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

 

At last, got my first SME 3012R set up (not by me I have to admit) and my first SPU. Cracking combo. Love the SPU sound.
View attachment 57061View attachment 57062

Looks great Howie. I'm running an Ascona, SME 3012R and a SPU A95. It's the best sound I've had in my room.

 

Shane, it’s a different tonearm and very different cartridge for me so it’s hard to determine the contribution of each. What I will say is it blows the simplicity II + Anna +Clearaudio out of the water. May be its my personal taste which tends towards a full rich sound. Colouration is no problem for me but not something I guess I try and add. The sound is the best I’ve ever heard at home. Pitch black backgrounds, strong and powerful voices with an intimacy I didn’t have before. My Avid Acutus with SMEV and LP-S is better than the Anna combo but even without comparing I think this is my preferred combo. Now I know why the Japanese like SPUs so much. With horns this would probably be even more incredible.

 

Looks great Howie. I'm running an Ascona, SME 3012R and a SPU A95. It's the best sound I've had in my room.

Hi Jeff, please post a few photos. I love the SPU Century and am going to look for one more, you realize you don’t accept pms right?

 

Hi Jeff, please post a few photos. I love the SPU Century and am going to look for one more, you realize you don’t accept pms right?

I should be able to accept PM's, I have several of them. Let me look at the settings again.

 

I should be able to accept PM's, I have several of them. Let me look at the settings again.

Hi no you have a restricted setting.

 

Hi no you have a restricted setting.

I just fixed it thanks!

 

what´s the difference between SME 3012R and the PRO version?
best
Leif

Not a direct answer but a little more information which may be of interest.
There was another version which was called 3012-R 2203s.and has metal knife edge bearing. A few of these were built with upgraded internal wiring and were called 3012-R GTA. I bought a pair of these about 10 years ago from the original purchaser. Brian Laker at SME remembers building them himself.

 

ok thxs. so no implication for sq then...

No only cosmetic. Black powder coated collar, main weights, anti-skate weight, and the base which is slightly thicker than the standard one. You pay a high premium for relative rarity but not anything else.

david

 

Not a direct answer but a little more information which may be of interest.
There was another version which was called 3012-R 2203s.and has metal knife edge bearing. A few of these were built with upgraded internal wiring and were called 3012-R GTA. I bought a pair of these about 10 years ago from the original purchaser. Brian Laker at SME remembers building them himself.

Fortunately back then you could order them with the standard copper wiring and the steel bearing and forego the specially crappy silver wiring, unfortunately today your only option with SME is the silver wiring!

david

 

Eh. I've only heard maybe a couple cables with silver that were ok. Time to replace if you got silver!

David, I apologize if I asked before. Do the tonearm wires at any point pass through metal where each channel has a different hole? Isn't it plastic where the RCA cables plug in?

 

Fortunately back then you could order them with the standard copper wiring and the steel bearing and forego the specially crappy silver wiring, unfortunately today your only option with SME is the silver wiring!

david

David, there are quite a few copper cables on the market. Would any of them be a suitable, albeit slightly inferior, substitute for the original SME cables?

 

Eh. I've only heard maybe a couple cables with silver that were ok. Time to replace if you got silver!

David, I apologize if I asked before. Do the tonearm wires at any point pass through metal where each channel has a different hole? Isn't it plastic where the RCA cables plug in?

The RCA jacks are mounted to a plastic piece



and this is how it's wired in the back. The other end of the black ground wire has a metal tab at the other end and is screwed to the inside of the arm tube.



Is this what you're asking about?

david

 

David, there are quite a few copper cables on the market. Would any of them be a suitable, albeit slightly inferior, substitute for the original SME cables?

I haven't tried any myself but I guess the Cardas one might be a good option.

david

 

Yes that was exactly it. This is an advantage over tonearms/turntables that pass signal through multiple holes that are grounded.

 

I haven't tried any myself but I guess the Cardas one might be a good option.

david

Thanks.

 

How does the 3010R compare to the 3012R? The 3010R is on my radar for a 2nd arm because I already have the short SME arm board for the AF5.

 

How does the 3010R compare to the 3012R? The 3010R is on my radar for a 2nd arm because I already have the short SME arm board for the AF5.

It's nearly identical but a little lighter sounding than the 3012-R, works great with a full bodied rich sounding cartridge.

david

 

works great with a full bodied rich sounding cartridge.


That sounds my ideal type of cartridge, which ones do you have in mind?

 

works great with a full bodied rich sounding cartridge.


That sounds my ideal type of cartridge, which ones do you have in mind?

I would consider the Ortofon SPU Century that I just had installed on my 3012 to be pretty full bodied and rich sounding.

 

Does anyone know what the stock SME headshell weighs and if it's ok to use a heavier one (dimensions remain the same)? My cart seems to be 1gr short of being able to be balanced yet the effective mass of the 3010R seems perfect for it.