Hi guys. I have a pro here doing my setup. We're running into an issue mounting my Koetsu Blue Lace into the Graham Phantom Supreme II. We've tried several protractors and it just isn't working. Would love to hop on the phone with you if you have any experience. PM me. I'll delete this post later.
URGENT: Anyone with experience setting up Koetsu Stone Body on a Graham Phantom Supre
- Thread starter bgupton
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What seems to be the problem BG?
If it isn't working using the Graham alignment jig then your spindle to pivot distance might be off. Put the spindle nipple (did I just type that?) on the spindle and check by inserting the hole on the front of the head shell into it. If it takes effort to do it, you'll need to adjust the armboard. What table are you using by the way?
If it isn't working using the Graham alignment jig then your spindle to pivot distance might be off. Put the spindle nipple (did I just type that?) on the spindle and check by inserting the hole on the front of the head shell into it. If it takes effort to do it, you'll need to adjust the armboard. What table are you using by the way?
Well, the cart is longer than most and isn't aligning with my Mint protractor, the Smartractor or the Graham supplied protractor. The gentleman doing the setup is one of the best out there and has never run into this issue. We've also chatted with the Koetsu distributor. We're just not entirely sure what's off, so hoping to discuss with someone who has set up a Koetsu stone body on the Graham.
Use the Graham jig. I used mint and since it's pivot to spindle distance is slightly different than the unmounted arm wand using the spindle cup, you will never get it right. Using any other method for getting pivot to spindle will be fraught with error since you need to remove the inverted bearing cap and stick the nail into the damping well. Use the Graham jig and spindle cup/armwand method and you will be fine. I use Koetsu stone bodies on my Graham arms. I have no issue mounting Koetsu.
The first few times I had my Koetsus mounted by a friend using an old protractor similar to a mint (mirrored). No problems. When I'd do mounting myself later on using the jig, no problems either. I really suspect that the problem might be in the board drilling or position. On my HRX and AF1 the boards are fixed. On the TW AC-3 it was movable. On the AC-3 it took some judicious moving of the board to get the right spindle distance. Using the provided insert (there I go with the spindle nipple again!) proved essential. I remember distinctly because I had a hard time finding where I had kept it. Kept it too well I suppose!
Oh one more thing. There's a contact patch between the wand and cart as you know. The blue elastomer dot. When doing alignment with a protractor there is a tendency for this dot to pull the cart back to it's original contact position. To make fine adjustments easier you can cut out a small slip of paper to put between the cart and the shell that you can slip out right before tightening the last bolt/screw.
bgpton...please accept the advice from the respected cumulative knowledges above that I agree from experience with and also strongly advise....only use the Graham jig and spindle cup ...Bob knows what he is doing.
JackD201....wow I have mounted so many of my differant cartridges over the years to so many wands [Graham 2.2 up to phantom II [waiting now for an Elite to arrive]] and NEVER thought of that trick ....many thanks oh wise one ...I will definitely try this in a week or so when another new cart arrives.
Please....As an aside does anyone have a scan of an Elite manual......would like to read up before mine arrives in 3 months.....
JackD201....wow I have mounted so many of my differant cartridges over the years to so many wands [Graham 2.2 up to phantom II [waiting now for an Elite to arrive]] and NEVER thought of that trick ....many thanks oh wise one ...I will definitely try this in a week or so when another new cart arrives.
Please....As an aside does anyone have a scan of an Elite manual......would like to read up before mine arrives in 3 months.....
Laziness, oops, necessity is the mother of invention LOL!
Chritian, did your Elite come with a manual? I don't think mine did. If it did it must accidentally have been left with the dealer.
Chritian, did your Elite come with a manual? I don't think mine did. If it did it must accidentally have been left with the dealer.
...."the basis of invention is science, and science is almost wholly the result of pleasurable intellectual curiosity."
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Hi Christian,
Have you tested Dr Feickert protractor? Do you think removing the cap and sticking the nail into the damping well still causes errors to calculate PTS distance? Thx for the advice.
That is what I used. I found the nail to have a bit of lateral play along with trying to get the point in the exact center of the damping well to be error prone. Like I said, I have done the Mint feilkert combo and found the graham jig method to be better sounding along with better tracking.
Ok, I will try to re align another cartridge (I have an extra armwand) via both graham jig and mint/feickert (I also have both) and if it turns out graham jig is the better one, will redo it for Zyx as well. Thanks again. It seems I somehow ignored Graham jig since I already had Feickert and Mint before Elite arrived and got used to them.
Well, we got the Koetsu aligned but it sounded like garbage in my system. Not sure why. Big bummer though. I was hoping for some magic, but it sounded terrible. We tried it directly into the Shindo Vosne Romanee pre amp and my A23 SUT. It sounded better to me in the SUT, but still not very good. 
Same thing here. Lived with the mint/feikert setup for 6 months before trying the Graham jig. It sounded better right away once I did the Graham method.
Well, we got the Koetsu aligned but it sounded like garbage in my system. Not sure why. Big bummer though. I was hoping for some magic, but it sounded terrible. We tried it directly into the Shindo Vosne Romanee pre amp and my A23 SUT. It sounded better to me in the SUT, but still not very good.
Bgupton, I am sure there has to be a technical issue and solution to that.
My set up guy is going to come back and try some more stuff. Maybe my SUT isn't a good match for this cart (even though it sounds better). Unfortunately, I don't have other SUT's to try it with.
what length Graham arm ? Make sure you have the right jig for each arm length. The Blue jig is for 9", Red for 10" and Silver for !2".
I have the 10". The problem is that the Koetsu Blue Lace is very long. We can't really get it to sit far enough back to work with any of the protractors. I have the rounded head on my Graham if that matters.
bgupton.....have you tried to set up "only" using the Graham method [spindle pin for 10" arm length and then stylus gauge exclusively] and what has been the result.....
The Koetsu body is long but the stylus tip to screw mount is not an unusual length ....
I hope you can tune it all in [including the final sound]...I understand the frustration and sympathise .....good luck.......
...re other supreme/elite users....which have you preferred....null points 1 or 2 ....Seagrave/Baerwald or loefgren ...or in-between.........[sorry bgupton I am not trying to takeover [change] topic] just taking advantage of the Graham devotees that are reading your adventure....
The Koetsu body is long but the stylus tip to screw mount is not an unusual length ....
I hope you can tune it all in [including the final sound]...I understand the frustration and sympathise .....good luck.......
...re other supreme/elite users....which have you preferred....null points 1 or 2 ....Seagrave/Baerwald or loefgren ...or in-between.........[sorry bgupton I am not trying to takeover [change] topic] just taking advantage of the Graham devotees that are reading your adventure....
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