TW Acustic 10.5 and Graham Phantom Supreme II

Dgad, I also have a Dyna XV-1s. I've heard the that XV-1s anatomically is a poor choice for the TW10.5 as it and the headshell don't give the pins much room for proper alignment which in turn makes setting up the cart for proper alignment a problem.

I'm used to unipivots with my JMW 10.5i and the Dyna is a good match for it. I'm sure the Phantom and TW10.5 are in a different league though.

Phib7777, if it true that the XV-1s had a phyisical issue mounting on the 10.5 that is unfortunate. But as has already ben said I don't think you could go wrong either way.

I have not heard the Phantom.

But, I have the Raven AC and the 10.5 along with a Triplanar VII. The 10.5 is my arm of choice but as you know the cartdrge used can have a huge impact on what arm one likes.

The current setup is much better than the Aries 2 with 10.5 arm that I started out with. It also cost a lot more. But then at one point I added the SDS and the super platter that was available a couple years ago so it was not inexpensive.

The difference from my VPI rig and what I have now is significant. The speed controller and motor and table are just better. But both arms alow for a very fine degree of setup with the ZYX Universe cartdrige with is the big key for the best performance. Some carts are less fussy from what I have read but I would have hard time considering an arm with out easily repeatable fine settings.

I have a lot of fun with vinyl but it takes some effort. You have a very nice system and I think you will easily enjoy what ever upgrade you end up with. Good luck.

TD

TD, your system is excellent. I bet it is extremely musical. I love my XV-1s cart and really want an arm that will work well with it. I've just heard some experiences with the XV-1s and TW 10.5 arm that simply didn't allow room with the pins to allow proper stylus position (unable to slide cart back on head shell) due to lack of room with pins hitting arm tubing.

I'm encouraged though by your experience and upgrade path which would be similar to mine if I take that course. Thanks do much for sharing your info and experience.

The Cardas pins used are very long on the TW 10.5. I think it can be ordered with shorter pins. I have a big cartridge but no issue with the pins. But I know who does and understand why. I just bent the pins a touch but I would order with different pins. Mind you the long pins make it easy to swap cartridges in some ways

I have not heard Graham with TW Raven AC-1 but heard Raven 10.5 and went with Reed 3Q 12 inch instead. Both are excellent, Raven may be a bit more neutral, a bit less personality, does not seem to add and subtract anything much. However it does not match well with my Koetsu at all and in fact TW Acoustic seems to rather dislike Koetsu and discourage me from using Koetsu from email I received.
With Koetsu's spec, I guess medium mass arm is not going work very well anyhow. So I went with Reed arm with Cocobolo arm which works well with both of my cartridge, Air Tight and Koetsu. In comparison, the sound is a bit warmer, rounder, a touch smoother than Raven 10.5