No worries, @karl_desch, my nervosa is not so labile :) and I do appreciate your thoughts. It’s certainly possible azimuth is changing with VTA. But in my experience, azimuth pertains more to clarity of image and soundstage rather than what I hear when the VTA is high or low, which pertains more to frequencies. And I can vary azimuth when the VTA is too low or too high and it does not restore what I hear when the arm is level.
Anyway, I do realize that the whole VTA question is tiresome and has been done ad nauseum in these pages. Sorry to drag you all through it again. I’m happy to let it go.
So the question for me is where do I go from the Phantom, given that I want (rightly or wrongly) the ability to vary VTA easily and repeatably, and given the constraints of my Technics plinth.
Here are the choices that come to mind:
Kuzma 4Point-14 (11 won’t fit)
Triplanar 12 (standard won’t fit)
Reeds - 10.5 and 12
Schroeder LT
Technics EPA-100 and Mk2
FR-64s or 66s with B60 base
What else??
Do all these qualify as an upgrade?
I’m using a couple of Jelco Ortofons with the Easy VTA add-on and they are surprisingly good, especially for the price. I also have a Jelco TK-850S Mk2, the one with knife-edge bearings they released a few months before calling it quits, unopned in the closet. I just haven’t wanted to burn a Panzerholz armboard on what I doubt is an upgrade. I’m looking for something at a significantly higher level to replace the Graham. Any other ideas? I would like to be able to use medium and medium-high compliance MC carts without damping, so this might rule out the FRs and the Kuzma 14.