Graham Phantom vs. Phantom II

What make Syntax' comments more worthwhile and valuable than most (.... not all...) others?

First he has absolutely no financial interests in promoting either component and has tried most in discussion here in his home system.
Furthermore - as I do know him quite well and will visit him again tomorrow - he tries to make as little compromise as possible and does judge any component (and through his hands and system went a hell of a lot of components with really serious price tags the past years...) by its performance only and not by hype, fellowship or price tag.

Honestly - this alone is rarely seen.

Add to this an open mind which includes and shows some affection for logical chains, conclusions and enough stamina to make a stand against any crowd.

On the negative side he has quite a vein for teasing lesser minds and making harsh statements.
And he has some friends around which are even worse .......... one being me.

But then - no one of us is really perfect..........

BTW - Syntax is certainly no Troll. I have seen 2 Trolls in 1986 in the very northern part of Finlandia (close to Kilpisjärvi - permafrost area). They do behave different....

Maybe it would be a bit smarter to take some of Syntax's comments more serious and not seeing an instant insult in any of his posts.
He is much more serious than most of you imagine.

In general (.... I like this phrase...) a good TT should indeed be a good TT independent of the particular tonearm mounted.
In other words - the TT has to spin the record and should provide a stable base for the tonearm to be mounted.
If a TT designer chooses to built his entire design on a theoretical base which sees from the start problems with certain tonearm bearings, it is of course his choice.
I for one believe in designs, which are independent in their display of quality from certain design features of associated components which - first in line - do not have anything to do with the pure physical function of the TT itself.
There are similar demands in many respects to a high-class TT and the base of an electron microscope - both do deal with an isolation from outside vibration and both do need to supply most stable and continuos foundation for the performance of components mounted on them (cart/tonearm on one and electron-microscope on the other).
Yes, I know - the base of the microscope doesn't revolve with 33 1/3 rpm.....
Anyway - I guess this is a common place and something everyone (.... even if a general agreement might well be impossible in Audio society ...) can agree upon.
A TT trying to meet the pure mechanical demands resulting from the real world requirements to give the stylus the chance to extract each and every detail from the groove will always have some certain features.
It will be immensely heavy, suspended on below 1 hz frequency, sport a platter with relatively high mass (30 lbs ++) and thus can't come cheap.
Please note that I have not mentioned any bearing type or drive to be preferred.
These are pure mechanical requirements which do result direct out of the physical mass and the special behavior of the stylus and the record.

Back to the initial quest.
The Graham Phantom II is an extremely well designed tonearm.
While I am certainly not an admirer of unipivot tonearms, I have high regards for the Graham Phantom II.
An excellent basic design which features now many clever details which do further add to the excellent sonic performance and does so with a wide bandwidth of cartridges.

If I would today look for a new tonearm it would be one of my prime choices.

Dear Halcro, no.... a look in Syntax's line-up of past and present components does not tell the story. And it does not tell much about the veracity of his statements either.
He has a good hand in selling used components for insane prices and has an even better hand in getting to-die-for prices on very new units.
But - yes, he always wants to testify the toys in his own settings.
Thus he is giving little to nothing on 2nd hand experiences spread around widely.
He not even eats my advises and comments right away...... at least not always.
BTW - how's spring downunder ? We have a lousy autumn right now - cold, rainy, depressive - but great to switch on the music system !

We should try to take it not too serious. I dreamed about it, because I am sensitive and can't stand it when you don't love me anymore.I had a Dream,
there is Restaurant at the end of the universe.
But honestly, it is not a Restaurant, more a very unfriendly low pub, where only
fat, dark, bad smelling pieces of meat are served, with a glibber, awful looking sauce.

That's it. Nothing else. Always the same. Every Day.
And for drinking only warm Cherry Coke is available.
In this Restaurant at the end of the Universe all High Enders are taken prisoner, who
had a lot of sins in their regular life.

You will meet people, who rated the power of their amps once of more often in Horsepower, those who made a lot of money with cable- or
Rackvoodoo , those who hyped units which create Ear cancer when listening too long.
Or those who sold their inferior cheap made speakers to those unlucky enthusiasts who believed in reviews.

Btw. in that Restaurant you will find one or the other High End Journalist, too.

In this Restaurant you will hear day in, day out Chris de Burgh only, from Mini-Disc via a continuous
clipping Pre-/Amp combination linked to 6 way speakers with defect midrange chassis.
I had that dream last night and I have absolutely no idea what was real in that dream.

But I liked it very much.

I wonder who the Bouncer is at that place...