Graham Phantom vs Triplaner


Wondering about the sonic traits of both these arms compared to each other.

- which one has deeper bass,
- which one has the warmer (relative) balance
- which one is compatible with more cartridges
- which one has the better more organic midrange
- which one has the greater treble detail.
- which one plays music better ( yes this is a more subjective question ).
- which one goes better with say the TW acoustic raven TT.
downunder
A long time ago I compared - at home - three arms wih an Ortofon SPU (which had been rebuilt). The arms were the 1.5 graham, a Triplanar (the first Mk with a fat arm-tube) and an early Breuer 9" (with damping trough).
Now I know that this is not experience directly related to your question as the arms were much earlier than contemporary arms: also the cartridge was not - probably - what you have in mind. But here are some points which you may like to bear in mind.

The Graham was not suitable with a high-energy low compliance cartridge...everything was wrong.

The Breuer was excellent however it only worked at its best - especially in the bass region - with some damping applied.

The Wheaton was a better all round cartridge in my opinion. It performed with gusto and greater musical ability, though the Breuer was pretty close. I bought the Wheaton.....and then my troubles began!!

Both were excellent within ALL the specific areas which interest you.

As I have said the SPU is a very high energy cartridge and thus puts enormous strain on the bearings. It was not long before I heard the sound quality roll off, and after much exploration I found that the bearings were loose and damaged.

I still had the Breuer and by now it shone out as the better arm. A little work by fitting a carbon shaped platform (to house the non-flat top surface of the SPU) obviously increased its mass. This really turned a very good arm into a superb arm. I had the Wheaton rebuilt and sold it (along with the Graham)

Most of the problems with the Wheaton have been solved in the contemporary version and I am sure that I would like to try the new one as even the Mk11 sounded sublime. The Graham was simply a mismatch in my case and the Breuer was a compromised, but effective solution.

I would also like to try the Ikeda arm as I replaced the Breuer with a Fidelity Research 64S. This was the absolute best in my system.

You will probably be using a totally different type of cartridge and thus will find most of this inapplicable.
Can't help but hope you get an answer. I'm getting a Raven AC and am putting a 12" Ortofon AS-309s on first and will be adding another arm in the fall. I'm leaning towards a Phantom but am curious about the Tri-Planar myself.