Graham Phantom vs Triplaner

Hey Doug, Dan and Raul

Yes it has been a long time. I hope all is well with you. You're right I have mostly been happy listening and work has been real busy plus just got done with a book! I have been reading the gon and its good to see some new faces and die-hards.i cant remember the last time I listened to my cd player! I plan to participate more.

Yeah, the vtf issue is probably not fair because it's probably due to me not tightening the hex on the back weight. My guess is the tygon tubing expands and contracts slightly due to small temp shifts and changes the vtf ever so slightly. I can hear the difference between 1.85 and 1.78!

Anyway, the triplanar is an excellent arm and i am not trying to debunk it. As Raul mentions, as well as many others, the Orpheus may just be a better match in the phantom. I figured this could be a tricky post! I have no stake in the matter and just tried to describe it the way I heard it. I'm still keeping the Triplanar and will look for a good match possibly with a mono cart to try that domain. I cant bring myself to let it go. It was my first arm and a part of my love affair with vinyl.

Regarding phono cable im using the silver breeze.

Let me know if any of you are passing through Atlanta. You're welcome to come by. May be a little too warm for a single malt but perfect for a mint julip!

Cheers

Andrew

Nothing drifty here.

Excepting the proprietor.

Dealer disclaimer.

Hey audiofeil, thats funny. You're a real joker:). Which audio shop do you represent?

By the way, for Triplanar owners, spend the 50 bucks for the micro VTF adjustment knob that is now standard if you havent already. This can simplify setting VTF.

The reason I hardly ever tightened the back weight is that the vtf would change slightly after tightening. This required a few times to get vtf exactly where you want it.

With the micro adjust,you can tighten down the back weight and then make any minor adjustments using the nicro adjust nut/screw to be where you need to. Nice feature added to the u2 and easilly retrofittable.

Some think, that the Triplanar is still in the same class than the Phantom. Friends, totally wrong.
The Triplanar VII had a chance compared to the Graham 2.0 series, but mainly based on its simple Handling (and it was better than a Schroeder).
When the Phantom replaced the 2.0 a new chapter opened. Bob was able to improve his own - successful - Design, Tri-Mai is not able to do that.
Now with Phantom II it is from dynamic Range and from the true reproduction of colors (mainly on records pre 1990) a different Galaxy and works with much more cartridges at a superior level (the VII is great with Zyx for example but not with Lyra, Koetsu etc.).
Discussions about both Arms in one sentence should be stopped, they have nothing in common anymore.
Except the price, Phantom is way too cheap, when Triplanar is worth the money.

And the verbal floggings will continue until tonearm morale improves around here. :-)

Perhaps when one of you early adapters gets tired of your P2, or the economy bubbles again (ha-ha-ha!), more of us will get a chance at owning one. I would, however, be more interested if there was an option to not have the stem on the bottom and cut down on the number of connections. As good as it may well be, I can't help but feel continuous runs would sound even better. I'm more drawn to the Da Vinci arms at this point, but I haven't heard one of those either.