anyone gone from the Graham 2.2 to vecteur arm ?

I did exactly this about a month ago. TT is a Debut vacuum. Cart is a Benz Ruby 2.

With the Graham, I found myself constantly futzing around with all the adjustments, mostly due to sibilance that I could not eliminate by changing cartridge alignment, VTA, VTF, azimuth, etc. The first thing I noticed after changing to the Vector was that the dreaded sibilance had disappeared. Moreover, there was a significant improvement in overall resolution. I have to assume that along with sibilance, the Graham was producing (or allowing) other distortions which were obscuring what was actually in the grooves. Speaking of grooves, the Vector (with Benz Ruby 2) produces NO groove noise. To call dynamics 'explosive' would imply distortion, so suffice it to say that things now get louder and faster without any breakup. I was skeptical about the idea of "no mistracking" and "reduces record wear" but am now a true believer. It is liberating to be comfortable playing valuable/rare LP's without worrying about degrading the vinyl with every play.

Overall, the Debut/Vector combo seems to take the record itself out of the equation, letting the stylus trace the groove as perfectly as I have experienced. Many times there is no perception of hearing the vinyl record itself, only the music contained therein. Because of this, I no longer feel the need to keep 'tweaking' and can just enjoy. Yes, the Graham was more easy to adjust, but after a while the adjusting just became frustrating. I have only readjusted VTA once, and have left it alone since. Folks with non-vacuum turntables who fiddle ceaselessly with VTA adjustments are probably chasing their tails (IMHO) as no LP is truly flat, causing VTA to change constantly.

I am still puzzled by the lack of publicity this arm receives. I would postulate that if Basis were a one-trick-pony and just made Vectors, there would be just as much (if not more) buzz about the Vector as there is regarding the Graham, Schroeder, etc. Hopefully more people without Basis tables will get to try the arm on their tables too.

In my case, I do not feel that I jumped for the 'flavor of the month.' The Vector has been out a while, in fact.
I would not have guessed that my complaint of sibilance with the Graham would have caused so much sand in people's panties. In MY experience, I could not get the Graham to make music the way I wanted to hear it. Many records were unlistenable due to mistracking. I struggled with this for over a year before I reluctantly traded in the Graham towards the Vector. My conclusion (as nothing else changed in the system) is that the Graham was the culprit.
If others love the arm, cool; maybe just works in your system (or is the Graham compensating for deficiencies in YOUR setup?. Just didn't work for me.

First off, there was no dust on the cantilever. I am religious about stylus cleaning.
And yes, I tortured myself with the damping fluid issue to no avail. One could argue that the need to be so precise with damping fluid indicates a design flaw (I'm ducking while writing this). Ironically, the Speakers Corner Coltrane/Hartman was one of the LP's that had annoying sibilance with Graham but none with the Vector. I have focused on this issue (as it was the one that bothered me the most) but would say that the Vector has been an overall improvement, making great Lp's greater and making previously bad-sounding Lp's sound much better.

I do find it annoying that components are constatnly "upgraded." However, if one respects the designer of a component, they should at least consider that the new product is an improvement. Does anyone really debate whether the 2.2 is an improvement over the 1.5? I have seen the 2.2 criticized long before the Phantom was even being developed, so not all of the criticism is new or related directly to the availability of a newer product. If one believes in the design of a product and designer himself feels that the new product is better, it may not be all hype.

When I spoke with AJ Conti, he told me that the Vector was one of his crowning achievements. As I am completely satisfied with the Debut TT, I decided to trust him on this issue and am completely satisfied with the arm. Incidentally, I have sent an unsolicited copy of my initial posting to AJ to include on his website.

My initial response was not intended to trash a particular product; the initial post asked for feedback from people who switched from the 2.2 to the Vector, and I feel that I have duly answered the question.