I'm still using my SME 3009-II that I purchased for $300.00 in 1973. The BEST audio investment I ever made. I plan to re-furb it. I'll NEVER replace it.
The only thing better than getting new gear is after you've got it you pull out an album you haven't listened to in years and it just blows your socks off!
My Immedia RPM/SME V combo. has been spinning LPs for over two decades. No plans to upgrade! As a bonus, the SME V is one of the easiest arms ever to setup and align.
I "settled" on a 309. Did I dream of a Series V? yes. Did I ever seriously consider getting one? No. That's where my madness stopped. I spent LOADS of money on the turntable, and then the 309 and a cartridge on top of that... I just could never justify the extra outlay (let alone afford it..). And I would go so far as to say: when I've heard extremely esoteric/expensive turntables and arms (including the V) I've never felt the extra outlay was worth it; I'd rather buy a an extra 500 LP's.. or a new, fantastic cartridge. I think that the total system has to be of a very high quality and subtle enough to reveal very small differences (although I feel the differences in the bass are clearly detectable..) to justify the extra outlay. Hats off to you for doing it, but for me, the 309 is a keeper; certainly good enough!!
My VPI IV came with a PT6 arm. In 2002 I had a chance to get an SME IV from HK for $1100. Got the Graham IC-70 cable right away for huge improvement. Later on I tore out the internal Van den Hul wire and put in Audio Note silver litz tonearm wire along with RCA connectors to use AN-VX tonearm cable and have now had the Mk IV table for 22 years. With its TNT platter, motor, and SDS it is a solid end game table for me. I agree the tonearm and wire upgrade is at least as big as going from MM to MC cartridge.
Hancock’s Maiden Voyage is such a stellar performance. A moment in time from a gifted assembly of musicians. It’s like an intelligent conversation among five scholars. Hancock himself considers it “his favorite among all the compositions he has written.” (Wikipedia). According to the Penguin Guide to Jazz “a colossal achievement from a man still just 24 years old." You can’t deny the impact of the album and the composition.
I agree completely, I remember when I went from the 309 to the V on my Sota Cosmos in the 90s & the upgrade was pretty significant. And the better the cartridge the more significant the improvement. Congratulations Steve, you deserve it. Use it in good health!
I HAVE an SME V and then what? YES! you remove the connector block at the cartridge end and have KONDO pure silver arm wiring and a good amount of patience before the wiring is burned in and BINGO! you are there! (and don't forget to have a turn reinforced tape around end of the arm to provide some damping that has been lost from removing the connector block.
I used to have the Rega RB300 on a Thorens TD160, had that set up for over 30 years. Loved it. Recently installed a SME Series 3 on an old Oracle Alexandria, Wow was I impressed. They say the Series 3 is the Red Head of the SME line but I couldn’t disagree more. They can be had for peanuts and will make any turntable come alive. Little fussy to set up but most audiophiles enjoy that anyway. Love the SME arms. 😎
Well done Steve for getting the SME V. I had one 'welded' to my 3-motor, 2 belt Voyd TT back in the 80s and it's been fantastic with a number of cartridge setups. I recently had a KISEKI PURPLE HEART fitted and am astonished, daily, at the sound coming out of my panel speakers. Loving your music recommendations.
Thank you for the heads up on the the V , I have one sitting in my closet for years Lol 😂 and now I’m going to put it onto my j.a.mitchell se table. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
My ultimate deck would be an SME 20/3 with the Series V arm and an Ortofon Cadenza Blue or Black, it’s the best deck I’ve heard, next best is a full Klimax spec LP12, but the SME gets the crown for me.
Great choice! If my memory serves me right, you're right on the nail with the pairing! The Linn eventually did limit your choice on arms, I should have got the ARO instead of the Ekos with the Linn. The SME V in one word, grounded. Together with the table builds a solid foundation for the music to come alive. IMHO, not as "toe-tappingly musical?" than the Linn/Aro combination, but much more solid overall. Did you mention the difference in the bass? Your work here is done, but you'll have thousands of LPs to enjoy with the SME V like they were brand new recordings! Congrats!!!
Nice story. I think you should interview Michael Trei . From what I have heard he has had an interesting audio life, from working with Herb as an Audio Note importer to TAS reviewer (I think) and I don't what all else. Would love to hear his story! If you've already done this and I missed it, apologies.
6:20 I also use Herbie Hancock for testing. I have a pressing of Man-Child by Speakers corner that is very good as a reference AAA record! 7:16 I think it's what they call "slapping the bass" When I go mod my turntable (SL-1200G), I'm putting a Dynavector DV507 MKII on it, just because it has so many settings to adjust and I like to experiment.
It's so cool to see you show your passion for great records Steve, I get the same goosebumps of certain ones I have in my collection too, so when your describing your experiences with your system I'm digging it totally! 👍👍👍👍👍😁
I'm definitely a vinyl guy. While I don't have a large collection of records (about 620+ or maybe closer to 650+), I am heavily into the restoration and preservation of vinyl records. To me they are historical documents to be cared for and yes, listened to and enjoyed. The one thing I need not concern myself with is tone arms. Why? Well, simply because I use vintage tables where one can not swap arms. My tables are direct drive as well. For those who doubt the accuracy of such tables, you would be very shocked how accurate they are (at least a number of particular models anyway. No, the old Technics 1200s were notoriously inaccurate. The ones Technics makes now though are a completely different story though). Sure, I am limited to what carts I can use....or am I? There are tons of different carts for any mass arms, so it is not all that restrictive. Of course, for real nice sound from your table, it can also make a big difference in what phono preamp you use. Again, the good thing there is that there are real nice ones for not a lot of money as well.
Dr. Guttenberg your suggestion yesterday helped! From now on you will be referred to as...the good doctor! Any chance in the future, if you haven't done it already, post a video on how to clean your vinyl and your stylist thank you. Everyone have a good listening day !!!
If you can afford a record cleaning machine , that's the way to go . If you are serious and willing to pay , you won't regret a Loricraft purchase . For the stylus , the ONZOW from Japan is excellent . The difference between a new record and a new record that's been properly cleaned is bigger , IMO, than any cartridge upgrade . USAF vet
In 1999, upgraded from a Thorens 160s, SME Series 3 arm and Goldring 1042 cartridge to Michell Orbe, SME Series V arm and VanDenHul MC1 Special cartridge. A upgrade to a VanDenHul Frog Gold and most importantly, a phono preamp upgrade from the Audiolab 8000PPA to a Rega Aura MC phono preamp has proved to be a stunning improvement. It has literally given me a new collection of vinyl!
My SME 309 has given me 20 years of delectable performance with over 20 cartridges. This 309 was recently upgraded at the factory with the optional silicon damper (which comes standard on the Series V). The 309 is SO GOOD (using the damper, or not) that one feels NO NEED for improvement. But it IS good to know the Series V (with fixed headshell, spring tracking force, and special inner wiring) can make such improvements detected by Steve's ears!
Steve, before folks upgrade their turntable or associated parts of their turntable, they need to first make sure that what they have is professionally dialed in. If they never set the anti-skating, overhang, vertical tracking alignment, azimuth, weight correctly, with precision, and now upgrade a part, and again not set those items correctly, with precision, then the upgrade is sort of pointless (like getting those great new speakers, and not having ever positioned your old ones correctly. Maybe the upgrade will still sound better. But without the proper settings, they will be missing out -- big time. Not all turntable enthusiasts really understand how critically important it is to professionally dial in everything. It makes a huge difference. And even those that do know the importance, then it comes down to having the knowledge, tools, and skill to do it yourself, or knowing someone that you trust that has the knowledge, tools, and skill. My guess is that most people do not know how to do the above -- myself included. I was fortunate to buy my turntable at a store that had an expert. He is the only person that I know that can do a great job (well, I know about you and Fremer, etc, but I do not really know you guys, meaning, I can't get you on the phone and schedule an appointment). So what do most people do? How do they go about finding someone that can do the job with expertise?
@@johnsweda2999 Not too difficult? It takes painstaking patients and time, repeatedly making adjustment after adjustment, often resulting in going back steps and starting again. I am all for learning. But my setup sounds great now. I do not want to tinker with it. If I screw it up, it is a long drive back to the audio store, a week or so for them to get around to dialing everything in again, and hundreds of dollars for their labor. And how do I dial in the azimuth? For that, you need a special record (probably not too expensive?) and an oscilloscope (or something similar). Raise your hand if you own or have access to an oscilloscope. The azimuth setting cannot be done by ear or by looking at the stylus -- well it could be done wrong by ear and by looking at the stylus. And the azimuth setting is critical to get sparkling stereo separation. On top of all of that, I have no plans of upgrading again (unless I hit the lottery). Perhaps a lot of people have dialed in their own analog front-end gear? But I bet that even if it sounds good, they did not dial it in with precision, so it could sound better than good -- it could sound great, but it only sounds good. They do not know that they are not unearthing every last once of sonic juice from the grooves. And that is where the magic lives. If it were easy, most turntable owners would have the tools and the skills to get every setting on the money.
The SME Series V is one of the greatest audio products of all time. The company is based a few miles from where I live (as is B&W). Apart from the quality of their products, SME has always had a great reputation locally as a very good place to work. Likewise B&W.
I've got some cables for sale that were dipped in hash oil and dried in a special oven at a temperature I cant say. I agree with the cartridge but I'm not spending 5000 on an arm just to hear a slight difference if any. But to each his own.
@ Chad...clearly you don't need to!!! I will comment though, regardless of any sound improvements, there is a lot of engineering that goes into a high end arm, esp given they aren't mass produced. Almost the polar opposite to something like a dac, where they are possible to build en masse with off the shelf parts. Maybe you should reclaim your hash oil from your cable. You could put it to better use. 😂
You are my audio kryptonite. I dragged many of my records around from apt to apt for years, gave away hundreds, still have a few that are dear to me like all the Beefheart albums, Television, Dylan... I have resisted the turntable purchase because it seems like more of a rabbit hole than would be good for me. Oh but when I hear you and Herb wax poetic about vinyl I weaken. You are my audio kryptonite.
Great video Steve, you have had some great tonearms there, wish you could comment or make a video of what is your experience now with a top Gimbal bearing tonearm as the SMEV vs your former unipivots like the Naim Aro and Graham Phantom, that would be great!
I once took home an LP 12 that was worth about $8000.00 and compared it to my modified Dual that has a Supex MC cartridge and I slightly preferred my Dual. I still have and use the same Dual and cartridge. Still sounds great.
Just bought the VPI White Prime Super Scout turntable last year along with the appropriate cabling from Transparent reference phono, the Kiseki purple heart cartridge and Herron vtsp mk 2 phono.! I agree they make a quiet table with appropriate dynamics, that VPI 10.5 tonearm being very substantial in overall performance. I'll also admit there customer service is second to none, great folks at VPI! .
Steve you now have the same setup as me except I have a VDH Condor XGM but try some damping too. Add silicon oil to the trough and make sure the paddle is only just touching the surface.
Guess I'll be listening to CD's from here on out. I have a Project turntable with an Oyster cartridge but it doesn't even come close to my Wadia transport and DAC. It appears that in order to correct that imbalance I'd have to redirect my coke, hooker, concert funds and I'm surely reluctant to do that! So, until I win the lottery and can revinylize, it's all digital for me. Rock on!
Was the geometry of your existing arm & cartridge properly optimized? Was the improvements you heard in the new arm, attributed to the newly tuned setup & adjustment of the needle & arm that improved the sound? Food for thought.
My nephew at 4 years of age destroyed my Grado Cartridge. HE WENT IN MY ROOM AND TURNED THE NAD PRE AMP ON TURNED THE HAFLER 220 ON HE TURNED ON THE THORENS , HE JUST DIDN'T NO HOW MUCH PRESSERE TO PUT ON THE ARM. HE DID PRETTY GOOD. HE DID NOT HAVE THE VOLUME UP SO MY SPEAKERS WERE SPARED. THE HAFLER WOULD HAVE KILLED THEM.
At this late stage of physical media, I'll stick with my Heybrook TT2 mk2 / Rega RB300 (van den Hul silver wired) from the mid 1980s. Still in good voice, when I get the urge to spin the old vinyl;-) Im sure the V is a great piece of engineering, but 6 Grand is alot of new music!
Ok, finally a turntable/ vinyl related post... And I shall now retreat quietly back to my seat, being put in my place with that $6,000 tone arm, as a glance over at my $399 Technics SL1200Mk2 with its new Audio Technica VM540 $249 cartridge. I am super grateful to have what I have, but I can only imagine what magic must come from that professionally set up system. I go through phases where I only play vinyl, nothing else will do, then it passes and I happily live in the digital realm again with the rest of the world. Not sure what’s going on there, but most likely, it’s something between the ears. Thanks for the turntable related podcast!
I'd say the Tube amplifier you've mentioned from China. Plus, the KEF R3 and Mag .7's unless there are better speakers for RUSH, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Moore, and RHCP? Or the Outlaw RR2160 instead of the Chinese Tube Amplifier.
Very interesting Steve however, if dynamic balanced arms are better why is the principle not used more by other tonearm manufacturers. I've used an SME IV with fixed headshell for a very long time now and love it and it's just as good as a V. The biggest improvement on an SME or any tonearm, is going balanced with a suitable Phono stage. I know this is controversial but it's the way to go with vinyl.
I went through this process many years ago, looking for an arm that would bring out the best in my Koetsu Rosewood Pro IV. I tried many arms, including a Koetsu, made by Jelco. I finally discovered that synergy with a Linn Ittok. The Koetsu loved it. I upgraded to an Ekos and noticed the same type of improvements Steve talked about when upgrading his S.M.E. I may be the only person in the world that uses a Linn arm on a non-Linn table.
@ John....similar story here. I was likely the only person using a well tempered arm on my Sota Saphire back in the early 90s. That really never worked well. 😞 Beyond that I've had a few turntables, but I think it was close to 10 years ago now, I got an acoustic signature final tool mkii and fitted a 10" jelco arm. That tt got upgraded to another acoustic signature w/Kuzma arm. Can't see anymore upgrades on the horizon. 😃
@@nostro1001 I had a SOTA with an E.T II arm back in the early '90s. One day I caught myself looking for records to play based on how they sounded rather than what I wanted to hear. The result was the sale of the SOTA and the start of the great turntable search. I listened to a lot of tables, some very high end, almost all boring. Then I stopped at a store in Kalamazoo Michigan where I heard the Pink Triangle Anniversary. I still have it with no desire for anything else.
@@johnlebeau5471 nice story John. 😎 I certainly remember the pink triangle anniversary - very nice!!! There's no doubt when you get to a certain point, there's little else the attain sound wise. Perhaps that's when you start looking at cartridges. 😆 I do like and appreciate the engineering that goes into TT's. Aside from anything else visually one can sort of see the attention to detail and methodical thought processes.
I remember going to a store in San Jose CA back in the mid 80's. They were using an Ittok on a Sota table with a Koetsu Black cartridge. It was one of the best systems I have ever heard.
Just got my new cart and I'm in vinyl heaven! Have a Thorens TD-125 mkII with SME 3009 series II improved arm. I've been using an entry level AT cart which was fine but just got my new baby in the mail this last week. Grace F9e with the upgraded OCL Nude stylus-Ruby Cantilever RUBY-OCL stylus.... I'll enjoy these for a bit but I need to upgrade my active bookshelf speakers.
I bought a Rega Planar 3 with the Elys 2 cartridge. My phono stage is the Rega Mini with USB as the original plan was to bring the vinyl to my computer. Anyway, 1200 bucks total and the arm is the plus along with the ease of set up. So for me perhaps an upgraded phono stage maybe mofi one at 299?
Cool mention of 801 Live (been listening to it on and off for 30+ years incredible Bill Bruford Bass and Simon Phillips drums- "Diamond Head" and "Listen Now" are great to plus his solo "Primitive Guitars He's till around too plays regularly in UK) OK here's the question:What do you think the cause of improvement is?Better bearings?Wiring?Detachable vs solid tube and headshell?Or is it the dynamic vs static balance?The latter comes into play with Jelco because you can go up the line and spend more for the dynamic over the static arm with same knife edge bearing.Would love to know what made the V worth the upgrade
I swapped out a silver wired Rega 250 with Michell weight for a Wilson Benesch Act 0.5 . Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy. I was not expecting the things I heard. The arm is a big deal.
Steve, after a year of lockdown, I pulled my old Music Hall 2.0 turntable, bough an iFi Zen phono preamp (good sound, weird design - grounding post is too big for most turntables, plus it has an annoying wall wart power supply). After a month, the Music Hall's moor died, so I was able to justify a major step up to buy a Dr Freikart Volare. It also was disappointing -- no RCA and power supply jacks on the back where they should be. The audio connects asre hard wired to the arm, the power supply jack is on worst place possible (the bottom - I asked my dealer, who confirmed its where Dr F puts all his power supply ports). But worst was that even with brand new records, the table constantly skips (I'd forgotten the skip/repeat/skips). Do you think a good record cleaner would help?
First. How often have you reseated all contacts on the old arm during the use of that? I'm not doubting there is tangible differences between those arms, but I am always very particular when trying anything new to make sure to reseat everything on the old stuff before a change to eliminate all risk that the difference I hear is mostly by difference in termination. Since you are a clear pro I assume you did this, but it is worth mentioning this step for all new testing and comparing for everyone else. Second. Never changing my Airtangent 1b for anything. I will always have variable second players, but the Airtangent stays on my main player forever. :)
Here is a problem I have with my SME V tonearm. Maybe you have some help available for me. For a while now I get interrupted sound coming from both channels while I,m listening to music. I can’t find the problem yet and it seems to alternate between L&R channel. So first I changed all my tubes for brand new ones on my phono pre. No improvement! Then I changed cartridge to rule out any problem from the cartridge side. No success! Now, I did change the cartridge lead cables connecting the cartridge to the tonearm cable. Still no success. It’s getting annoying finding the problem. Funny though, if I leave the system off for a couple of days the sound is coming back. Although only for a few songs and then one channels starts to get silent again🥵 Any ideas how to solve this problem? Do I need to send the SME-V in for a tonearm cable change or to get the connection inside the tonearm checked? Many thanks for your inputs and helping me getting back to Vinyl listening 🙏
No matter what the promise of HiRes Audio is, at least in my collection, 99% of my tracks/albums are 16/44.1 CD rips. Nothing changes that. Can we attack this problem from another perspective? Steve, would you consider doing a video on the Chord M Scaler, a product specifically designed to work with 16/44.1 files?
I have a turntable brand Acoustic Solid model Solid Wood. The turntable has a Rega RB-303 arm (OEM version). My wish is to replace it with a Rega RB-3000 because it has the same three-bolt anchor and it would save me to change the anchor base which is very expensive for what it really is. Would arm installation be very easy or difficult? Would you notice a significant increase in sound quality?
Thank you again and again Steve. I bought the TECHNICS SL1200 MK7 and wonder why would I at any point change the tone arm, thinking they've designed the TT precisely with their own tonearm in mind?
guscaldas3 The arm is the weakest point of the 1200, put a Rega on it and it will sing (though a UK magazine - Hifi World - did put a SME on one (with a few other upgrades)
In case not everyone knows it by now, SME have stopped OEMing their tone arms. I am not sure if they still sell them individually or they just make them to go with their own turntables.
I got into Herbie Hancock a few years ago. That's a great lp for sure. Also, that 801 Live album is amazing! They do the best version of Tomorrow Never Knows I have ever heard. I have yet to get into Herbie Mann though...a lot of his album covers sort of put me off. Lol! I know, I know..."Can't judge a book by its cover." My friends swear by him though.
What tone-arm wiring are you using? Both internally in the tone arm (MFC) and then externally to the arm Have owned a SME V on my full plinth Orbe for 20 years
I have a Thorens TD124 MKII with an SME 3009 Series II (with an Ortofon 2M Black), do you think the SME V would be a significant upgrade and really worth that money?
No, I do not own the SME anymore.. I would not recommend it. As you might've noticed I am living happily with a Technics SL1200G. I don't like the way it looks, but it sounds wonderful.
Hi, you look like smart guy, I think about buying a turntable and phono at a price matches my setup. I have Electrocompaniet ECI 6DS powered by DH labs RED Wave cable and Dynaudio Contour s1.4 speakers powered by XLOelectric Reference3 speaker cable. I would like phono stage with XLR because I own XLOelectric Signature3 balanced cables. Thanks for your time and sorry for the spam.
SME quit selling tonearms directly. Let's have s funeral for the finest tonesrm manufacturer in the world for decades going the way of the dodo bird. SME either does your military contract or your turntable and tonearm as one kit. No separate tonearms anymore. Too bad. Lots of perennial favorites from them that once sold in the 1000s.
If the audio with one good tonearm sound that different from another good tonearm, how can you then be sure that anyone of them sound even remotely close to what it really should sound like? If they both hold the cartridge in the same position and angle over the record, how can the audio then be so different? Is it down to the mass of the arm, and how little it moves in relation to the movement of the needle?
Welcome to the strange and wonderful world of hi-fi where subtle design, material, variables changes make differences that confuse and amuse and frustrate and then delight. Secret is to set a budget go listen to a lot of stuff. buy the things that make you smile and tap your feet. and then avoid more reviews LOL
I’ve got a KAB modded/upgraded SL1200 MK5, which I replaced the tonearm on with a new Technics arm with internal dampening and Cardas wires before they stopped making the arms available. I often wonder if a Jelco arm would sound better, or if it would just end up being somewhat of a sideways move. I also like the easy VTA adjustment on the Technics, but I still wonder about if the Jelco would truly be an upgrade or if a stock arm is better, as it was specifically designed for my particular deck. I’ve read so many conflicting views, that I’m kind of at a loss at this point, but also happy with the new upgraded stock arm. In the end, I think I’m more apt to get more out of a better phono stage.
Conventional wisdom says no and this is repeated on the forums by people who haven’t really tried it! I have been using my SME V on my LP12 for a number of years and it sounds pretty good. But it does make it difficult to get the bounce right as it is quite heavy (but so is an Ekos I think). So I have just bought a Roksan Xerxes to have a more conventional home for my SME. In doing so I now think I prefer the sound of the Xerxes! I now have a modified Rega RB250 on the Linn and may try the Funk upgrades as I am not convinced by the Kore and Lingo 4 in terms of improvement per £. Keep an open mind!
