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Re: Which is a better arm, Graham 2.2 or Morch DP 6?

Posted by Ken J. (A) on September 18, 2006 at 02:02:26

In Reply to: Which is a better arm, Graham 2.2 or Morch DP 6? posted by Sea Monster on September 17, 2006 at 08:41:15:

I've never heard a Moerch, but I've owned a Graham 2.2 for several years, and I agree with the other comments in this thread saying it's super easy to set up and its price on the used equipment market has become something of a bargain now that it's been replaced by the Phantom.

As for the claims that it's a little bass-shy and analytical, this characteristic is no doubt system-dependent to a large degree, but I would like to point out something that I don't think has been mentioned too often regarding this arm.

Specifically, many (if not all) of them were shipped with a bolt-on addition to the stock counterweight to accommodate heavier cartridges. From what I'd heard in the past from many tonearm manufacturers and aftermarket tweakers, I'd always believed that it was preferable to use a heavier counterweight if possible, in order to get it closer to the pivot and reduce the tonearm's moment of inertia (and consequently reduce its effective mass).

Thus, when I first installed the Graham, I used the extra weight with my MC cartridge (a Transfiguration Spirit LOMC at the time) just because I could, and listened to it that way for at least a year. Compared to my previous tonearm (a Rega RB600), the Graham was a vast improvement, so I never suspected that the heavier counterweight might not be giving me the best performance possible from that arm/cartridge combination.

However, I later went through a period when I was comparing several different cartridges of various weights and compliances, and I removed the counterweight addition at one point, to accommodate a lighter MM cartridge. When switching back to the Spirit MC, I left if off out of sheer laziness. To my surprise (at the time), it sounded far better with the lighter counterweight sitting farther away from the pivot. Not only was the bass deeper and tighter, the tracking was also superior in the upper mids (especially in the sibilance region) and highs.

Of course, I now realize that the lighter counterweight, farther from the pivot point, slightly increased the effective mass of the tonearm, as compared to the heavier counterweight, closer to the pivot, which decreased it. And since the effective mass of the Graham 2.2 isn't that high in the first place (11.5 g, if I recall correctly), it's not such a good idea, when using typical MC cartridges, to reduce it further by increasing the mass of the counterweight. This is because most MC cartridges, at least when compared to MMs and MIs, have relatively low compliance, and therefore benefit from being installed in tonearms with higher effective mass.

No doubt this post will be pushed into obscurity by all the "What's Spinning," "Pic of the Day," and "Look What I Found in the Dumpster This Week" posts before anyone has a chance to read it, but perhaps it will help future VA archive searchers trying to decide whether or not to buy a used Graham 2.2.

Best regards,
Ken J.

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