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Graham Phantom1, Kuzma Stogi Ref, Naim ARO

Hello Everyone, I am in the final rounds of selecting a tonearm upgrade for my Verdier/SME3012 combination. Somehow I am unable to make up my mind. 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.
pani

Showing 2 responses by syntax

syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
1. FR-64s
2. Graham Phantom

the other ones won't tell you anything new
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
Everything I've read says that the FX-64s is the one to
get. Maybe someone with personal experience with both will chime in....

The modern time guides us in the direction that the newest, latest, more
expensive item is the superior one (to whatever...)
The FR pricing is real, after 20+ years you have to pay 1.5K+ for the 64s (with a
B-60 you can think about getting it 7 days, maximum 10 days and then it is
gone), 6k+ for the 66s...in a way hard to believe, but that's the way it is.
Are they worth the money? They do fetch the prices we are talking about - so
they are "worth" (basic rule of free market...demand/supply) the
money. Are they good? They are. Are they well designed? They are. Can they
compete with today's best? Yes, they can. Then - why can a 30 year old design
compete with todays best? Because - geometry and physics have NOT (this may
be new to many audio designers and their market promoters) changed in the
interim. The older steel FR-60-series does feature extreme hard bearings,
precision tooling, first-class-materials, a very clever application of tonearm-
geometry and are the result of a designer who was/is (even at 85 years) much
more knowledgeable about the topic we are discussing here than any of us -
and any of todays tonearm designers (otherwise we would have better tonearms
today...). Each one of us does "judge" the performance of a given
unit - here tonearm - based on his individual matrix. The FR-64s and much
more the FR-66s do perform excellent with nearly all cartridges I tried, from 5gr
Zyx to 30gr FR-7's...
But it is no guarantee for sonic satisfaction, I know a few who didn't get it (and
the opposite who sold all others), from my experience I can say, the better your
System is or will be, these Arms have no limits, they will always show you
something new (when the bearing is ok or the grease inside isn't stiff).
Definitely a class of their own with Deccas, Londons, Mercuries ... which have
the highest dynamics in the last 3 tracks .. but my last visitor heard it even with
a Guitar Player pickin' the Blues...
Independent from individual taste, they passed worldwide the famous ToT.

(Test of Time).
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