To Raven One owners.....

The Phantom is a $4400.00 decision if you want new and your going to wait for one.

Then you have to mount a decent cartidge on it,you will quickly equal the price of a Raven One alone.

On top of this you have a phono cable to connect from your Phantom to your phonostage.

Don't compromise at this stage.

My top choice of a phono wire is the Nordost Tyr at $1,100 new.

I just want to point out, the overall price is getting up there.

Even a second hand Phantom and phono wire could easily go over ones budget.

I'm sure Thomas Woschnick of Raven choose the Vivid arm for VERY specific reasons.

Go to HighWaterSound.com for the Vivid reveiw and others.

There are more reveiws on the way shortly in major magazines of the Raven One and AC models.

Hopefully Roy Gregory and staff of Hi-Fi + magazine is one of them.

Cheers guy's

I would speak to Jeffrey from Highwater. He's a great person to deal with and definitely not a high pressure kind of sales person. He'll be best positioned to give you answers relating to arms and what compromises you'll be making.

I originally bought my AC with an Ortofon AS-309s arm as a way of saving money with the knowledge that I'd be adding a Phantom down the road. Jeffrey recommended the Ortofon as an arm that "just" played music really well, (he's right).

We'll down the road came much quicker than I thought when a local dealer took my old table on trade towards a new Phantom. So other than cart's my analogue front end is done.

I would suggest if you can, start with an arm you would want to keep as a second arm and if you have the itch to upgrade down the road you can add a second arm to the Raven One if you want.

Either way, if as people say, the Raven One is a good percentage of the AC, jump on it as you'll not regret it. Best of luck.

You would be best served to call Jeff at High Water Sound if you are located in North America. He is extremely helpful and knowledgeable. 212.608.8841 FWIW, I started with a Vivid arm as well and my Graham is on its way a year later. I would say the Vivid is not the best arm but it's also not a throw away either.

Thanks to all who posted and expressed your experiences. It is greatly appreciated. I talked to Jeffrey and he is not aware of any Raven owners in either Wisconsin or the Chicago area. We are currently in the midst of a home remodel project that should be completed early summer. My hope is to take a trip out to see Jeff and hear the Raven first hand. It will be hard for me to wait so long, but I think it will be worth it.

I spoke to Thomas at the recent London show, he was very helpful. His arm is well into it's design, he plans it to be very flexible, VTA adjustment on the fligh etc. However it will be more than the Phantom, not finalised, but 5000 to 6000 euro, but not definite yet. Too much for me, but he again said how much he likes the Ortofon, 9 or 12" arm on the one. He thinks it may be ready and presented at RMAF this Autumn