Vinyl Asylum: Followup with the 103R/Uwe ebony body in the Graham Phantom 2 by Paul Tobin

I've now had the Graham Phantom 2 tone-arm installed on my TNT for 2 months (replacing the Graham 1.5T).

I initially set the Ortofon Jubilee up on the Phantom, gaining a significant improvement over the 1.5T. More clarity and presence and HF air than the 1.5T. Better low level detail and ambiance retrieval. More body and weight to everything in the sound-field. A fabulous 'ease' about it while still sounding more incisive and dynamic than my old Graham.

Given the extra weight and body that the Phantom grafted onto the Jubilee's sound, I wasn't optimistic that it would do much for the 103R's sound. I already found the 103R a bit full in the midbass.

Well, I finally got around to putting the 103R in the Phantom.....and I'm quite shocked at the improvement!!

The Uwe 103R now sounds much more neutral and linear in the Phantom (vs 1.5T). Bass is taut, rock solid and full of textural detail. The slight midbass prominence appears gone and the whole midrange has greater clarity and transparency. There is more air and delicacy to the highs. Transients sound much quicker and more realistic. I now find it very hard to criticise the detail retrieval of the 103R vs the Jubilee. The 103R actually sounds more dynamic and alive than the Jubilee(!).
Combine all this with the retention of the 103R's compelling ability to communicate the musical message and you have a very fine sounding cartridge.

Free of the problems I noted when using the Uwe 103R in the 1.5T, I now find I can listen without distraction and simply enjoy the music. In fact the Jubilee now sounds somewhat hifi-ish to me by comparison. I find I'm more relaxed and immersed in the music with the 103R. The Jubilee would still be better at pin-pointing images and providing that extra degree of finesse and airy delicacy - but these things are not really that musically important nor missed.

To sum up: while the Jubilee's sound improved significantly in the Phantom, the Uwe 103R improved more......leap-frogging the Jubilee to my taste. Though I wouldn't have thought it, clearly my old Graham 1.5T was limiting the performance of the Uwe bodied 103R.