanted to sell this combo for another one. The first thing I sold thas the tonearm. The tt was long trip to sell so I bought a used SME3012-R for listening my music until I sell the Raven (I need to sell for having money to spend for the new baby).
It was a big surprise to hear music from the old 3012 and much better than with the DV arm.
Not that sur I still want to sell the Raven now...
dgarretson
2,617 posts
 
@barbapapa Your instincts about the SME 3012R are correct. Sell the baby instead.
vinny55
259 posts
 
@barbapapa why dont you want to sell the Raven Tonearm now?
barbapapa
244 posts
 
I don’t have Raven arm. I had Da Vinci Grandezza and sold it. Now I have SME 3012-R instead.
In the beginning I wanted to sell the TT and the DV tonearm for buying the Swissonor TD124 with TA10 arm.
I managed to sell the arm rapidly, but I did not succeeded to sell the Raven the price I asked.
So I bought the 3012 waiting for the Raven to be sold. As I discovered what the TT could do with a top arm, not sure I still want to sell the Raven.
The Raven is full BN upgrades but the best offer from a gentleman was only 8000€. I don’ want to sell it for this price.
vinny55
259 posts
 
@barbapapa so you find the Sme3012 better sounding overall than Tw Raven? Could you describe the two head to head?
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