SME 20/2 SME V or Triplanar VII?

The SME is a great arm no question. I've had mine for 16 years, including a factory service and internal wire upgrade a couple of years ago. But I've upgraded my cartridges over the years to the point where now, I could enjoy the benefits of an arm with VTA on-the-fly and SME has yet to smell the coffee in that department. Get the Triplanar.

Raul, re using only static balance: Are you saying that with an SME V, for instance, you should set the spring balance dial to zero, and then set the VTF using only the counterweight? That's very interesting. Does the spring really cause so much resonance around the bearing? Can you hear it, or is that simply a theory? Using the counterweight alone to set VTF would be quite tedious, but not impossible, I suppose.

While on this subject, I wanted to mention here that supposedly, the SME IV.V is designed more with MC cartridges in mind. It has ONLY counterweight VTF adjustment, and the internal tonearm wiring uses coated ribbons (a la Magnan) which supposedly allow even smoother bearing operation and better electrical performance than the silver litz van den Hul wiring.

You can get a brand new Transfiguration Orpheus for $2650 (msrp $5000) Or a Transfiguration Temper V or W for $2100 (msrp $4000) and you'll have the same stellar performance IMO as the Dyna or ZYX (maybe better ;--) BTW, Transfiguration makes the Nightingale cartridge exclusively for the Graham Robin arm (I think it is) so if you've settled on a Phantom, there should be a lot of synergy there. Check w/ Graham.

Garsh, Speedy, I have no idea about trade-ins, since my "dealer" doesn't take trades. But you should have no trouble selling a W or a V on the Gon. Tranny cartridges seem to go very fast. I'd have to know a lot more about the Orpheus' design changes/improvements before I'd throw more money in that direction though. I think my Temper W is a pretty amazing device, both sonically and in terms of engineering elegance.

What you need to do right now is lease an amp from somebody ;--)