Graham Phantom Supreme?

$600 seems very reasonable given the work involved. Did the origianl reason you sent the arm in defray some of the cost? In short, do you know if you send the Phantom II in, just for the Supreme upgrade, if its $600?

I recently acquired this arm, I had a 2.2, and have a question for any Phantom II/Supreme owner with the bubble level.

My Basis 2500 is dead level. When I level the arm, with the bubble exactly in the middle, the sound is a bit harsh. While the arm appears to be level, it's hard to tell as its tapered, my Ruby 3 appears, by eye, to be tilted ever so slightly forward. My experience with Benz is they like a bit of negative VTA, that is tilted slightly backward. So I lowered the arm until the Ruby 3 appeared, by eye, to be tilted every so slightly backwards. While the bubble is way off, the sound improved dramatically.

At the end of day all that really counts, in VTA terms, is the vertical angle of the stylus. Just because the arm is level doesn't mean the VTA truely is neutral because the body of the cartridge may not be level. It may not line with the headshell perfectly or the stylus/cantilever may not line up and equal neutral VTA even if the cartridge body and arm are perfectly level.

Of course VTA can be a bit of a personnel preference and perhaps my ears and system simply like the way I've set it.

My question is simple. Am I correct in my conclusion that there are a number of variables and, as a result, just because the bubble is level, indicating the arm is level, doesn't necessarily mean one has neutral VTA?