I believe I would go with the Graham because its interchangeable wand setup allows for more flexibility, if the need ever arises. On-the-fly VTA is also very nice to have. Additionally, the arm has the same mounting specification as all other Graham tonearms. This makes things easier, if you decide later on to upgrade to a later model.
Tonearm selection is not easy
Hello Everyone, I am in the final rounds of selecting a tonearm upgrade for my Verdier/SME3012 combination. It is really getting difficult to put my money down on one of these tonearms. I have drilled down to these arms as the final short list within my budget of $2k
Naim ARO (used)
Graham Phantom1 (used)
Kuzma Stogi Ref (used)
Rega RB1000 (new)
Fidelity Research FR64 (used)
Scheu Classic
EMT 929
The cartridge I will be using is a Dynavector Karat 17D3. I am not sure how people choose tonearms in general. My TT should be able to host any of these arms well. So it boils down to which tonearm can handle the Karat well I guess. I normally listen to all kinds of music with preference to classic rock so I like my music to be full and lively with good PRAT.
Would really appreciate some input here. I know I still have to buy blind but your inputs will help me big time in at least eliminating few of these from the list.
BTW, my TT manufacturer normally recommends long arms like the SME 3012 and EMT 997. 997 is out of my budget. Moreover I do not know if these long arms are agile enough to keep up with the musical timing though.
Naim ARO (used)
Graham Phantom1 (used)
Kuzma Stogi Ref (used)
Rega RB1000 (new)
Fidelity Research FR64 (used)
Scheu Classic
EMT 929
The cartridge I will be using is a Dynavector Karat 17D3. I am not sure how people choose tonearms in general. My TT should be able to host any of these arms well. So it boils down to which tonearm can handle the Karat well I guess. I normally listen to all kinds of music with preference to classic rock so I like my music to be full and lively with good PRAT.
Would really appreciate some input here. I know I still have to buy blind but your inputs will help me big time in at least eliminating few of these from the list.
BTW, my TT manufacturer normally recommends long arms like the SME 3012 and EMT 997. 997 is out of my budget. Moreover I do not know if these long arms are agile enough to keep up with the musical timing though.
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