SME V, Tri-Planar or Phantom B-44

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

David,

I have compared them side by side and with the same cartridge. The Ortofon is a "steal" at the price. I bet most people will be hard pressed to hear the difference. I is audible but you need to pay attention to hear it. A great tonearm.

I find the SME V to be very neutral with rock solid imaging. If you use a dry cartridge the sound will be dry etc. Try the very musical Dynavector DRT Xv1s. Use as little damping as possible none if you can get away with it. More damping equals a damped, lifeless sound. Setup skill is a signifcant factor.

We compared B-44, DV507/2, Schröder Reference and DaVinci Grand Reference on Raven AC of a friend of mine. Cartridge was Zyx Airy-3; Klyne 7 Pre and phono. He decided buying the DaVinci (i also own); second also in my opinion was B44. I've compared SMEV, Tri VII and Graham 1.5ct on my Clearaudio tt. Imho SME is not playing in same league like other ones. For sure 1.5 is not Phantom the Graham can compete against Tri. So after all I would advice the B44 or DaVinci for the Raven as well.

Bye,
Marco

I have compared a ZYX universe on the Schroder to a SME V and an Ikeda. I didn't try it on my Phantom. But... the ZYX performed its best to my ears on the Schroder. But I had to use the optional brass weight on my Schroder to increase the mass to have an good match w. the ZYX. Most Schroder owners don't own the brass mounting plate, just the aluminum one. The SME V performed very well but teh Schroder was far superior.

Now for my Titan I. Which is a Lyra. I used it with incredible results on my Phantom. By certain measures it is one of the best cartridge / tonearm combinations. There was no need to try it on the Schroder as the Phantom match was incredible. I then decided to give it a try just to "learn" a little more. The Titan I / Schroder combination is a must hear IMO. For me now, the Phantom is a normal arm. The Schroder is a special arm. The Titan I with the Schroder w. the Aluminum mounting plate sounded very poor again. Only after using the brass mounting plate did it come into its own. The description of the differences between the Phantom & the Schroder in relation to the Titan I include increased sense of space, detail and 3 dimensionality. This also includes more resolution of highs and a wonderful sense of body. It is a special combination. Areas of weakness are a slight loss of definition in the bass in comparison to the Phantom. The Phantom is truly a great arm, receiving an A or A-. With the Phantom I am using Tara Zero phono cable. The Schroder is a special arm that would be graded an A++ to my ears and has a single run of cable from cartridge to phono stage.

It is important to know how to setup a tonearm a use it over a period of time. A short test will not be an accurate measure of how the cartridge will sound. The Schroder takes patience & time to fine tune. Several hours. You need to live with it to get to know its sound. Not do a quick a/b test to know what is better. It is the same w. the Phantom which can be easily tuned with damping fluid over time to obtain the correct or preferred sound.