Tri-planar vs Graham

Dan and Doug,

Thank you each for your clear explanations. I think I understand what you're talking about now. I have not really identified the importance of harmonics as such in my set of sonic priorites (I just listened to the piano hammer-strikes and decays and overal tone), but you both (and Paul) have me interested now in recognizing specific sonic attributes and learning the vocabulary. I like Salvatore's term "individuation" and I have glimpsed what he means since I upgraded my cartridge and preamp, especially when listening to grouped voices on classical recordings, but also to my recent favorite LP, Muddy Water's "Folk Singer". Incredible Blues guitar and mood. Always something to learn and enjoy.

I appologize to Ian for having highjacked his thread about arm choices. Sorry Ian.

Peter

Harpsichord, smarpsichord. :-0 Actually, I just don't know what one is supposed to sound like. I see many live, rock and some jazz, shows a year. I know what that sounds like in good venues and in not so good venues. In all cases it is reality in modern music. Nothing but amps and PA systems in between. I'm getting very close to that sound, the in your face dynamics, clarity, detailed and integrated all at the same time. I have heard "my kind" of music on Doug and Paul's system several times and it just does not move me. However, for the music that is more in their preferred genre their system does move me. That is just what I hear coming from my perspective on how I want to reproduce music. And, the only real difference in our systems is the speakers. We just prefer a little different blend of spices, so to speak.

I hope I am not coming off as taking pot shots at Pass, and I do think that Peter's system sounds very good. There is no doubt in my mind about the distinct sound of high-end SS, but beyond that I just haven't listened to his system long enough to offer anything more. Hey, I love my Classe SS amp and Aerial 10t's in the theater. It is just a different way to make sound. There is no doubt about the bass handling capability of a quality, big SS amp. I'm not as sensitive to many things, and it usually takes me some listening time to figure out what I'm hearing. I would like to hear Peter's system again someday to get a better appreciation for what it sounds like to me. I'm sure I never felt the need to stop listening in the time I was there. But as Doug can attest to, I can tolerate some awful, awful sounding things while I'm figuring things out. :-)

The more I think about this load mismatch I tend to agree that this was the cause of all things sounding bad with the Alaap/Pass combo. I mean, that is a pretty bad load mismatch and I would expect that causes reflections in the interconnect cables, and that could sound like what Ian described that he heard. I agree with Peter that I don't think we heard that at his house, but it wasn't pretty. Difference in speaker, perhaps? It would be interesting to me to hear that sound again so I could try to dissect the sound, but I would not subject anyone to that kind of torture. ;-)

I do want to say that this kind of mismatch with a walk-in component has happened several times now with a certain dealer up in this area we know. Not surprisingly, things always sound bad unless all of the gear is something they sell. That is just my personal observation. FWIW.

Well, I guess we've gone way off topic. I used to own a 2.2 before I moved on to the Triplanar. I've heard many good things about the improvements in the Phantom. I hope I get to hear a properly setup Phantom some day.

So, my friends, also me I'm considering if it would be an audible improvement in moving towards one of these two tonearms.
So I ask to your experience which one I can choose?
Please consider that I live in Italy and I can't try them in advance (and I want to purchase one in the used market).
The cartridge is actually a ZYX Airy3 Gold, now it's running on a completely refurbished and rewired Syrinx PU3 on a Scheu Premier MKIII turntable, superb in every way but I suspect that a much modern design may be better.
I do have another tonearm on same turntable, but it's conceived for a much more (vintage) relaxed sound (Fidelity R. FR64S with Kiseki Agaat or Koetsu Red).
I'll wait for your suggestions!
best
Marco

Welcome to A'gon, Marco. Even though I have not heard a Phantom I still feel comfortable saying that you can easily flip a coin, or just get either one that happens to be available at any given time on the used market.

The only issue I can think of is to make sure that you have a mounting option that can handle the tonearm wires coming down through a hole, as is the case with the Phantom, and then mating through a DIN connector. The Triplanar tonearm wires are continuous and don't pass through the armboard or plinth.

The cartridge is actually a ZYX Airy3 Gold...

Your Zyx cartridge is a very good match with the Triplanar.