Graham Phantom Elite vs. AS Aquilar

Dear @wrm57  :  What certainly will improves the EPA 100 quality performance is a internal wiring change and other that your own observation/listen to it the only way to be sure is in good condition is to send not for modification other that the internal wiring but to check if it's in good operation condition and especially its bearing mechanism.

My sample was in pristine condition as it was too the EPA 100MK2 too.

Some owners like to make a change at the bearing for steeel balls instead the stock ruby and even with ceramic balls: not recomended.

In those times some EPA 100 came with the EPA100MK2 headshell ( boron alloy. ) that's truly good but the advantage is that the design is a removable headshell one and you can mount the cartridges with the one that mates the better to each cartridge.

Btw, in that link a USA gentleman with at least same technical level than theOP posted:

" I’ve had more than a dozen through here and have seen two with the issue, both fixed as I described. Unless you have one that’s out of tolerance, if you disassemble the base you’ll realize that backlash isn’t in the picture.

I appreciate your efforts and your work looks quite nice. I’d only wish meaningful data was shared as it’d help a lot in understanding performance. A plot of a single frequency doesn’t tell us much, and before and after plots of compound changes coupled with those plots being at two very different scales obfuscate even further. If the audible differences are so great how about some needle drops? "

and seems that those gentlemans love the MM designs ( nothing wrong with that ) but the tonearm works really fine with MC too.

Here you will find a gentleman from Germany that is an specialist and who in case you have a doubt of the tonearm operation can makes a check up and obviously the internal wiring change:

[Review] Technics EPA-100 tonearm listening test (tnt-audio.com)

For the gentlemans that do not seen before the EPA 100 here any one can see it through the Technics brochure:

Technics EPA 100 Variable Dynamic Damping Universal Tonearm Manual | Vinyl Engine

It's a beautiful design that still today fulfill cartridge compliance needs. It's unique to Technics.

R.

@wrm57 ,

I tried to warn you about that. Read my first post. The Technics is a well made battle ship but it is defective in a number of respects. It's vertical bearing is above record level leading to increased warp wow, it is a stable balance arm and the best arms are neutral balance. Neutral balance arms do not change VTF with elevation. It has two sets of unnecessary contacts, one at the head shell and another at the output side of the arm. The best arms have a single wire cartridge clip to RCA or XLR. "S" shaped arms add unnecessary mass and inertia to an arm, straight wands only! The less inertia the better the arm tracks. 

@lewm , are your eyes so bad you can't set VTA? I can get it to 93 degrees with a 3 X 5 file card with a 93 degree angle drawn on it and a hand held magnifier. VTA towers are an additional device with potential laxity interfering with the rigid connection between the arm and the platter. Without that connection any resonance in the arm is reflected right back to the cartridge. 

@rauliruegas, thank you for the detailed post with the suggestion for servicing. I had read that TNT review already and noted the specialist in Germany. I have reached out to him via email for more info. It appears that he uses stainless steel bearings for replacements, which, along with ceramic bearings, you don’t like. Is this because alternatives dramatically change the sound? Not sure there are options are out there for restoring the EPA-100 with ruby bearings.

@mijostyn, you are such a thorough-going tonearm Platonist, eyes (and ears) fixed on the ideal! But as you suggested in the Lofgren B discussion in another thread, these ideal characteristics perhaps make no discernible difference in listening beyond the psychological. I’m really not so concerned about the neutral v static balance issue. It comes into practical play primarily with warps. I flatten all warps with an Orb. And I like being able to swap in headshells and cartridges easily on some of my arms, and even phono cables, so I’m willing to accept the heresies that come with this convenience. I’ve had arms with captive cables that I’ve liked less.

@wrm57 

These issues are not theory. They all contribute to the performance of the arm. Whether or not you can hear the difference, frankly, means nothing. With any one issue you may not be able to discern a difference, but put them all together and you are more likely to hear a difference or not. Some people's hearing is more influenced by what they see then sound waves in air. 

I can not play with or listen to every tonearm on planet earth. So, I have to pick and choose based on the arm's design and reputation. I am more likely to get an arm that works well by paying attention to design principles.  

@mijostyn, I hear you, I really do. And I admire the rigor of your approach, and largely agree with—and benefit from—your conclusions. So keep ‘em coming!