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Graham Phantom mk II & JA Michelle ORBE se help

I purchased a new Phantom with SME mounting for my ORBE se. According to Bob Graham's ad slick, its a drop in replacement. Not so. The geometry doesn't work. Using the orbe tone arm board cut for a sme mount, the set up is not acceptable. Then when playing a lp, the counterweight hits the vta column and the last groove will not play to the end. It's also not possible to use Graham's set up procedure due to the position of the arm relative to the spindle. JA Michelle doesn't have a new armboard for a Graham with SME footprint. Only the new Graham mounting. Not to mention the extra weight. This is very frustrating. Any easy solutions other than to recut the arm board, and try to shave some weight off of it. Had I ordered the Graham with the Graham mount, and purchased a new arm board, all would be ok, but again, the ad slick said it was a drop in replacement.
jimi_p

Showing 1 response by john_gordon

john_gordon
116 posts
 
The SME V has the base facing slightly towards the turntable spindle. The older
traditional SME arms had the base facing more directly at the spindle. Some
arms with SME bases can accommodate being mounted with the base facing the
front of the deck (as can SME arms with a reduction in range of adjustment of
overhang on the base slide).
I would imagine that the Graham SME mount is like that for a SME V. I know the
old standard J. Michell SME base can be rotated by 120 degrees to point forwards
or at the spindle. The illustrations above look like the traditional SME arm board.
Perhaps the SME board for the Phantom is like that for the SME V, except with a
different weight. Have a look at pics of Gyros with SME V. Hope that helps.

John
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