Quote:
Originally Posted by mulveling
Hi Barbur, and thanks. I specifically requested the black arm board to my dealer, as I think that silver arm boards on the black tables look odd. There was no resistance or extra delay. I should mention that the North American distributor for Clearaudio and Graham -- Musical Surroundings -- does an excellent job smoothing out support issues like this.
Unfortunately I've not tried any arms on my Clearaudio besides the Graham. I'd like to try the Universal, as it's beautifully crafted. The Clearaudio & Graham combo sounds fantastic -- a Master Innovation will be phenomenal. And the Graham is beautifully engineered, but dealing with Graham is very frustrating. My turntable package took almost a month to arrive after purchase, almost all of that waiting for the Phantom Supreme arm to come in. And you'll inevitably need something extra (in my case, the heavy counterweight and an extra armwand), in which case you'll subsequently find yourself tearing hair out waiting for Graham to deliver (Musical Surroundings immediately shipped me the counterweight for free, after Graham asked for $100! I had to source the extra arm wand on the used market.). If I had to do this all again today, I'd unflinchingly buy the Universal; even though I really like the Graham, I'm getting too old for that (I'm only 35, btw).
I also recommend getting the full clamping setup, as it makes a big difference. I left off the clamps for a year, which was a mistake on a table at this level. The Clearaudio statement & ring clamp are gorgeous and substantial, though expensive -- of course, only the top Clearaudio clamps look "right" on these tables, and at this price level you might as well get the best.
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Hi Mike,
Thanks for the detailed feedback. Agree about not skimping too much in regard to accessories & ancilliaries. Although i like the effect that StillPoint's clamp/puck has demonstrated on the sound of tables like the Origin Live Calypso & even on a Rega RP-8.
What i like about the Graham is the relative ease of fitting & swapping-out carts, with the jig they provide & removable arm-wand. Do you have arm-wands of different lengths? You reckon it's worth going for the 12" arm?
Have you heard the Spiral Groove Centroid arm at all? Good match? What cartridge you using with your Innovation?
In the past i've found the sound of ClearAudio's older analogue front-ends(Solution, Master Solution etc.) to be a bit dry & lean? Which is why 've been looking at the Benz L-PS MR, Dynavector XV-1s & Lyra Etna. As i've been advised that using ClearAudio's own carts on their decks might be a little too analytical, bright & lean for most. Even though there may be the possibility of procuring a barely run-in Goldinger Statement.
Good to know your thoughts.
Regards & thanks.
Babur.