Any feedback on the Graham Phantom

Dear Mr. Graham,
First of all, my apologies if my post created the impression I was trying to raise doubts or question the quality or superiority of the Phantom over your previous designs. The question about the Magnaglide tracker was a "real" question, a question about a design choice and the wheighing of its merits versus potential drawbacks. I am totally satisfied with your answer.
I addressed the issue of neutral balance not to belittle the value of the magneglide feature, but wanted to point out that neutral balance in unipivots had been discussed on a theoretical and practical level many years ago. Anyone who reads the articles I was refering to, will find that they make a strong point in favor of the Phantom.
Rest assured that I never publically comment on the sound of other tonearms, I totally agree with your point about the consumer doing the judging. But when it comes to design philosophies, choice of materials and sometimes even aesthetics, I enjoy the exchange, partially because it is the exchange with likeminded people that is part of the fun in this hobby/profession. My word isn´t gospel and I have taken a strong beating before, but I´d still rather write and sign my own posts instead of, say, telling somweone else to do it for me.
To put this to a hopefully happy end, I promise not to comment on a specific design feature in the future (except when asked about my own arms) and suggest to the moderator to remove my earlier post(03-19.05;"Dear Mr. Graham...") within the next few days.

No hard feelings, and I owe you a drink(Munich, Denver?)

Frank Schröder

Dear Frank,
I appreciate your response and hope that my own response wasn't taken as too much of a slam. We all have different approaches to design, and hope that our respective efforts do the job admirably; it's up to us to do our homework, and up to the consumer to see if they agree! If you do take your note off, then ask them to remove my reply, as well - fair's fair, after all!

I thought long and hard about the best way to accomplish the desired goal of Neutral Balance in a way that would provide the tracking advantages it offers, and at the same time, not create additional problems of it's own. The components of the Magneglide system are all of low-mass design: small parts, lightweight materials, and a short distance to the pivot. Together, this combination does provide the required stability and allow the arm to pivot freely in both horizontal and vertical (with Neutral Balance) planes. We're very pleased with the results.

(For the hobbyists who may not be aware of the cumulative effects of this, in calculating Effective Mass, we are concerned about the static weight of an object -counterweight, headshell, cartridge, etc, - times the distance from the pivot SQUARED! That's why a larger counterweight, placed closer to the pivot, will have a lower effective mass than a small one - remember, looks are deceiving! - placed further away).

Anway, I paid close attention to this important consideration during the design, and rest assured that all's well in that area! Neutral Balance is a desirable condition in tonearms that goes back years, I agree. I remember Edgar Villchur discussing this in the 1960's, when the AR turntable came out. He was right then (as he was in so many things this genuius/audio pioneer created), and it's still true today.

And yes, I'd very much like to have a beer and pretzel with you sometime. Have never been to Munich, but hope to in the not too distant future...
So, all you audio adventurers out there, enjoy the dialogue and theories to consider, but most of all, sit back - forget those theories - and enjoy the music!
Now, I really MUST get off this thread and back to work! Happy Spring to all - Bob

Hi Mr.Graham,

This is an ignorant question. I have yet to see my Phantom so I have no idea how the Magneglide works. Essentially, it replaced the sideweights. Did it? Is it adjustable say to take cartridges with a heavy (3.8gms) tracking force?
Please enlighten me. Thank you

To answer your question, the Magneglide(tm) system is totally independent of cartridge weight. It provides lateral stability (replacing the weights, as you suggested) but does not carry any real load; it's main function is to stabilize the tonearm assembly in such a way that the static downward tracking force is kept consistent regardless of arm height (here I'm referring to lifting the arm up and down, as over warps, not just the VTA position....)

Hi Mr. Graham,
What I am worrying about is the anti-skate because I was watching a friend adjust the anti-skate in a 2.2 using a cart with a heavy tracking force. The arm kept sliding inwards at a fast pace in a blank record. To correct this he added some lead weights along with the supplied side weight and it stabilized. My question is will the Phantom be able to tackle the situation? In the case of the 2.2 when extra lead weights were added, the problem was solved.
But how about in the Phantom?
I thank you so much for answering my queries.