Any feedback on the Graham Phantom

Hello Bob Graham: I hope you will be making your cartridge spacer available independently of your tonearms to vinylphiles everywhere! I know myself and several others are always seeking a source for these, especially Rega/variant users. Why not?

Hi Frank, maybe we'll get together for currywurst (or Thai curry) and beer next time I'm in Berlin (and maybe I can see one of those fabulous tonearms in the flesh). Lovely city, love the national library, but could you please arrange to remove the Starbucks from within sight of the Brandenburg Gate?! Saw the Berlin philharmonic, terrific experience.

Dear sirspeedy,
Thanks for your response. From time to time it seems that, whatever one tries to accomodate the often well founded requests/demands of (potential) customers, one just can´t win. Actually it is quite healthy to accept early on in the game that you can´t turn every LP lover into a customer. But this pond is large enough to feed all the fish in it and I am certain that almost everyone in the business of turntable/arm/cartridge making is trying hard to give the audience a chance to listen to their babies. When purchasing a 10000$table, 5000$ arm and equally expensive cart, what is spending 200$ for a planeticket and an additional 100$ for a hotelroom? A good investment.
Come to Denver and I deduct the above amount should you decide to buy an arm. Still there is no substitute for an in-home audition, with your system and no pressure to hear all the other rooms too before the show is over... I´m just a little bit too far from where you are to offer that service :-)
Keep up the passion and keep it fun too,

Frank

P.S.: I also believe there will be one or more Graham Phantoms demoed at the RMAF, an equally good reason to come.

It's nice to get feedback from two highly respected designer/manufacturers. Especially since a tonearm will be my next major analog purchase, one I don't want to have to do ever again.

Frank,

Well, if you are going to be cuting deals at the RMAF, I'm in! I'll see you there. I stopped looking at other arms aside from the Phantom after getting some feedback from Lugnut, Doug and Cello. I tried again to make it to listen, but since I could not, at least those are some ears I trust.

Bob,

The Phantom is still in the hunt, but a cocobolo wand should top off my cocobolo Teres very nicely. At least I should be able to listen to both @ RMAF.

This is going to prove to be a tough decision, as everything I've heard about both arms has been positive. I do know that it will be either the Phantom or a Schroder. I feel either one will fall into the final purchase category, since I have no patience for a butt-ugly linear arm. For me aesthetics is just as important as the sound. And both arms are very fine looking indeed.

Now if Raul would just say one of them sucks, I'd know which way to go.

Hi John,
Lots of Thai, Vietnamese and excellent Chinese restaurants in my neighborhood(and no Starbucks nearby...)! Drop me a mail again when that next trip is in sight. I´ll be glad to further extend your appreciation of my hometown :-)

Cheerio,

Frank

Frank,you forgot to take ROUND TRIP into consideration.Let alone the cost to me,or anyone else taking time off.In my case,from my business.Take that all into account and you'd be giving your arm away if you were so nice as to discount expenses.The offer,I'm sure, was meant in a good spirit,and appreciated,but the "little woman" at home would make me pay DEARLY.I guess I'll have to live with what I currently own,for a while longer.

Anyway,as you pointed out,and what any well heeled audiobuff already knows,something like a tonearm "SHOULD" be judged in one's own set-up,unless you are intimately familiar with the NEW system at hand.My complaint about the loss of good dealers,revisited.

I do want to thank you and Bob Graham for your fascinating(to me)responses.I'm impressed,and kind of surprised that in a HOBBY-RELATED site,the dialog could be such that they could garnish responses from proven designers like you two.Sort of humbles me,a bit,about keeping my mouth shut(although I have been at this 37 yrs)and am still free to express opinions "Learned" from owning said products.

At the very least,I'm really getting paranoid about my propensity for excessive word count!!Anyway,it is now SPRINGTIME here in New Jersey,and I'll be out practicing my first love,TENNIS,so I doubt if I'll be boring anyone in the near future,unless I decide to analyse new tennis racket technology should my backhand go astray!!Anyone know of any good tennis websites?Good luck to all!!