Kuzma 4Point Tri-Planar

Dear Mikelavigne, since your just delivered Telos already outperforms your Talea 2 on your just delivered NVS, you may give the Graham Phantom II Supreme a vis-a-vis chance versus the Telos on the rear left arm board.

For me the interesting comparison would be Graham Phantom II vs Talea. Two great unipivots, one with a wood arm wand, the other made of metal. Telos may be better than either (or not), but the price puts it in another category entirely, not that Talea or Phantom are "cheap". I heard the Talea with a ZYX on a Galibier table, in a system I know quite well, and I have to admit it was "unbelievable", mostly in the sense that I have never heard any analogue gear that sounded so holographic in the truest sense of the word. I felt that it might be possible for me to walk in behind the musicians, if I wanted to. Made me wonder whether I was being enchanted by some form of euphonic distortion. If so, give me more of it. The question in my mind: does the use of wood have something to do with this phenomenon?

Syntax already has the Graham Phantom II Supreme - I would name it the best uni-pivot so far.

i'll echo Doug Deaton about the Triplaner VII, but my experience was with the Durand Talea 1 not the Talea 2...i had only the "1" when i still had the Triplaner VII.

when the subject switches to the best Unipivot, then my vote previously was the Talea 2; however now it is easily the 12" Durand Telos.

Haven't heard the 4Point but I have compared the Kuzma Airline to a Durand Talea. The Talea had a lower sound floor and was much more effective at keeping complex music sounding uncongested. Instruments and voices retained much more individuality. This was with an Ortofon A90.

The Talea is also notably superior to my TriPlanar VII in these same areas. We've compared twice with my ZYX UNIverse and all present were in agreement. If I had the funds and time to play as much as I'd like, a Talea would replace my TriPlanar, beloved though it has been.

Add the Talea to your shopping list. It's the best arm Paul and I have heard (with a UNIverse). Haven't heard a Phantom so can't offer that comparison.

Agree with Rockitman - Robert Graham managed to incorporate significant improvements into his design. Each new version builds upon the former and shows small if noticeable improvements.
Syntax already has the Graham Phantom II Supreme - I would name it the best uni-pivot so far.

Don't forget that the Phantom II is now the Phantom II Supreme. It's even better sounding now.

Thanks Dertonarm!

By the sound of it, the Phantom will be exactly the type of tonearm I'd like to add my T-P.

One should watch out not to ascribe sonic signatures of other (cartridge, misalignment, cable and rest of audio chain) components to the tonearm.
I have had the 4Point and sold it early 2010 to the USA.
It is a good, but not outstanding tonearm.
While it does feature some interesting design points, it is not the last word in resolution nor in transient speed.
In general it does indeed a good job of dampening resonances and thus sounding a bit more forgiving - resulting in soften edges and lack of ultra low resolution/detail.
The Triplanar is similar in his behavior - but not as forgiving.
The 4Point won't tell anything new versus the Triplanar.

The Graham Phantom does a better job regarding transparency and low level resolution. It's transient transfer is much faster and thus the Phantom sounds more live-like and gives superior detail and "air".
It is a very good match for any ZYX.

Thanks Syntax and Essentialaudio.

I would agree with the Tri-Planar being "romantic" and "(having) slightly plump bass". With my ZYX it's sound is exactly as romantic and plump as I want it to be. The Tri-Planar, for me, is a keeper.
But I may want to get something like BM LP-S in future and based on some readings, I'm getting the impression that T-P could be a bit too much of a good thing.

Some time ago one of my customers went from a Triplanar to a 4Point and upon hearing the first few notes exclaimed the 4Point did exactly what he had hoped for. Contrary to the assertions above, it is not soft sounding nor to my knowledge has ever been described that way, certainly not when compared with the Triplanar which is rather romantic and has slightly plump bass. I encourage all interested to hear the 4Point for themselves, either at a dealer with it on demo or at CES/THE Show in January.

The Triplanar is a good Arm from design and sonic quality. The Graham is superior with most cartridges, with very intelligent solutions to push the sonic curtain and top performing even with heavy cartridges. The Kuzma 4P is a soft sounding Arm, an excellent choice for very harsh and analytic sounding Systems. It also hides very successful internal vibrations from average turntable designs, the other 2 are more sensitive to that. The Graham can build a very precise and accurate Soundstage with sharp focussed detail and holographic body. The 4P is more like a wall of sound, just different, not really comparable. I go for performance, but when someone chooses something based on feeling, give it a try.