SME V, Tri-Planar or Phantom B-44


To be mounted on a Raven AC (only one arm) what is your system or choice. No way will I get a chance to listen to any of these where I live (France). So would like any of you here to feed opinions.

My system is :

Raven AC
Nagra VPS
Nagra PL-L
Nat Audio SE1 (SET 211 tube)
Wilson Audio WP 5.1

I would be using a Lyra Argo i

Thanks
Tim
timnaim
I had a brief chat with Bob Graham and asked what where the changes coming and he said the main thing was the Ti arm tube because of to many people complaining the ceramic tubes were to fragile to many broken tubes apparently. New wire inside and the bearing pilar assembly. He said 80$ of the change is the arm tube going to Ti. He said the differences are subtle.
The "magnaglide" is also improved...Let's face it,Graham has a great track record with update improvements!!
Well many thanks for all these comments that with others have helped in the choice.

Going for the Graham Phantom latest version and like always cannot wait!

I have to admit that the deciding factor was the arm board itself; the one I have is for the Graham standard. For the Tri-Planar I had to order and that can be a long wait with TW acoustic.

I had the opportunity to talk with Bob Graham who was very helpful with his explanations. He commented that he is working on an upgrade that will be available for the Phantom's. So I guess we will have to stay tuned...

Tim
As an aside, for those of us with kids in college, looking for a slightly cheaper option, Thomas at TW likes the Ortofon arms. I had a 309D long 12" arm put on my Raven one this week and it sounds fabulous. I am sure not in the same league as the SME Wheaton or Phantom, but still worth a thought. It seems to have a good synergy with TW