Sme 3012 R

I know this old arm is good but I don’t know why David,Rockitman,Tang,Ron,Mike
Use or will use having top tonearm like Sat,EliteAxiom,Black Beauty,Durand

Why 3012 is so special?
I never had and I don’t understand
Only to know for my curiosity
Regards
Gian

 

very interesting and enlightening post
thxs

 

As Francisco mentioned the M2 is a completely different design from the 3012 and sticking the same or similar looking arm tube in there will not make it a 3012 alternative.

david

Thank you David. I'd be curious to hear from you, Fransisco or 108CY about the sonic differences between the 3012R and the M2-12R. I now better understand that they are completely different designs.

 

Thank you David. I'd be curious to hear from you, Fransisco or 108CY about the sonic differences between the 3012R and the M2-12R. I now better understand that they are completely different designs.

That's simple, M2 is a very decent balanced pleasant sounding tonearm a good alternative to some of the Jelco level tonearms and certainly no worse than some of the super duper super hyped super expensive tonearms made today. The 3012-R is truly IMO still the best and most natural sounding tonearm ever made as SME claimed it to be. Yes I haven't heard everything but I've had enough hands on experience to know this.

david

 

No one has claimed the m12r out performs the 3012r the nature of the m12 bearings make it a far harder arm to get right I can set 5 m12-r tonearms up and they will all sound different they are a tricky tonearm to get right. So much so a arm built by Laurence sounds different to one built by brian or andy when he was working there.

My point is for what is available today from Sme the m12-r is one of the more musical sounding tonearms and not a bad buy for most. I personally prefer the 3012r as its a more consistent performer indeed.

 

Thanks David and 108CY.

 

I have discussed the reintroduction of the sme 3012r on many many occasions with sme, if introduced today would be in the region of £7500 they feel the market is limited for the investment required.

The market for the SME 3009 R or the SME 3012 R is very small - only a few audiophiles are buying them, although some got more than one!

Should we remember that SME has produced around 1,250,000 tonearms since 1961? And the SME V still sells in significant numbers.

 

Just received my second 3013-R today. I plan to install it on my Raven for mono carts one day.
I am a bit surprised by some things.
The counterweight is not as big as the multi stranded barrel type.
There is a little plastic bag with « SME seating compound « written on it. It is for gluing the cart to the headshell. Never heard about that before ! Does anyone has experience with that ? It looks like... well sh..t (nos one if I dare).
Also a black piece of black plastic that I don’t know what it is made for. If someone can explain please ?
Serial number is 01882-R. Is it an old or more recent serie ?

Thanks for your help.

 

Just received my second 3013-R today. I plan to install it on my Raven for mono carts one day.
I am a bit surprised by some things.
The counterweight is not as big as the multi stranded barrel type.
There is a little plastic bag with « SME seating compound « written on it. It is for gluing the cart to the headshell. Never heard about that before ! Does anyone has experience with that ? It looks like... well sh..t (nos one if I dare).
Also a black piece of black plastic that I don’t know what it is made for. If someone can explain please ?
Serial number is 01882-R. Is it an old or more recent serie ?

Thanks for your help.

- The tonearm is missing the 2nd part of the counterweight to use with heavier cartridges.
- The sticky substance can be used to couple the cartridge and the headshell, this was common practice up to the 80’s, it was needed with the Series II not so much with the R tonearms.
- The black tool is a wrench for the base screws.

david

 

Ok thank you David,
Do you think I can buy an aftermarket counterweight complement ?
Another thing : the little counterweight on the way-rod seems to have a spring inside it is uninstalled but I don’t understand how to re install it.
I looked on the notice but there’s no explanation.
Do someone knows how to do that please ?
JY

 

Ok thank you David,
Do you think I can buy an aftermarket counterweight complement ?
Another thing : the little counterweight on the way-rod seems to have a spring inside it is uninstalled but I don’t understand how to re install it.
I looked on the notice but there’s no explanation.
Do someone knows how to do that please ?
JY

Sometimes aftermarket ones pop up on eBay but they don’t always fit or are made properly.
You might be missing another small part if the spring popped out.

david

 

So there is no way to put the spring back in place ? Except to ship it to SME’s factory ?

 

So there is no way to put the spring back in place ? Except to ship it to SME’s factory ?

I can't tell without seeing the arm, you might not even have the right spring.

david

 

Thank you David for being helpful. I think I will ship it to SME for a fixing and check up.

 

Thank you David for being helpful. I think I will ship it to SME for a fixing and check up.

Yes SME are very accomodating Mark it att ---

Brian Laker

--he was exceedingly helpful with my 3012-R

BruceD

 

Thank you for the information Bruce,
I will try to contact him next week.
JY

 

Hey Guys,
An FYI: https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/649526019-sme-3012r-tonearm/

 

Due to splurging on a Technics SL1000r I have one of these arms for sale. Mint and as new with manual. All original.

In the UK. Would rather sell to someone who really wants one! Happy to link anyone interested to an advert for reference as a genuine seller, as I’m not well known here!
It’s housed in a acoustand obsidian effect plinth with an SP10 which are all for sale.

 

Sold STP
Far too many tyre kickers though!

 

One must kick a tire to make sure it is round.

 

The SME 3012R tonearm was a blind spot in my personal experience, as I never owned one. I knew this particular 3012 version only from friends, which are very happy with the tonearm. As my favorite Arms Fr64 and Ikeda 407 are very heavy, I decided to try out a 3012R, as this arm will fit better with some of my cartridges. As single SME 3012R are becoming relative expensive in Germany (may be a side effect of the AS turntable project...) , I started looking for complete turntables , having the tonearm fitted.

A 70 to 80kg heavy turntable with a solid steel, brass and gunmetal mix was offered with a SME 3012R for a "fair" price, so I bought the combination and tried it out. The original Pabst Motor was ok, but my Sperling Motor with a Micro Seiki SF-1L Kevlar belt played much better. I really start to like that heavy turntable, even in its blue color...,
I fitted a standard vdh Colibri (Yamamoto ebony headshell) to the SME 3012R, which was surprisingly good.

In Switzerland some of the SME Tonearm Cables are available, so I ordered one, as I like to try the arm in the original way.

Cable should be with me in the next days!

So far I like the sound of the new player in may set up. The sound ist not "better" than my SX Micro Seiki with FR tonearm, but different. Where the Micro FR combination gives you all the information, the mass player SME combination gives you more the flow of music . As this is an unusual sound from a vdh Colibri I will continue to use the SME 3012R in my set up, makes fun and fits to my vdh Colibries!

Tomorrow I will do the fine-tuning, but after the first day, I really enjoyed the music I was listening to (mostly Anne Brun today)

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Hi Shakti i also do have a Micro Seiki SF-1L Belt on My Audio Tekne TT its difficult to find can you please advise where to buy or if you have experience whit other Belt/Brands/Types Matching the Specs of SF-1L W3.2MM L1265MM...? Thanks in advance!