Graham Phantom mk II & JA Michelle ORBE se help


I purchased a new Phantom with SME mounting for my ORBE se. According to Bob Graham's ad slick, its a drop in replacement. Not so. The geometry doesn't work. Using the orbe tone arm board cut for a sme mount, the set up is not acceptable. Then when playing a lp, the counterweight hits the vta column and the last groove will not play to the end. It's also not possible to use Graham's set up procedure due to the position of the arm relative to the spindle. JA Michelle doesn't have a new armboard for a Graham with SME footprint. Only the new Graham mounting. Not to mention the extra weight. This is very frustrating. Any easy solutions other than to recut the arm board, and try to shave some weight off of it. Had I ordered the Graham with the Graham mount, and purchased a new arm board, all would be ok, but again, the ad slick said it was a drop in replacement.
jimi_p

Showing 1 response by ade_gon

Hello Audiodany, could you explain what 'the wrong front mark' is on your Michell armboard, don't think mine has this:

...O.............O
.
..........o o
..........o o
.
...........O

As long as I position it like this the only problem is a bit of a tight squeeze with the counterweight against the vta post when setting the pivot to spindle distance

Zargon, could you tell me how re-drilling the board will help

The main problem is the Orbe likes to have a combined tonearm + Michell armboard weight of about 1kg, anything significantly over/under then suspension setup is a pain and is compromised. My armboard has always been too heavy with my 2.2 so I've just had it machined thinner - better but still too heavy, I have ordered an acrylic armboard from Michell.

It's my understanding that the Phantom is heavier than the 2.2 so are owners using Michell acrylic armboards? How is the suspension with the Phantom?

Lastly, what tonearm cable are Michell/Graham users using? and do you have enough clearance between the Graham output post and the turntable?

Thanks

Ade