Graham Phantom vs. Phantom II

R F Sayles

Avid make a specific armboard for the Naim ARO unipivot tonearm, so your comments about Mass not liking unipivots makes no sense.

He clearly does not like the Ghraham on his table. There could be two trains of thought about this.

- first is that Avid are UK company, so a lot easier and cheaper to use the excellent sounding UK made Naim ARO or SME V, whereas the Graham as it is imported would be quite a bit more money and supply not known.

- 2nd - The Avid is supposed to be a lively(bright in some language) sounding turntable and the Graham arms are not known for their warmth - so having the combo might indeed produce a lean not very enjoybale sound.
The Naim ARO and SME V are not so unforgiving.

As has been mentioned, there is no best of anything.

thoughts?

R F Sayles,
I guess the issue here goes back to synergy and especially between turntables & tonearms.

I like my Phantom tonearm, however I am not sure if I would like it as much on a leaner sounding table compared to what I have now. Personally I am not 100% sure if I would like the Phantom II on my table with the majority of music I prefer to listen to.

Mass/Avid are just taking that synergy point and recommending their tables go with a more robust sounding tonearm like the SME V.

That is one reason why intergrated table/tonearm by the same manufacturer makes a lot of sense - except in the true equipment audiophile that is in a lot of us.

As always one man's lean/bright is another's neutral/transparent and one man's warmth and tone is another's turgid bloat and lack of transparency.
I can find this going from record to record - which is why a 2nd table or tonearm combo is a good idea to better match the recording sometimes. Cartridges have the same choices.

All the gear we have is comfortable ahead of the majority.