Experience with SME 3009 tonearm?
- Thread starter Scar972
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I have limited exposure to 9” tonearms but I’ve heard a few of the most touted ones. The 3009-R holds its own against them and can even be better in some aspects.
david
Thank you for your response. That's high praise for an old arm!
I was just given a 3009-R from a friend, but not sure if I wanted to mount it as I would have to purchase an arm board for it and it would be replacing a Morch DP-6 that's currently mounted. My two Garrards are plinthed for 12" arms so the 3009-R wouldn't be an option.
What is special about the 3009-R sound and construction? It seems like you prefer them to the standard 3009.
I was just given a 3009-R from a friend, but not sure if I wanted to mount it as I would have to purchase an arm board for it and it would be replacing a Morch DP-6 that's currently mounted. My two Garrards are plinthed for 12" arms so the 3009-R wouldn't be an option.
What is special about the 3009-R sound and construction? It seems like you prefer them to the standard 3009.
Old doesn't mean dated in a vinyl chain, there's not much new today vs before. For one thing the SME is a lot simpler than the Morch to setup and sonically it's more natural with better bass. I prefer the R version, for me it's a more solid sound and isn't limited in choice of cartridges like the standard Series II is. Just to be clear I'm a big fan of SME 30xx- R tonearms.
david
Thank you, David.
If the 3009-R can equal or better the Morch DP-6 , that would be quite a task, but anything is possible. I think the Morch is one of the sleepers in high-end tonearms with its excellent design, build, and flexibility. Your comments have got me really curious about the old sme.
I'm surprised there's no one else experienced with the SME 3009 and other top tonearms.
If the 3009-R can equal or better the Morch DP-6 , that would be quite a task, but anything is possible. I think the Morch is one of the sleepers in high-end tonearms with its excellent design, build, and flexibility. Your comments have got me really curious about the old sme.
I'm surprised there's no one else experienced with the SME 3009 and other top tonearms.
You're welcome
! Actually the 3012-R is enjoying a revival and a lot of popularity on this forum, we're even making 30xx specific setup tools.DP-6 is a fine sounding tonearm but setup procedure is a bitch and IME parameters change over time, temperature and change in viscosity is a problem with silicone baths. Vinyl playback was a settled science back in the 50's a new product today is based on that science and was made right back then is still great today. SME 30xx series is one of those eternal classics as are your Garrards! Needless to say that proper setup is key to everything.
david
We make this one for perfect alignment without having to deal with odd shapes of cartridges and without damage risk to your stylus and cantilever.
david
The most important difference between the 30xx and 30xxR is the arm tube wall - aluminum in the common 30xx and Stainless steel arm tube (thickness 0,25mm) in the R series.
The R series also has a lateral balance transversal adjustment, but all the photos I have seen of it in WBF were with rider weight assembly in the central position.
Mine is not in the central position. It is close with the VDH because it is such a light cartridge, but the counterweight assembly was way to the left of the arm tube with the airtight supreme cartridge. This is for lateral balance when the arm is floating.
@djsina2 that's a heady company you're putting the R series in....I'm excited to try it!
I was doing some reading and a few things jumped out at me, it uses knife-edge bearing and a stainless steel arm tube as @microstrip mentioned. There's not a whole lot of modern arm using knife-edge bearing that I'm aware of, perhaps this bearing is what makes these old sme special.
I was doing some reading and a few things jumped out at me, it uses knife-edge bearing and a stainless steel arm tube as @microstrip mentioned. There's not a whole lot of modern arm using knife-edge bearing that I'm aware of, perhaps this bearing is what makes these old sme special.
This is a nice tool, David. I like the long straight sides that are parallel to each other for easy sighting and alignment. This solves one problem I found with my original SME 3012R headshell: The sides are not perfectly parallel. That is, the two sides each flare out slightly toward the back, and the headshell edges are high above the grid plane, so your tool is much easier and accurate.
I find this tool works best when the armtube is close to level allowing the clear metal jig to lie flat on the grid sheet. However, with my vdH cartridges sounding best when the arm is raised in back, to get proper alignment, this places the jig at an angle where only the front edge hits the grid sheet. It is still far better than using the cartridge in the headshell and also risking damage to the cantilever/cartridge during set up.
One issue I found is that one must make sure the cantilever is parallel to the headshell edges when installing the cartridge in the headshell. Zenith adjustment. There is slight wiggle room to rotate the cartridge in the SME headshell even though it has two mounting screw holds rather than slots.
If the 3012R headshell screw holds are the same size as those on an SME V, that wriggle room is indeed very slight. I remember ever so slightly increasing (~0.5mm ?) the size of the mounting holes on one of the removable headshells used with my SME Vd.
I tried one of these, it’s ok if you want a quick basic tool. You will not get as precise alignment compared to SMARTractor or WallyTractor. I’ve probably tried most of the tools out there, I liked Wally the best. If you want one of these I’m sure @PeterA from American Sound can get you one.
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