Skip to content
← All guides

GTT Phantom vs GTT Delta Elite: The Two-Stage Production Step-Up

GTT Phantom vs Delta Elite compared: 22 jets at ~$1,425 vs 57 jets at ~$2,575. When the Delta Elite's extra heat and oxygen demand actually pay off.

By Joe Blanchard, sixteen years on the distribution side of the glass industry · Updated

On this page

Short answer: The GTT Phantom (22 jets, about $1,425) and the GTT Delta Elite (57 jets, about $2,575 for the standard four-stud bench model) are both two-stage Triple Mix surface-mix torches, so they share a flame character and differ mainly in raw output. The rule of thumb: the Delta Elite pays off when you routinely work large solid boro or run production hours and already have the oxygen to feed it. Its roughly doubled oxygen appetite is the real cost of the step up, not just the higher sticker. If your work tops out at medium boro and a single big flame, the Phantom does the same job for a lot less gas and money.

Both torches come from Glass Torch Technologies and sit in the same high price band, so this is a within-band step up in scale, not a jump into a different tier of tool. If you want the mechanism behind the shared flame first, read how GTT’s Triple Mix technology works.

Phantom and Delta Elite at a glance

Figures below come from GTT’s own pages and our catalog. Oxygen is an estimate at the largest usable flame, not a published spec, so treat it as a planning figure and confirm current specs with GTT before you buy.

SpecGTT PhantomGTT Delta Elite
Jets22 total (7-jet Lynx center + 15-jet outer ring)57 total (7-jet Lynx center + 50 outer jets)
Stages22
Mix typeSurface mix (Triple Mix)Surface mix (Triple Mix)
Mount2- or 4-stud bench (hand-torch version also offered)Four-stud bench (hand-torch version also offered)
Oxygen (estimate)~16.5 LPM~30 LPM
Price$1,425 (high band)$2,575 (high band), four-stud bench
BasePowder-coated mounting basePowder-coated mounting base

The Delta Elite is roughly two and a half times the Phantom’s jet count and close to double its oxygen appetite, at a meaningfully higher price and a much larger oxygen bill. Everything below is about whether that extra capacity earns its place in your studio.

What they share: two-stage Triple Mix, all surface mix

Neither torch is a premix burner. Both are completely surface mix, meaning fuel and oxygen stay separate until they meet at or just past the torch face. What GTT layers on top is its patented Triple Mix system: the flame surrounds the fuel with oxygen and then injects oxygen directly down the fuel stream, which GTT describes as producing a hotter, cleaner, more completely burned flame.

Triple Mix runs two independently controllable oxygen streams (GTT’s green and blue valves). That lets you move the same torch across a fuel-rich reduction flame, a neutral flame, an oxygen-rich oxidizing flame, and an over-oxidizing flame without swapping tips or torches. Both the Phantom and the Delta Elite give you that full range, so color and atmosphere control is not what separates them. Both are also two-stage torches built on a 7-jet Lynx center fire, so the inner flame that does your fine detail work is essentially the same on either torch. The difference is entirely in the outer ring.

Where they part ways: 22 jets vs 57 jets

The Phantom wraps its Lynx center in a single 15-jet outer ring, for 22 jets total. GTT markets it for soft or hard glass, and its bench pages give no numeric work size. That is a wide envelope: our catalog files the Phantom for pipes, functional work and medium boro, and it carries a lot of that on its own.

The Delta Elite keeps the same 7-jet Lynx center but surrounds it with three rings totaling 50 outer jets, for 57 jets total. More jets across a bigger face means a larger, higher-output envelope of heat. Where the Phantom’s single outer ring gives you one big bushy flame, the Delta Elite’s three rings let you build a wider, deeper heat zone that keeps very large masses of glass hot and moving. For solid boro past the size the Phantom handles comfortably, or for keeping a big piece evenly warm during long working sessions, that extra outer capacity is what you are buying.

Note the jet math so nobody misreads it: the Phantom is 7 plus 15 equals 22, and the Delta Elite is 7 plus 50 equals 57. Those are the totals GTT publishes and the totals our catalog holds. Neither is a center-plus-outer figure that adds up to something larger.

Oxygen demand: the real cost of the step up

Jets are only half the story, because more jets want more oxygen. This is where the Delta Elite’s scale shows up as an operating cost, not just a purchase price.

At the largest usable flame on propane, GTT’s Flow Rate Chart (PDF) puts the Phantom around 12 CFH of fuel and 35 CFH of oxygen, which we estimate at ~16.5 LPM of oxygen. The Delta Elite at its largest usable flame runs closer to 20 CFH fuel and 65 CFH oxygen, which we estimate at ~30 LPM. Both sit at the same 10 psi fuel and 35 psi oxygen on that chart, and GTT’s two-stage instruction sheet (PDF), which covers both torches, gives the same settings, so the step up changes the volume your supply must deliver, not your regulator settings. In round terms the Delta Elite roughly doubles the oxygen appetite of the Phantom.

Editor’s note: these oxygen figures are estimates derived from GTT’s flow-rate table at the largest usable flame on propane, not published LPM specs, and natural-gas consumption runs roughly 2.5 times higher. GTT’s pressures are propane-basis. Treat the numbers as planning guidance and confirm current figures with GTT for your fuel and setup.

That doubling matters most for how you supply oxygen. On GTT’s chart every torch from the Sidewinder up draws 15 LPM or more at full flame, and both of these want 35 psi of oxygen there, more pressure than a typical concentrator delivers, which is why high-output torches often run tanked or boosted oxygen rather than concentrators alone. The Phantom’s oxygen demand sits at the edge where a strong multi-concentrator or boosted setup can keep up; the Delta Elite’s full flame realistically wants bulk or boosted oxygen behind it. If your oxygen supply cannot feed 30 LPM, the Delta Elite’s extra jets are capacity you paid for and cannot light. Size the oxygen first; our oxygen concentrator LPM guide walks through matching supply to a torch this hungry.

Both torches’ four-stud bench manifolds add one genuinely useful option here: they let you feed different oxygen sources to each stage, for example a concentrator on the center fire and tanked oxygen on the outer fire (GTT’s Phantom page describes exactly that split). That can soften the all-or-nothing oxygen problem, but it is a plumbing project, not a plug-and-play convenience, and it helps the Delta Elite more because its outer fire is the hungrier one.

When the Delta Elite pays off

The Delta Elite earns its price and its oxygen bill in a few specific situations:

  • Large solid boro. If you regularly work masses beyond the medium boro the Phantom targets, the Delta Elite’s three-ring outer flame keeps big pieces hot where a single ring starts to feel marginal. See best torch for borosilicate for how flame size maps to glass mass.
  • Production hours. When you are on the torch for long sessions and want a deep, stable heat envelope that does not force you to keep rebuilding the flame, the extra capacity reduces fatigue and speeds throughput.
  • You already have the oxygen. The step up only makes sense if your supply can feed ~30 LPM. With bulk or boosted oxygen in place, the Delta Elite’s ceiling is usable rather than theoretical.
  • Multi-source oxygen plumbing. The per-stage oxygen feed exists on both four-stud torches, but on the Delta Elite it is the difference between a usable outer fire and one you cannot feed, so it matters more there.

If none of those describe your work, the extra 35 jets are headroom you will rarely reach into.

When the Phantom is the smarter buy

The Phantom is the smarter purchase for most people stepping into serious two-stage Triple Mix work:

  • Medium to large boro, not giant. GTT markets the Phantom for soft or hard glass, and our catalog files it for pipes, functional work and medium boro. That covers a very large share of functional and production work.
  • Constrained oxygen. At an estimated ~16.5 LPM, the Phantom is far easier to feed than the Delta Elite. If you are not running bulk oxygen, the Phantom keeps its full flame reachable.
  • Budget discipline. The Phantom lists at about $1,425, well under the Delta Elite’s $2,575, and that saving is often better spent on oxygen, ventilation, and glass.
  • You want one versatile torch. The Phantom’s range from soft-glass color to medium solid boro makes it a strong single-torch studio anchor. Compare it against the mid-line step in Phantom vs Mirage.

How they fit the wider GTT two-stage line

Both torches sit inside GTT’s two-stage line, and it helps to see the ladder. Its lower rungs are the standard surface-mix Scorpion (13 jets, a Cricket center inside an 8-jet outer fire) and the Sidewinder (22 jets, sold as bench or hand, with a standard-mix Bobcat or a Triple Mix Lynx center fire). The Phantom (22 jets) is the versatile bench workhorse. GTT positions the Mirage (40 jets in our catalog) between the Phantom and the Delta Elite as the mid step, covered in Mirage vs Delta Elite. The Delta Elite (57 jets) is the top of the two-stage line. Above it, GTT’s three-stage torches begin with the 49-jet Kobuki, and the Delta Mag (88 jets) is a different scale of work entirely.

So the Phantom-to-Delta-Elite decision is really a question of how far up the two-stage ladder your glass and your oxygen supply justify climbing. If you are unsure whether you need the top of the line or the mid step, the Mirage sits deliberately between them.

A note on setup and safety

Both torches are large oxygen-fuel burners, and the supporting hardware matters as much as the torch. Fit the flashback protection your torch and gas supply actually call for rather than a one-size rule; GTT’s surface-mix guidance differs from generic advice, and some protective devices must not go on a concentrator output. See flashback arrestors explained for how placement works. The manufacturer’s manual sets pressures, flow, and protection for your specific configuration; this article informs the buying decision, it does not replace GTT’s instructions.

Sources

About the author

Written and edited by Joe Blanchard, who spent 2007 to 2023 on the distribution side of the glass industry in Asheville, North Carolina. GlassTorches.com is his independent, manufacturer-first buyer's guide. More about the editor.

How this guide was sourced: figures come from the manufacturer's own pages and manuals where we have them and are labelled as estimates where they are ours; the catalog on this site is the source of truth, and where sources disagree the guide says so. Confirm the current spec with the maker before you buy. How we work.