hi wbass
I too am looking at buying a new tonearm and was looking at (among others) the same two arms you are looking at, the Graham phantom iii and the Kuzma 9” or the 11” 4 points. Based on everything I’ve read, and there’s a lot written about both arms, the general consensus is that the 4 point arms are considered by many to be one of the best arms out there. The Phantom is very good and has evolved nicely over the last two decades but it just doesn’t seem to achieve the same reputation that the 4 point arms achieve.
So, once I got it down to which 4 point I thought is was going to be a difficult decision between the 9” (without the vta on the fly feature) and the 11” version which has the vta on the fly. I’ve read that many people think the Kuzma 9” version is maybe their best sounding arm.
I emailed Kuzma and asked that very same question. To my surprise Franc Kuzma personally replied to my email within 24 hours. I thought to myself, now that’s customer service. Nice touch send Bob Graham an email and you’ll be lucky to get a response at All!
Then I thought about it. The answer came easily to me once I realized the type of records most typical audiophiles usually buy. We’ll drop into a used record store from time to time and I’ll usually walk out with 10 or 20 old used records (usually 120 gram non audiophile records). We buy a lot of the many great reissues (usually 180 gram records). Then there’s the occasional 45 rpm reissue lp’s (usually 200 grams). So, what’s my point? My point is, if you get the 9” 4 point, which thickness do you set your vta for? No matter where you set your vta, it’s going to be wrong 66% of the time. Unless you play the same exact thickness of lp’s every time you play another lp (pretty unlikely). If you buy the 11” 4 point with the vta dial, and you take a few minutes with each thickness and dial in the vta setting by ear and you mark down the correct setting for each record thickness all you would need to do is look at the lp, determine whether it’s a 180 gram or a regular 120 gram lp, look at your notes and dial the vta to the correct number for that thickness of lpand you know it’s going to sound great within seconds every time. Good luck doing that with the 9” arm, it’s not possible. I don’t know about you guys but I want ALL my lp’s, regardless of the thickness to always sound their best. Once I realized that, the decision became obvious. I will never own a tonearm without the vta on the fly feature. Thanks.
Scot