TW Raven 10.5" Tonearm

by the way the arm is playing now--trouble free. i hope i didn't cause any needless fear about tw reliability. if the proof is in the pudding--my next purchase will be a second tw arm for the mono cart i want. over and out

i have had the tw arm for several months . i had a few small issues with the arm which thomas immediately took care of. i had a graham phantom as a loaner for a couple of weeks. the tw arm killed it; it was not close. the graham is a good arm, but for me it was not in the same league. everyone who heard it in my system with the same cart agreed. thomas could paint bozo the clown on the arm and i could not live without it.

please layoff dertonarm. can't you guys recogize someone suffering from stylus envy and short cantilever complex.

i have received a few inquiries about the problems i had with the tw arm. basically, i initially broke the white ground wire while adjusting the azimuth. it was my mistake and not a problem with the arm. this led to the arm being damaged in shipping which led to some other problems that were easily fixed. tw did not charge me to fix the arm despite the fact that i broke it. also, they changed my tone arm cable from the RCA termination i had originally requested to a XLR termination that i decided to change to for no charge. the service has been incredible and the problems originated with me. finally, i want to emphasize that the graham is a world class arm--it just wasn't the arm for me in this system i hope i did not offend anyone's system or tastes--it was not my intent.

i was using the dynavector DRT XV-1t. I, along with several other friends who listened to both arms, found the tw arm to have a much more balanced sound. It provided a more realistic presentation with a larger, more 3 dimensional sound stage. I also found it to be much more musical. For me it was not close and I was offered the chance to trade the tw for a Graham, Triplanar or Dyna arm. I have had a few issues with the arm starting with a bad experience with customs. If the 2 arms were close in performance I was primed to change. However, after living with both arms for some time, I could not switch. There have been a number of times where it has been midnight on a work night and I have trouble turning off the system when the tw arm was in place. The graham never had that effect on me. I understand that this is all subjective and the graham is a great arm--if I had never had a chance to do an a/b comparison in my system, I am sure I would be happy if I had the graham. It just did not have the same realistic presentation for me as the tw. Different strokes for different folks, but I have the arm that works best for me in my system and that opinion was shared by others who heard the 2 arms in my system. "Killed" was too strong a term as the Graham is a great arm and I am sure it is the perfect arm for some folks on their rigs. I aplogize if I offended anyone--I am just bowled over with how the tw arm/table has transformed my system. The main thing is that we all find the equipment that gives us the most enjoyment and for me it is the tw. If anyone has a chance to audition one-I would highly recommend it.

Mk1. And I want to emphasize that the graham sounded very good. I just found the tw to sound even better. My friends, who have heard my system through its various versions all agreed. I am using kharma midi exquisite speakers and asr emitter II exclusive amp and asr basis exclusive phono stage so it may just be a great match with my gear. However, if you have an ac-3, which is the same table I have, I would definitely give the tw arm an audition. Good luck

You raise an interesting point while I thought the graham had pretty good air around the instruments. There was an ease of presentation that i got with the tw that i initially thought had more to do with the cart than the arm. However, i did not quite get this with the graham. The sonic picture was clearer with the tw and that did have something to do with bloom. On the macrodynamics both had plenty of air but the tw seemed to have much more air and seperation on the micro level. Finally, the dimensionality, and seperation of instruments from front to back was much more pronounced with the tw.

i don't make the news--i just report. i realize that some folks get offended if a fellow listener doesn't fawn over their particular favorite. that ain't me. i had several problems with the tw arm initially. it made 3 trips across the atlantic. when the dealer offered me a full refund i was dying to switch to another arm. my first choice had been a graham and i was dying to love it. i found it to be a much easier arm to set up. unfortunately or fortunately-depending on where your loyalties lie--the graham could not provide the same quality of playback in my system for my tastes. while i enjoyed the graham, I felt that the graham had a much more pronounced sonic signature. if you like that--more power to you. buy as many as your table or tables will bear and knock yourself out. Me, i like for the equipment to get out of the way of the music and be as natural, neutral and revealing as possible. on my system the tw did that in spades. like i said earlier, different strokes for different folks. i am not a dealer nor do i have any affiliation with tw other than owning an ac-3. in fact, i am not that much of a gear head. if you check my audiogon activity you will see i spend alot more time buying vinyl than debating how many angels can dance on the head of a stylus. i just felt that there were probably some tw owners like me or just vinyl lovers who would be interested in the OPINIONS (and only opinions) of someone who had actually done an a/b comparison of the tw against a very popular and successful arm. in contrast, many out there may prefer the graham--that just wasn't the case with those who got to compare in my system. what we can ALL, hopefully, agree on is that vinyl beats the daylights out of digital. at least in my case, my old rega p25 could humble my $42,000.00 plus esoteric digital seperates. so, that's my 2 cents. i have not heard anyone report on a head to head of a tw against a triplanar, origin, dyna or a multitude of other well respected arms. if anyone has done an a/b of those arms--i would be interested in their thoughts. keep buying the magic black discs--they are, after all, what all this sound and fury is really about.