Graham Phantom III/Elite

[perart1]

The large Phantom counterweight is about 67gms, whilst the smaller one 36gms

 

[The Phantom]

Just checking in again after too long an absence. I'm sorry that any questions were left unanswered, but in late October/November I became quite ill with a virus which then expanded into pneumonia. About a week in the hospital then a long-ish recovery period to get back in shape, so I've missed out on a lot. Re: post #16, as for the weight issues, please try a direct e-mail and I'll try to sort this out for you.
And to everyone on this post THANK YOU for the kind words regarding my tonearm efforts.. There's a lot to do in all this, and I very much appreciate the warm reception you've given me and my designs. More to come, and I hope for a long time, as well..!!

Best to all in 2019 - Bob Graham

 

[Ron Resnick]

Dear Bob,

Thank you for checking in! I am terribly sorry to learn of the illness! I am glad you are on the mend!

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Welcome back Bob, unfortunately I myself spent a week in the hospital, come to find out I damn near met my maker, glad you are feeling better.

 

[Bodhi]

Bob you have gifted us the Phantom III which is not only a great arm, but has perfect synergy with tables like the Tech Das AF3 Premium. Good health and a great 2019 to you, and may your terrific tonearms continue to be gifts to audiophiles well into the future!

 

[The Phantom]

Many thanks to everyone for the support..! (I'm sorry that HiFi Guy had to go through a tough time, but glad he's still with us. ) Life IS to short, so we have to enjoy what we can (music helps!), and of course, try to love our neighbor. Even in tough times like these... And I'll be at the grindstone as long as I can, trying to make more and even better tonearms.. - Bob Graham

 

[PSAF]

Is the Graham Phantom Elite newer than the Phantom II, looking at used ones on the market and it is a bit confusing

 

[mulveling]

The Phantom Elite and Phantom III models represent the current line, with Elite being higher tier in performance/build/price versus the III and all prior iterations. Before the current line, you had the "II Supreme" and then before that, the "II". I believe all armwands are interchangeable, but the III wands should be higher in performance than the II's, and then the Elite wands even higher yet.

Be careful when buying used - I see a Phantom Elite listed on AudioAsylum that looks comically suspicious. Really about 100% likely to be a scam. Listed in England, and seller accepts only personal check or MO. At a price ($3500) that would be too low for a regular III (or even a II), and way WAY too far into "too good to be true" territory for an Elite. Hope you weren't considering that one!

 

[perart1]

The Phantom Elite and Phantom III models represent the current line, with Elite being higher tier in performance/build/price versus the III and all prior iterations. Before the current line, you had the "II Supreme" and then before that, the "II". I believe all armwands are interchangeable, but the III wands should be higher in performance than the II's, and then the Elite wands even higher yet.

Be careful when buying used - I see a Phantom Elite listed on AudioAsylum that looks comically suspicious. Really about 100% likely to be a scam. Listed in England, and seller accepts only personal check or MO. At a price ($3500) that would be too low for a regular III (or even a II), and way WAY too far into "too good to be true" territory for an Elite. Hope you weren't considering that one!

You are right to be cautious regarding the elite for sale in the UK. The price is lower than the price the UK importer would pay directly from Bob! I offered to pay cash and collect directly from the sellers declared location somewhere in London NW? He refused to give me an address, contact number or name. He is also advertising a My Sonic Lab cart. that looks equally bogus. If it is too good to be true.........

 

[Walnut Horns]

The seller originally had the Elite advertised on AA for $2750. I emailed him to ask if it was USD or Pounds. He responded that it was USD, but his price was firm (insert appropriate emoji). I was suspicious as well, then noticed that he raised the price to $3500 within a few days.

 

[PSAF]

The Phantom Elite and Phantom III models represent the current line, with Elite being higher tier in performance/build/price versus the III and all prior iterations. Before the current line, you had the "II Supreme" and then before that, the "II". I believe all armwands are interchangeable, but the III wands should be higher in performance than the II's, and then the Elite wands even higher yet.

Be careful when buying used - I see a Phantom Elite listed on AudioAsylum that looks comically suspicious. Really about 100% likely to be a scam. Listed in England, and seller accepts only personal check or MO. At a price ($3500) that would be too low for a regular III (or even a II), and way WAY too far into "too good to be true" territory for an Elite. Hope you weren't considering that one!

I was but not now, I would only buy if they take PP

 

[PSAF]

Did look too good to be true. I have the most recent Triplanar and was looking at other arms because of the difficulty to source armboards, Tri does not have pdf of dimensions etc.

 

[PSAF]

Graham Engineering Phantom B-44 Tonearm, how is this arm compared to the new ones, one on ebay for $2600

 

[The Phantom]

Graham Engineering Phantom B-44 Tonearm, how is this arm compared to the new ones, one on ebay for $2600

Welcome to the forum..! As for the B-44, it was the first in our Phantom series, and although it had a lot of the core ideas of later models, and my best effort at the time, I've discovered ways to make the arm better. Hence, the Phantom II and III, etc (not to mention the big step forward with the Elite).
The good news is that all Phantom arms can be repaired/upgraded if and when the user wants to. Just contact me at grahmeng@concentric.net with any questions and requests. Hopefully, no one will be lost as spam, although this has happened a few times. A new e-mail address will be added to our website when it is finally - and, I hope, shortly - completed..!

And if anyone is going to Axpona this year, please join us, won't you? At a somewhat later moment (due to not being sure of any show plans when I had pneumonia in December) we're fortunate enough to join forces with VAC and Von Schweikert in their fabulous room. There you can see the Graham tonearms and some of the TechDAS Air Force turntables..! - Bob Graham

 

[Vienna]

hi Bob,
It’s so nice to meet the manufacturer of such famous Tonearms himself Here.
who is representing you in Greece?

 

[Leif S]

Welcome to the forum..! As for the B-44, it was the first in our Phantom series, and although it had a lot of the core ideas of later models, and my best effort at the time, I've discovered ways to make the arm better. Hence, the Phantom II and III, etc (not to mention the big step forward with the Elite).
The good news is that all Phantom arms can be repaired/upgraded if and when the user wants to. Just contact me at grahmeng@concentric.net with any questions and requests. Hopefully, no one will be lost as spam, although this has happened a few times. A new e-mail address will be added to our website when it is finally - and, I hope, shortly - completed..!

And if anyone is going to Axpona this year, please join us, won't you? At a somewhat later moment (due to not being sure of any show plans when I had pneumonia in December) we're fortunate enough to join forces with VAC and Von Schweikert in their fabulous room. There you can see the Graham tonearms and some of the TechDAS Air Force turntables..! - Bob Graham

This is exciting news!

 

[chelseadave]

@chelseadave
I have one Koetsu Onyx that is thicker, and a couple grams heavier, than my other stone bodies (despite all being spec'd at 13 grams) - this one exceeds the capabilities of my Phantom Supreme's stock weight. There's an extra, smaller counterweight that can piggyback onto the main counterweight adjustment's thumbscrew mechanism. It's not included in the box, but it probably should be (for that matter, my Phantom didn't even ship with a copy of the manual!). With the extra weight, you should easily be able to accommodate 20g.

Yeah, getting in touch with Graham - good luck. He'll probably turn up at some point and blame his email servers again. GET A FACEBOOK PAGE, BOB. Great, superb arms (I truly love the Phantom and enjoy it many hours each week with a rotation of a few Koetsu carts), but frustrating customer support. Back when I went through this, Musical Surroundings was a Graham distributor - M.S. has STELLAR service, and they supplied me a manual and the extra counterweight (Graham wanted 100 bucks for it), free of charge, in short order. I also wanted some extra wands that were perpetually out of stock, and eventually met my needs on the used marker. A couple years later I noticed M.S. stopped distributing Graham...I'm sad about that but don't have to wonder why.

If there was any reliable support to be had, I'd love to upgrade my Phantom to a III.

I have just received my smaller counterweight yesterday. Let me get this straight you fix the counterweight to the knurled thumbscrew? Thank for the info M.

 

[chelseadave]

Well my new 70 gram additional counterweight is too heavy. (VTA 0.18 gram) The weight I had blutacked on before was only 0.46 grams. Back to the drawing board.

 

[mulveling]

Yes, as I'm sure you found out you slide it over the knurled thumbscrew, then tighten with the set screw. The ridges on the new weight serves as your new "thumbscrew". I had to adjust the counterweight always all the way towards pivot in this arrangement, but it did work with my extra-heavy Koetsu (1.95g VTF). Mine "feels" like 70g too. Sorry that didn't work. But you could get some extra heavy cartridge mounting screws (like the SoundSmith thumb-screws) to maybe balance it out and hit your target VTF. Also make sure the piggy-back weight is pushed in as far towards the main weight as possible.

 

[chelseadave]

Once again thanks for your input. My 70g weight did not have ridges. Anyhow Bob was right on it and is sending me a 36g weight which I’m sure will be ok this time. Cheers.