VPI 10.5 vs Graham 2.2

Thank you ALL for your advice.....
First off, Sid, I can't recall how many times I twisted the arm wire but it is now in a non looped or curved design (I assume this is what VPI want it to look like?)? Anyway, I tried track 6 and it worked.....Track 7 did not.
As to TWL's comments, my system is a bit warm and has deep base so I think we can go with the Graham/Helikon. I will, however, investigate the Origin arm that you suggested.
I do have another question to you all...I believe Basis is coming out with their own arm (Vector????) anyone know anything about this????
I have another question, but will probably start another thread on it tonight (got to go Christmas shopping)!!!!

RWD, I have read some very positive things about the Basis Vector, but can't comment on any personal experience with it.

Rick,

The JMW is a very good arm, much better than any arm I have used before. Vinyl play back technologies have really advanced in recent years. The behavior of the Helikon that we experienced, especially the track skipping on 8, seems to indicate that the Helikon may have reached its tracking limit. I am not sure how much improvement a new arm will bring. The Graham is a super arm, no doubt, but it might not be able to give Helikon the ultimate tracking that you are looking for.

Having said that, I want to make a point for the readers who are on the fence thinking about getting into vinyl. You might be wondering what the hack these guys are doing. How come a $6000 TT setup can’t even track a test LP? How much money do I need to spend to get a decent system? I want to tell you that those test tracks were recorded at pretty high levels. Very few vinyls were recorded that loud. I have a few hundred records in my collections, so far I have played about 100, most of them were from the 70’s, some were new recordings and remasters I recently bought, and none of them showed any tracking problem.

It might be psychologically satisfying to know that my Helikon could sail through all the test tracks with easy, but I am not going to worry about it until the upgrade bug bites. For now, I just want to kick back and enjoy the music. I still have a lot of LPs to clean; they have been locked up in the basement for over a decade.

Sidssp, you make a very good point. Those test records are designed to be just that. Test records. They have more torturous stuff on them than you will most likely encounter in normal playing. The gauge is to find where your system fails, not to make it play every cut on the test. When you find out how far you can get on the test, it lets you know the relative capabilites of the rig, in terms of maximum stress.