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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
gundam91
506 posts
 
Hi Jimi,

Let me see if I got this correct. You purchased the Phantom arm and reqeusted Bob to send you one with an SME base so that it would fit into an existing SME armboard?

According to Bob, it was supposed to work, but you are finding out that it doesn't. Correct?

I would send Bob an e-mail letting him know. I am sure he will take care of you. My suggestion would be to get it refitted with a Graham base, and spend the money for a Graham armboard.

FrankC
audiodany
3 posts
 
Hi Jimi
I've had a similar problem coupling my Graham 2.2 (it has a very similar VTA system)with an Orbe armboard ,the graham type holes, not the SME type.Unfortunately Michell send me an armboard with a wrong front mark. Armboard is fixed by three screws so I've rotate it until reach a position where the arm works well. No problems at the end but......a lot of sweat!
zargon's avatar
zargon
453 posts
 
I had a similar situation when upgrading from the Graham 2.2 to the Graham Phantom using the Graham mount. Like your case, the counter weight hit the VTA post when trying to set the arm to spindle distance. I backed off the counter weight to avoid the post and get this distance set correctly. However, unlike you, I am still able to play all of the groves with the counter weight reset for proper VTF. I still plan to redrill the arm board at some point to get the arm properly oriented.

I am posting this to alert others contemplating a Phantom upgrade, that this situation can occur with the Graham mount as well. Do not let this disuade you from the purchase, just be aware.
jimi_p OP
6 posts
 
Thanks for the advice. I see I'm not alone. Mr. Graham should mention that with a slight modification the SME would be a drop in replacement. I've had a Graham 1.5t for 17 years on my SOTA Star Saphire and now on a JA Michelle ORBE II se. I un mounted the arm, positioned it using the Graham arm wand and alignment spindle adapter. Marked and redrilled the arm board. It was not difficult, just a pita. I wanted the SME mount because its more universal and the (to and fro) movement of the entire unit helps to get the precise position for a spot on alignment.

Now the good news. One of the most significant upgrades I've ever made. WOW.

Frank C: I considered that, but, I'm not sure it could be refitted. My dealer would have to get involved and I really like the SME mount for the reasons stated above.
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