I know I'll never own one of the more expensive SME tables unless I start buying lottery tickets, but that's OK as I'm happy to have two Model 10s, one with a Series V and one with the M10(309) arm. I think I can speak a little to the culture of the company and the UK buyers they serve. Their traditional demographic was largely middle-aged or older men who still read every page of Gramophone. They aspired to buy what they were told was good equipment and tended not to change it until it wore out. This meant either Linn or SME, Quad or Naim, and for speakers Quad or B&W. They would describe themselves as music-lovers rather than as audiophiles. SME have always understood this crowd, and while they know they can't expect to upsell them every couple of years, they will pay a good price for reliable and accurate engineering. Reliability and quality come far in advance of flashiness. The only experience SME have had with dealing with other buyers has been through tonearm sales, and sometimes I think they found that more bother than it was worth, especially as they were convinced that their arms couldn't possibly sound as good on other kinds of table. The mindset was 'every Series V sold alone is one less turntable sale'.
But the times, they are a-changin' and new ownership means a new way of doing things. This has led to some awkward decisions and results for companies like Quad, who have lost some reputation as a result. Maybe SME will be a bit more careful about changes, and I hope so as I wish them well.
BTW, there used to be a very affordable device that let you add a second arm to the Model 10, but it is no longer made. That company told me that SME had 'taken away their dealership' so they didn't see any purpose in making it any more. I'm reading between the lines, but I think I'd be right in guessing the dealership was 'taken away' because they made that device! I mentioned it to someone I know at SME and the official response was that the company had no knowledge of it.
Chris
But the times, they are a-changin' and new ownership means a new way of doing things. This has led to some awkward decisions and results for companies like Quad, who have lost some reputation as a result. Maybe SME will be a bit more careful about changes, and I hope so as I wish them well.
BTW, there used to be a very affordable device that let you add a second arm to the Model 10, but it is no longer made. That company told me that SME had 'taken away their dealership' so they didn't see any purpose in making it any more. I'm reading between the lines, but I think I'd be right in guessing the dealership was 'taken away' because they made that device! I mentioned it to someone I know at SME and the official response was that the company had no knowledge of it.
Chris