Just curious guys, I just read this whole stream of posts and wonder what extremes everyone went through to get these various arms set up and working their best.
The Graham in particular, I have owned three, is an excellent arm. Having switched to the Walker with linear track arm I don't miss any of them, but personally I got better performance from a Graham than several other great arms, including the AirTangent 10B and Triplanar.
First of all, if you are able to adjust the VTA on the Graham, your not hearing it correctly. The set screw MUST be tightened to get imaging correct. The arm will not adjust if the set screw is tight.
So, set VTA and tighten the screw.
If the factory washers under the head shell screws are present, REMOVE THEM. In fact, best to buy Allen head (non magnetic) screws and use a torque wrench to set the inch pounds correctly (Rega makes a great one), or again, you have not heard it's dynamic ability. While youre at it, remove the finger lift off the Graham head shell. It resonates and tempts the user to set down the cartridge by hand rather than using the lift device.
Also, the alignment gauge for the Graham is not correct (in my opinion). The cart align is closer to correct for it and close to the formula used by Breuer Dynamic (CH) who's products I brought into the country some years ago (a great guy and a great tonearm for the time).
The Graham uses elastic materials in several places which tend to move with time. They store energy and after a set up is complete and listening begins in earnest, the settings can change ruining the end result.
I've seen the track force on a Graham 2.2 change 300ths of a gram in less than 10 minutes. This also effects VTL and azimuth as it is a unipivot.
This arm can be a pain in the ass to get perfect, but when it is, its an excellent performer. How does it compare to the Schroder Reference? I havent a clue, never heard one in a situation where I could make a valid assessment.
More grist for the mill.
The Graham in particular, I have owned three, is an excellent arm. Having switched to the Walker with linear track arm I don't miss any of them, but personally I got better performance from a Graham than several other great arms, including the AirTangent 10B and Triplanar.
First of all, if you are able to adjust the VTA on the Graham, your not hearing it correctly. The set screw MUST be tightened to get imaging correct. The arm will not adjust if the set screw is tight.
So, set VTA and tighten the screw.
If the factory washers under the head shell screws are present, REMOVE THEM. In fact, best to buy Allen head (non magnetic) screws and use a torque wrench to set the inch pounds correctly (Rega makes a great one), or again, you have not heard it's dynamic ability. While youre at it, remove the finger lift off the Graham head shell. It resonates and tempts the user to set down the cartridge by hand rather than using the lift device.
Also, the alignment gauge for the Graham is not correct (in my opinion). The cart align is closer to correct for it and close to the formula used by Breuer Dynamic (CH) who's products I brought into the country some years ago (a great guy and a great tonearm for the time).
The Graham uses elastic materials in several places which tend to move with time. They store energy and after a set up is complete and listening begins in earnest, the settings can change ruining the end result.
I've seen the track force on a Graham 2.2 change 300ths of a gram in less than 10 minutes. This also effects VTL and azimuth as it is a unipivot.
This arm can be a pain in the ass to get perfect, but when it is, its an excellent performer. How does it compare to the Schroder Reference? I havent a clue, never heard one in a situation where I could make a valid assessment.
More grist for the mill.