Graham Phantom owners? VTA etc

[uctpa08]

I've just got round to mounting a Graham Phantom on my Acutus which I've had sat in a box for a couple of years after taking it in part exchange for something (I think...).

I've got a basic 'issue' with it which is making me feel a bit stupid.

The thing is, the bearing pillar and headshell are not perpendicular. There is a 'twist' which means that, when the pillar is vertical, the headshell slopes 'outwards', away from the record surface.

This means that to get the headshell level with the surface of the record, the pillar has to 'lean in'. You use the VTA adjustment mechanism to do this. The thing is, I make the adjustment as far as it will go to bring the pillar 'in', and it's still not enough to bring the headshell level, even with the VTA adjuster at 'maximum'. I've been using a Feickert Adjust+ record to do the measurements and, unsurprisingly, the VTA results just won't converge on both a Zyx 4D and a VDH XGP.

The picture below shows what I'm talking about, just about. You can just see that the pillar is 'leaning in' but the headshell is 'leaning out'. This is with the adjustment just about at maximum.



It feels like I must be missing something dead obvious. It's a SME mount so there's no issue there. I thought it could be the way I've got the platter levelled compared with the 'plinth' of the Acutus, but it doesn't appear to be that, either. I emailed Graham but no reply yet.

Anyone any thoughts?

Cheers,

Rich

 

[Pussycat]

I don't know the Graham arms so take this with a pinch of salt. Surely the arm (boss and wand) should be absolutely perpendicular to the platter, regardless. Azimuth (rather than VTF) is askew, so the headshell must be turned to accommodate. I think it is a fixed one (like my N.A. unipivot), but I'd imagine there must be an adjustable collar or something....... Maybe the wand connections have distorted...I dunno, but my take is that it's in the headshell/wand section.

 

[iquadius]

hmmm been a while since I fettled a Graham tonearm but from memory have they not removable arm wands in a collet type arrangement? it looks very much like yours needs 'rotated' relative to the bearing piilar to achieve correct alignment. MD

should also say ...... great choice of deck, the acutus is simply the best sounding turntable I have ever had the pleasure to use.

 

[JVS]

I have to agree, it looks like the wand isn't attached correctly, however I don't think the signal would pass through the joint. Have you tried playing anything? :nerves:

You'll likely not get a reply from Graham. They're not good with e-mail. Pretty responsive via the 'phone though :^

 

[uctpa08]

The wand is attached correctly and everything plays fine. Apart from the obvious effects of not having the VTA properly adjusted. There is nothing really which is obviously adjustable. The only thing which looks a candidate is that there is a small screw type thing under the bottom of the 'sleeve' or whatever you'd called it on the armwand which is closest to where it attaches to the bearing pillar. It looks like it could be a very tiny Allen screw which, if unloosened, would enable the alignment of the wand 'proper' to be adjusted in the 'collet' which attaches to the bearing.

I've had good contact of Graham via email before but maybe the problem this time is the summer break. I guess I need to contact a Graham dealer over here.

Thanks for the thoughts, though.

 

[flapland]

Just a thought, have you checked if there is anything stuck between the pivot point and the bearing. If I remember from seeing JVS's at Scalford the top of the arm/bearing unscrews to prevent damage whilst being moved and maintenance.

Might be worth a check.

 

[Purite Audio]

My Phantom had a problem where the ceramic arm tube twisted, it was I believe a construction issue, symptoms were exactly the same.

Keith.

 

[Popey]

Have you a look on vinyl engine? There are some manuals for Graham tone arms, which might be worth a look.

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/Graham.shtml

There isn't a manual specifically for the phantom, but you never know there might be something there that may help.

Hope you get it sorted out.

 

[JVS]

My Phantom had a problem where the ceramic arm tube twisted, it was I believe a construction issue, symptoms were exactly the same.Keith.

How long ago was that Keith? The op says his arm was from a couple of years back. Maybe its the same batch.

 

[i_should_coco]

It's not VTA, it's azimuth. And it looks like it fcuked from what I know of the Grahams. You shouldn't be able to attach it like that.

 

[uctpa08]

My Phantom had a problem where the ceramic arm tube twisted, it was I believe a construction issue, symptoms were exactly the same.Keith.

This sounds the most likely, thanks.

 

[Pussycat]

It's not VTA, it's azimuth.

As I said in post 2, Pete, but obviously not picked up. Dunno what VTF has to do with this problem.

 

[uctpa08]

Sorry, yes, I meant azimuth. Thought that might have been obvious from the rest of my post.

 

[monya]

I would guess that you may have been given a f****kd up arm in part exchange :nerves:

 

[uctpa08]

I would guess that you may have been given a f****kd up arm in part exchange :nerves:

Yep, I think you might be right. Although it was a good (implied) price I got it for. Will wait to hear back from Graham what the position is with replacements. I know the armwands are far more expensive in the UK than they are in the US.

 

[fordy]

It initially looks like the problem is on the arm wand, which is replaceable. Unscrew the arm wand and turn it over. There is an Allen grub screw which may loosen the DIN connector for some wriggle room. These are factory set so unless someone's dicked about with it. You'll be able to tell though because he DIN connector in the arm wand should sit perfectly symmetrical. Post us a pic of the removed wand and the DIN connector.

Mine is perfect and I can adjust azimuth finely on the magnaglide system at the back. In fact the gap between the magnets on your aximuth adjustment seems very large. Mine sit about 2mm apart and the two white markings line up reasonably closely. Yours is way out. Check you are adjusting azimuth correctly first.

 

[uctpa08]

Cheers. I wondered about whether there might be some playing about with the Allen grub screw that might be done. The azimuth adjustment is 'way off' because that's the nature of the current 'twist' in the armwand - I have to set it to the maximum 'lean in' to get it any close to vertical/horizontal. I checked the DIN connections and thought they looked fine (they certainly are on the bearing pillar), but will check again on the armwand itself.

 

[monya]

Good advice from Fordy. I think the wands are now made from Titanium.

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

I had exactly the same problem: had to send it back to Graham Engineering in the US and they fixed it.

SP