Graham Elite & TechDas AF1

rockitman

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Sep 20, 2011
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My arm arrived today...on my birthday. I thought I would start a thread for this combo. I have no impressions as of yet on the sound as the internal wiring will need to break in and I haven't heard it yet. Later tonight will be my first listen. It's nice to no longer have an empty crater on the table. ;) The cart is a Dynavector XV-1t.
 

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MylesBAstor

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Apr 20, 2010
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Woo hoo!!!!!! Enjoy and can't wait to hear your reaction!
 

rockitman

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Actually, the Clearaudio Master Innovation is my dedicated mono rig. It's a great sounding table and I can't part with it. The AF1 is dedicated stereo. Supreme 12" w/ Coralstone in the rear and XV-1t in front on the Elite...at least it will be this way for the near future. I may stick an Ortofon A90 on the un-used clearaudio Universal arm that currently sits unused to have a stereo option on the CA table.
 

jfrech

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Sep 3, 2012
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Congrats and happy birthday ! I wonder if Graham will ever sell a "hot rod" wiring option...cartridge to rca/xlr's without a break....of course this removes the option of a swappable armwand...

Very curios to read what you think about the new arm !
 

MylesBAstor

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Apr 20, 2010
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Actually, the Clearaudio Master Innovation is my dedicated mono rig. It's a great sounding table and I can't part with it. The AF1 is dedicated stereo. Supreme 12" w/ Coralstone in the rear and XV-1t in front on the Elite...at least it will be this way for the near future. I may stick an Ortofon A90 on the un-used clearaudio Universal arm that currently sits unused to have a stereo option on the CA table.

Is it me or does the new arm look more robust and massive?
 

Dre_J

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Mar 5, 2012
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My arm arrived today...on my birthday. I thought I would start a thread for this combo. I have no impressions as of yet on the sound as the internal wiring will need to break in and I haven't heard it yet. Later tonight will be my first listen. It's nice to no longer have an empty crater on the table. ;) The cart is a Dynavector XV-1t.

Congratulations Christian. Nice photo perspective. It looks similar to the one I took in my Axpona show report.
 

MylesBAstor

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Apr 20, 2010
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It's not you. Bob bulked up the arm a bit in key locations.

Dre

Yes, especially it looks at the wand connection end. Also the headshell looks meatier.
 

rockitman

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Sep 20, 2011
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Is it me or does the new arm look more robust and massive?

It is. The arm tube is a bigger diameter and the bearing housing is also larger and more robust. The cue drops the arm considerably slower than the Supreme, which is a good thing. First impressions, even w/o the wire broken in...Fantastic. There appears to be more meat on the bone throughout the frequency range.
 

number95

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May 14, 2014
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It is. The arm tube is a bigger diameter and the bearing housing is also larger and more robust. The cue drops the arm considerably slower than the Supreme, which is a good thing. First impressions, even w/o the wire broken in...Fantastic. There appears to be more meat on the bone throughout the frequency range.

Congratulations with your Elite! I presume it has been a long wait. I also installed my 9 inch Elite (still waiting Transparent Ref MM phono cable) yesterday which it replaced older B-44 tonearm. I have not tried mkII and or mkII Supreme but can clearly tell Elite is much better tonearm compared to B44. More rigid, robust, all of the sonic parameters already improved.
 

rockitman

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Sep 20, 2011
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The arm (Elite 10") sounds fantastic. How much better than the Supreme ? It is difficult for me to tell as the supreme 12" is on the rear armboard extension bolted to the main duralumin plinth. The 10" Elite is in the main slot...integrated into the main plinth so I suspect part of the improvement lies there. In any event, it's a fantatstic arm. Very balanced, extended and neutral sounding.
 

PeterA

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Dec 6, 2011
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The arm (Elite 10") sounds fantastic. How much better than the Supreme ? It is difficult for me to tell as the supreme 12" is on the rear armboard extension bolted to the main duralumin plinth. The 10" Elite is in the main slot...integrated into the main plinth so I suspect part of the improvement lies there.

Congratulations on getting the new arm. I'm starting to read some excellent reports about its performance. I questioned the two different arm mounts a while back and asked you about it in another thread (I think the TechDas AF1 thread). You responded by telling me what you may have been told directly from Bob Graham himself, that there is no performance difference between the two arm mounting methods. I'm not sure I believe that. One is cantilevered off the back and the other is solidly bolted onto the main plinth in what looks to be a much more solid and massive arrangement.

Someone once told me that the reason that the SME Model 10 does not have a longer cantilevered armboard for mounting a 12" arm is that SME strongly believes that a longer cantilever would be too great a sonic compromise. They prefer a massive, ultra rigid mount to the main plinth.

The only way to know for sure with your TechDas is to try the same arm/cartridge/cable in both locations and listen for any differences.
 

rockitman

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Sep 20, 2011
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I have a Graham Supreme 10" on my clearaudio table. Unfortunately it uses the Linn style mount. The AF1 uses the SME sled mount. I will never be able to compare them since the main plinth position can only take a 10 or 9 inch arm. My cantilevered sme mount 12" Supreme will not fit (length wise) in the main position.
 

PeterA

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Dec 6, 2011
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I have a Graham Supreme 10" on my clearaudio table. Unfortunately it uses the Linn style mount. The AF1 uses the SME sled mount. I will never be able to compare them since the main plinth position can only take a 10 or 9 inch arm. My cantilevered sme mount 12" Supreme will not fit (length wise) in the main position.

I presume your 10" Elite would fit in both positions on the TechDas. If so, you could try your new Elite in both positions. Or is the back slot for 12" arms only and the main mount for 9-10" arms only? If that is the case, then it is set up so that no direct comparison between the two mounting positions could ever be made. That would be odd. What if an owner has two identical arms and wants to mount them on the TechDas with mono and stereo cartridges?
 

rockitman

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Sep 20, 2011
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I presume your 10" Elite would fit in both positions on the TechDas. If so, you could try your new Elite in both positions. Or is the back slot for 12" arms only and the main mount for 9-10" arms only? If that is the case, then it is set up so that no direct comparison between the two mounting positions could ever be made. That would be odd. What if an owner has two identical arms and wants to mount them on the TechDas with mono and stereo cartridges?

I'm not sure I could put the 10" Elite in the back slot or not. It may fit but would require a re drill of the arm board which I am not going to do.
 

dmnc02

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Jul 10, 2012
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Just set up mine.

Elite.jpg
 

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