Schroder sq and the new talea

Asa, given the price you are going to pay for the Phantom 2, you simply can't loose. So I just would give it a try and take your chance for a direct first hand experience and comparison of the 2.0 and Phantom 2 on your table, with your cartridge and your set-up.
If it doesn't work out for you in your set-up, - just resell the Phantom 2 and put a few hundred $ in your pocket next to the gained experience and knowledge.
Whatever other people tell you about their experience is always a result of their preferences, their set-up, their individual reception, their taste in music AND sound. These are not transferable in any way and unless you do not know the other person really well and are familiar with their taste and set-up, their recommendations are for you just empty balloons.
Regards,
D.

Dear Asa, my post regarding your Graham issue should went through moderator approval too, but let me briefly address "Euro-centric" assumptions.
I still believe that the US of A and western Europe do share the same heir. We are both walking comfortable on the bones and thoughts which started off in hellenistic Greece and carried on through the ages into humanism and enlightenment. There is not so much difference. The difference is in the way it is judged and handled today - which reflects the respective society.

BTW - to my knowledge the Particle Accelerator is serviced right now and will be back in action this winter.

"Once all demands are identified the design will determine itself...it is the approach of an engineer."

Dertonarm, I don't think so. If it does then you should name your tonearm Athena-- born directly from the forehead of Zeus. Since an LP is far removed from a virgin uncut master and tracking is diametric from cutting, there is really little more than force of analogy to suggest that the engineering process will be self-determined by a complete understanding of the physics embedded in an LP. I see the engineering process in this instance more as a series of differential equations that are fitted to a problem and tested at boundary conditions. The solution is revealed through an iterative process.

The diversity that we see among tonearm designs stems largely from each designer's particular assumption about which variables are key determinants. An illustration is captured in the recent thread on 12" tonearms, in which a Bob Graham citation suggests that there is a necessary trade-off between the tracing advantage of a long arm and the disadvantage of increased wand resonance and mass. IIRC Graham conceded that the 12" Phantom option was driven mostly by market considerations. If your "blue book" can build a pivot arm without any such compromises then I will be at RMAF 2011 to celebrate.

Dear Dertonarm, If you assume that some qualitys are
essential (say the ratio by humans) and the other are accidental you can not say that being biped is not accidental. This was the point made by Quine. So probable you should admit that being biped is also essential.But this way we get many 'éssences' in the same object . This is how logic works: contradictory statements will not do.
So if you still want to be Aritotelian you need to find
some other way out.
Asa very interesting to know that sheeps are no objects.

Regards,

Dear Dgarretson, apparently my words were a bit misleading. I meant that it is not just the structure of the groove, but the tracking process ( which is a synergy of several mechanic-dynamic processes taking place simultaneously ) which determines the demand profile of a tonearm.
I think that the diversity in tonarm designs is to equal parts a result of each designers individual ideas, preferences in aesthetics and materials as well as different "blue books".
I don't say that one doesn't have to make any trade-offs in a tonearm design, but that is not the problem. The problem - IMHO ...;-) .. - is, that some relevant issues of the above mentioned tracking process aren't realized nor addressed. Because there is no strictly following the topic and objective ( and thus of universal validity ) blue book for the tonearm.
And - I would neither name the tonearm Athena nor Bruenhild ( both smart daughters of pretty simple minded fathers... ) - but it isn't mine to name it anyway, as I sold the design.