Help,Allaerts or Transfiguration

Goldeneraguy,funny you mention your friend's father,who collects antique radios.In my audio/music room I have a beautiful(very well made)RCA reproduction of their 1932 model Cathedral Table Radio(of course I did some modification to the inner cabinet,for rigidity)!It is an absolutely beautiful piece,that sounds absolutely fabulous,for a table radio,as long as it's not played too loud."Nothing like a wooden cabinet"! I use this as my,"sort of" tuner,for listening to late night am/fm stuff.Love it,alot.
I have scoped out many antique radio sites,in the past.If I had the cash,and time,I think I would love to display some of the "magnificent" early era cathredral table top radios.GORGEOUS stuff!!I took my daughter to a party,some time ago.At a restaurant which had a huge collection of these early era radios on display.Really interesting,and beautiful.Very collectible!
PS-I spoke to my dealer this morning.He tells me that I will have my Phantom in three two five weeks.If I want it in GOLD,I could have it much sooner,but I like the silver,so will wait it out.
Blame Albert Porter,for his "anti gold" taste,which has impacted me....Just kidding(well, not).I like the silver look,due to it's more massive build.The gold(just to my taste,as my friend has gold)is a bit too much,due to the more massive look compared to my old 2.2.
I'm really getting worried,as my digital is starting to sound too good!!-:)

Sirspeedy.my 2.5T was gold (Albert forgive me.).I think it was about $100 extra but I didnt want to wait any longer.Anyway its been long gone.
At my friends fathers home he showed me what he said was the first of its breed portable radio(circa 1948.)I'm not sure of the brand,as my head was spinning from my evil thoughts about all those tubes, but I think he said it was a Bendix.It weighed about 30 lbs.Imagine a 30 lb.portable radio.
Just reading the word digital hurts my ears.Hopefully the time will pass quickly and the Phantom will arrive save and sound.We await your thoughts.
Enjoy

Hi Goldeneraguy,

What did you end up with after selling the Graham arm? I wonder if the fact that it is easy to fiddle with adjustments on a Graham actually encourages obsessive behavior and so a difficult to deal with arm would be the answer (Shroeder?).

I have a Vector arm so I almost NEVER fiddle with it. It is almost impossible to move the counterweight in small, predictable increments, mine has no VTA calibration device, the arm is tricky to remove to change the level of the dampening fluid, etc.

Hi Larryi,You are correct.The Graham's as good as they are, can drive one to be obsessive.Because it is so easy to re-adjust you can spend your time tweeking instead of listening for pleasure rather than to hear which sounds better.Outstanding arm though,if only i could have let it be.
I went to a Kuzma Reference arm and now enjoy the Basis Vector 3 without the add ons..Do you have the 3 or the 4?

Goldeneraguy,

I am not certain of which iteration of the Vector I have, except that I know it is not the latest. I've been told that the reason to upgrade to the latest is for the better tonearm wiring. I would probably also opt for the VTA adjustment micrometer if I ever upgraded the arm.

I have very carefully set up the arm, although once set, I generally don't fiddle around with adjustments. My Titan cartridge is extremely sensitive to VTA setting, so I did do that carefully. I use homemade spacers cut from 1/2 inch PVC pipe, that fit under the fluid well part of the Vector arm. I prefer this type of spacer to things like a deck of cards because the deck of cars approach is not particularly repeatable (the cards compress too readily). I have spacers that go up in height by about .5mm increments. It is easy to hear that little difference in height at the armpost.

What I find interesting is that adjustments of VTA is sort of interactive with changing other aspects of the system that relate to tonal balance. For instance, if I change cartridge loading, I often find that the ideal VTA setting has changed slightly as well. The same is true when I change tubes in the phonostage. Just think of how crazy you can drive yourself by juggling three variables.