Graham Phantom or Morch DP6 ?

I don't think of the Phantom as a pure unipivot either because it is stabilized with the “Magneglide” system.

FWIW, I have a Phantom II and don't find it lacking in bass. I did think the 2.2, which is a pure unipivot, had bass issues. Its bass always sounded a little dissociated from the rest of the music in my system. I was able to minimize the issue with super-fine adjustments to the damping fluid but I could never get rid of it entirely. I don't find the Phantom II to have that problem at all.

Never heard the DP-6, and it may well have better bass yet. Personally, I couldn't live without fine VTA adjustment, but that's just me. Were I looking at Moerch, I'd be tempted by the DP-8, which is reputed to have fantastic bass and also has fine VTA. Way pricier than the DP-6, though. I think it's a very tempting arm.

I owned a DP-6 with 12" arm for several years and liked it very much. I eventually replaced it with a Triplanar VII.2 which I also like very much. If I were in the market now, I would try to get the DP-8. By each account I've seen, it sounds even better than the DP-6 so I suspect it's a real winner. One thing that Moerch offers that few other companies do is the flexibility of swapping arm wands of different mass so you can effectively optimize your arm for a particular cartridge without having to get a new arm.

Salectric, DP8 is very expensive, I am in the $2k range where at the max I can expect/aim to buy one of these four arms

1. Graham Phantom (used)
2. Moerch DP6 (new/used)
3. Naim ARO
4. Rega RB1000

I have heard the Rega on a Rega P9 TT and liked it a lot. I have heard the Moerch on a Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace and thought and generally thought it was very dynamic. The ARO and Graham are on my shortlist purely because of their reputation.

Pani,

I understand about the 2K budget, and of course that doesn't allow the DP-8 as an option. Within your budget, I would choose the DP-6 preferably with 12" wand. Although I've never used a Graham in my system, there are three reasons I never gave any Graham models serious consideration: (1) reputation for being somewhat light in the bass, (2) reputation for not holding up well over years of use (mainly cosmetic issues I believe), and (3) too frequent changes in models. I can't say for sure if #1 or #2 is correct or still applies to current Graham models. The frequent updates to Grahams is a fact but may not bother the buyer of a used arm.

In contrast, Moerchs are very neutral sounding, very reliable and the models stay in the line for many years. They also retain their value on the used market.

If you are thinking about buying the Moerch DP-6 new, why not contact Mehran at Sorasound? I believe he carries both Graham and Moerch. I didn't recommend this earlier since it isn't fair for dealers and importers to spend their valuable time with someone who wants to buy used and will spend their money elsewhere.