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Graham and Shelter matching - and other arms/carts

When you get a component that truly lifts your system up and reveals what's going on everywhere else, you learn things about your system that you hadn't realized before. My new Io Sig has shown me that I probably need a better linestage (I posted about this in Amps/Preamps), and it's also taught me something about arm/cart matching.

Now that the Io is in the system, I am hearing an unhappy balance between my Graham 2.2 tonearm and Shelter 901 cartridge. There's a tubby bass resonance that sounds to me like the Shelter cantilever feeding back into the unipivot arm structure. The outriggers on the Graham are supposed to minimize this effect, but perhaps the match just simply isn't made in heaven.

Instead, my Ortofon RS-212 tonearm, matched with Ortofon SPU Classic GM cart, is sounding much more balanced, real and musical.

That leaves me with the question of what to do with my Graham and Shelter. I'd like to have a "modern" arm/cart combo to compare with the classic Ortofon setup (I currently have 3 arms mounted on my table). My third arm is an Origin Live modified RB250, which currently has a Denon 103R mounted on it (probably not the perfect matchup either). The Shelter doesn't sound fantastic in the Rega - it's better in the Graham.

I do like the Shelter sound a lot, so I could buy an arm that's a more appropriate match for it, a Moerch perhaps. But I'd have to sell the Graham to afford that, and I kind of want to keep a unipivot.

Any recommendations for exchanging the Shelter and Denon for carts more appropriate for the Rega and Graham, or vice-versa?
patrickamory
dickson
29 posts
 
Patrick,

I have had the Shelter 901 on my Graham 2.2 and I thought it was a fairly good match although the bass was not as defined as I would have liked.

I finally mounted the 901 on my Vector tonearm and now this really is a wonderful combination. Excellent bass on the Vector. Just goes to show what careful matching can do. Now that I have the Vectors, (yes I have two) it seems that I don't listen to the Graham 2.2 that much.

The Vector can be adjusted for differnt cartridges with the use of tuning weights and you can also change the weight of the silicone damping oil. My next step is to try an Ikeda cartridge in a Vector.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Dickson,
Very interesting post, thanks for sharing.

Your experience is precisely what I would have expected. I've only used my 901 on a Twl-modded OL Silver. But A/B-ing with and without the mod showed us that an arm's lateral stability and damping make an enormous contribution to the 901's bass amplitude and clarity.

BTW, what TT(s) are you using the Vectors on?

BTW #2, how do you deal with the 901's great sensitivity to tiny VTF changes. Every time the weather changes the cartridge does too. We can instantly adjust VTF by a few 100ths of a gram. Is there an easy way to do that on a Vector?
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
Doug, you can buy a VTA adjuster now for the Vector that will set you back about $700. Supposedly, it is also removable.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
David,
Yeah I heard about that. I also heard the rumor that it's removable because you can't actually play the arm with it attached. Kinda useless if true. Fortunately I know someone developing a VTA-on-the-fly adjuster. He can make it for a Vector, a Rega-style arm and probably others. I don't know the cost but I'm expecting WAY less than $700. I'll be seeing a prototype later this month.

Still wondering about fine-tuning VTF on the Vector though. Moving the C/W just won't cut it for us. I can imagine a mod that might work pretty well but wondered if a real-world user had discovered anything.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
9,123 posts
 
Hi Dickson: I own the Ikeda 9REX. Wich your's?.
Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
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