Tim,
I own the Raven AC - 1 motor table. I have heard the Tri-Planar, Phantom, and Dynavector arms mounted on the TW - AC 3 motor version at Hi-Water Sound in NYC, all in one listening session. All had different cartridges mounted. There is no telling how much my impression was influenced by arm/cartridge set-up. Jeff Catalano and I did not adjust VTA settings for different records. All arm/cart combos worked beautifully. The Dynavector was stunning using a Dynavector 1 Mono cart. playing mono records. A true mono presentation which I have never heard before. The Phantom/Myabi was very transparent but perhaps a bit uninvolving with a somewhat distant front/back soundtage and a somewhat narrow left/right field. The Tri-Planar/Zyx was excellent, more dynamic than the Phantom with a wider L/R presentation and a somewhat flatter F/B soundstage and a bit less transparnet than the Phantom. All were more than acceptable. I chose the Tr-Planar and I am currently using my old Benz-Micro Ruby-2 Cart. I am very happy with the choice which I made partly on sound demo and partly on ease of set-up and easily calibrated VTA settings which you can make on the fly. I find this feature paramount for optimum vinyl playback. The Dynavector, while in mono mode for this demo, was impressive. Erector Set ugly to be sure, but I was impressed by the performance. I would not discount this arm in making your selection. Jeff C. said it is probably the easiest of the three to set up and maintain. Again, I cannot account for impressions made by the cartridges used and cartridge mountings. These were impressions based upon 2.5 hours of listening to a variety of recordings, none of audiophile quality purposely for real world listening. Whichever you chose, don't forget that you will not be making a comparison in your home unless you outfit the Raven for multiple arms. Best of luck and enjoy this marvelous table!
