Graham Phantom Armwands: Which Version is Which

Grooves

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Feb 29, 2012
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I am trying to nail down the differences in appearance between the versions of the Phantom armwand. Namely, the Supreme vs. the
Phantom I or II. My Supreme has the oval headshell which is thicker. My understanding is that earlier versions had a squarish headshell that was thinner in thickness. Yet, in my quest to find another similar to mine I keep finding "new" armwands with the squarish/thinner headshell.
I understand that Bob redesigned the armwand again but haven't seen any. I'd love to know how to identify PII's from PII-Supreme's.
 

puroagave

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Sep 29, 2011
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I am trying to nail down the differences in appearance between the versions of the Phantom armwand. Namely, the Supreme vs. the
Phantom I or II. My Supreme has the oval headshell which is thicker. My understanding is that earlier versions had a squarish headshell that was thinner in thickness. Yet, in my quest to find another similar to mine I keep finding "new" armwands with the squarish/thinner headshell.
I understand that Bob redesigned the armwand again but haven't seen any. I'd love to know how to identify PII's from PII-Supreme's.

I have a phantom Mk I it has an oval headshell like later versions but its not as thick (tall). the arm tube is ceramic vs Ti and also slightly smaller in dia. my avatar is not updated but shows the square headshell of the 2.2.
 

Grooves

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Feb 29, 2012
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So the oval shaped headshell started with the PI? Got thicker in the PII? So, what were the Supreme versions? The thinner squarish headshell versions, what are these? It's interesting since these look very similar to the Elite headshell's. Yet, I saw people advertising their PII's for sale where the headshell shape was squarish.
 

puroagave

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Sep 29, 2011
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I see what you mean, the elite is square-ish. i've got to call Bob tom, if I can keep him on he phone long enough i'll ask about the arm wands - he's not the most gregarious individual:)
 

Grooves

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Feb 29, 2012
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I called him yesterday but I forgot everyone is gone to Chicago? Bit I talked to Jay at Resolution Audio, who I bought the arm from, and he said the PI had a thin oval headshell and the PII was thicker. But he's not sure exactly when the square headshell's were made and whether they are the "true" Supreme version or whether their were in fact some Supreme versions with the thicker oval headshell. I could believe that if I hadn't seen PI or PII's for sale with the squarish headshell.
 

rockitman

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Sep 20, 2011
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I called him yesterday but I forgot everyone is gone to Chicago? Bit I talked to Jay at Resolution Audio, who I bought the arm from, and he said the PI had a thin oval headshell and the PII was thicker. But he's not sure exactly when the square headshell's were made and whether they are the "true" Supreme version or whether their were in fact some Supreme versions with the thicker oval headshell. I could believe that if I hadn't seen PI or PII's for sale with the squarish headshell.

The thick oval headshell was pre Supreme. The supreme wand is square - ish and thinner.
 

PeterA

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Dec 6, 2011
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I've also read that some of the longer arm wands went out with the incorrect offset angle at the headshell. Basically the longer wands were just longer versions of the shorter wands without correction for the offset angles. I'm sure this has now been corrected, but it may be an issue if you are buying older, used arm wands. I think Syntax wrote about this on Audiogon.
 

rockitman

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Sep 20, 2011
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I've also read that some of the longer arm wands went out with the incorrect offset angle at the headshell. Basically the longer wands were just longer versions of the shorter wands without correction for the offset angles. I'm sure this has now been corrected, but it may be an issue if you are buying older, used arm wands. I think Syntax wrote about this on Audiogon.

That has been long corrected. That was an oval wand issue. Does not apply to the Supreme wands in any length.
 

Grooves

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Feb 29, 2012
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Okay! So, what are the differences btwn a PII and Supreme armwand outside of the headshell shapes? I was told that the newer headshell, probably the squarish one, was used to accomodate a wider range of cartridges. And the one I had briefly looked as if the screw slots were longer. But why did he go back to the thinner headshell? Did the wiring change in the Supreme as well?
They are both titanium as far as I know.
 

number95

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May 14, 2014
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Elite armwand is the easiest to distinguish :)
 

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