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Graham Phantom Anti-Skate. Is it effective at all?

I've had my Phantom Supreme over a year now, and for the most part it's been a pleasure. Beautiful build & sound; awesome VTA and azimuth adjustments. My main hangup had been the headshell; getting a Koetsu to sit flat on the 10" wand seemed impossible because the correct overhang pushed it all the way to the back, behind the main headshell points of contact. Finally I just used 2 plastic washers as shims to get a nice flat mount.

Now my main concern is the anti-skate. I'm not sure if all Phantoms are this way or if it's an issue with my unit. I can't seem to get an effective amount of anti-skate. My preferred method for adjusting anti-skate is to drop the needle in some dead-wax before the label (NOT into a lead-out groove) and adjust so that the stylus creeps *slowly* inwards. With my Graham, I cannot achieve that...it always moves quickly inwards no matter how far out I set the weight. Even physically pushing down on the weight doesn't seem to have much effect in swinging the arm. To me, this seems like the mechanism is not effective, as if I'm running without any compensation. This is very unlike my experiences with a Fidelity Research FR64fx (weight and fishing line) and Clearaudio Magnify (magnetic) -- both have a very noticeably effective anti-skate mechanism, which I can easily dial-in as described above. In fact I just setup a Magnify...it was great!

On my Graham, the pulley & rope system seems to be correctly in place. But without a 2nd until to examine, I can't determine whether this is normal. Could other owners/users of Graham please comment on their experiences with its anti-skate? The situation is OK for now -- I burn hours on my good cartridges very slowly and sparingly -- but I'd rather not have my nice cartridge seeing asymmetric wear over the long-run.

-- Mike
128x128mulveling
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Syntax and Rockitman,

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It seems that some Graham armwands may be angled differently than others. That is useful information... caveat emptor.

That said, having these different experiences hardly justifies personal invective. As you're posting publically I presume you're hoping to sway opinions. Indulging in insults will do that, but perhaps not in your favor. Please stop.
rockitman's avatar
rockitman
417 posts
 
Yes, I wish I could edit the thread. I agree, insults accomplish nothing. There is no hit and miss regarding these arm wands. The older arm wands with the elliptical headshell could very well be the same angle wise on the 10 & 12's. I have no experience with them. The newer "Supreme" arm wands do not. I should know...I have 3-10" and 2-12" supreme wands. Syntax has none.
mulveling's avatar
mulveling OP
1,928 posts
 
Thanks to all who have contributed information thus far. I'm sorry things got a
little heated in a particular subthread-- to those participants, I respect both of
you and appreciate the posts/contributions you've each made to the various
online audio forums.

I do have a Supreme II model, so hopefully my alignment from the headshell jig
is not too far off -- though there is some wiggle room on that jig, which
accounts for a margin of error on its own. A Mint protractor is looking pretty
good right about now...
rockitman's avatar
rockitman
417 posts
 
I have a mint LP for my graham supreme 10". After using it exclusively for 6 months, I went back to the Graham jig. Records sound better with the jig. The issue with mint is that the pivot to spindle distance is different than what should be used with the Graham jig. You can't use the spindle cup with the armwand cart un mounted(graham technique).. You have to get something like a fiekert with the nail jig and that nail must go inside the pivot housing. There is error there too. Stick with the Graham setup and you will be better off.
downunder
1,329 posts
 
I believe he fundamental difference between the Mint lp and the Graham jig is the alignment curves are different.
The Graham is his own and does not conform to the standard B,S or L alignments.

much like the VPI jig, the designer knows what they are doing the their jigs sound better imo.
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