Phantom B44 vs The SME V Tone Arm

The SME V should be purchsed with (or upgraded to) the MCS 150 internal silver wiring for a valid comparison with the Graham Phantom. Both should be used with a quality phono cable rather than the pitiful stock phono cable which comes with the SME V arm. Be careful - the 30/2, when used with the SME V, requires a special orientation of the phono cable DIN plug to fit well inside the arm mount. The DIN plug orientation of SME arms is 180 degrees opposite that of Graham arms.
The V, a gimbal bearing arm, excels with the 30/2, delivering especially good bass. The Graham, a unipivot design, has the advantages of easy adjustability and quick change of cartridges(with arm wands).
IF you buy an extra tonearm mount for the 30/2, you can have your cake and eat it, switching quickly from one arm to the other, the best of both worlds. For a table of the caliber of the 30/2, you should have both.

Pcosta,

I never changed my internal cable but I did change the external cable. I used Harmonic Technology Crystal Silver Phono cables. It was a night & day difference. As they say, veils were lifted. Treble became very extended and bass solidified. The tuby bass was reduced. The internal cable within the arm is similar to the external cable so the "cable bottleneck" is still there. I can only imagine how much better it would be after the internal wire is upgraded.

The big advantage of a gimbaled arm is the stability of the cartridge. Cartridge life will be extended compared to most unipivots.

For me the choice would be simple.
Of these two, only the Graham gives you the full adjustability that a top quality cartridge demands. The SME-V assumes that the cartridge/cantilever/stylus is perfectly aligned....unfortunately this is rarely the case. The Graham jig allows proper alignment using the cantilever as a reference - not the cartridge body.
The SME-V doesn't offer proper VTA-on-the-fly adjustment (nor calibration), nor any azimuth adjustment.

I owned the SME-V 15yrs ago and made the switch to the Graham 1.5T - never regreted that move for a second. I far prefer the sound of the 1.5T to V on my TNT. Choosing between the new Phantom and the SME-V is an absolute no-brainer IMO.

The Phantom simply is in a total different Hemisphere. In EVERY Area.

I'd give a call to Brooks Berdan (Brooks Berdan LTD) in Monrovia, Ca. Brooks is a well known analog guy who made a name modifyng Oracle 'tables until Oracle decided to update the 'table and incorporate the Berdan mods into stock units. He sells both arms.

FWIW, he's mentioned to me on a couple of occasions that he's not crazy about SME arms, but that they seem to work very well on SME tables. BTW, he likes the Graham a lot, but I believe he prefers the Triplanar to either the Graham or the SME.