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

 

Need a bit of help . May I know the size of the base plate 4 screws ? Going to build a bronze or brass arm board. Thks

 

View attachment 77847Need a bit of help . May I know the size of the base plate 4 screws ? Going to build a bronze or brass arm board. Thks

You can use 3m or 4m, tell the guy making the making the arm board to drill and tap for either one and 1.75 to 2 cm deep but all 4 holes need to be the same, make sure to mention it!

david

 

You can use 3m or 4m, tell the guy making the making the arm board to drill and tap for either one and 1.75 to 2 cm deep but all 4 holes need to be the same, make sure to mention it!

david

TQ David . I m inspired reading 70 pages abt SME3012R , that I will likely to buy another SME3012R for Ortofon SPU century or maybe SME 3012 S2 earlier version - was told its good . Tq

 

TQ David . I m inspired reading 70 pages abt SME3012R , that I will likely to buy another SME3012R for Ortofon SPU century or maybe SME 3012 S2 earlier version - was told its good . Tq

S2 is a different tonearm, stay with the R.

david

 

TQ David . I m inspired reading 70 pages abt SME3012R , that I will likely to buy another SME3012R for Ortofon SPU century or maybe SME 3012 S2 earlier version - was told its good . Tq

The S2 is vastly inferior to the R in both sound and ergonomics. I have tried both, I couldn't give away the S2.

 

My first post in this website and I’m posting on this thread because I am intrigued by the 71 pages of replies on the discussion of the 3012R. I have not heard any SME classic arm before, but the discussion here suggests that the 3012R is as good if not better

I am running a Rega RP10 now and will be receiving the new J.Sikora Initial Max with the KV12 arm in 5-6 weeks. The Initial Max allows a second arm to be fitted.

So the million dollar question I have is, what can I get in terms of differences to the modern KV12 tonearm if my second arm is a 3012R?

Will the 3012R be a good/perfect partner to my new TT and arm? I am looking forward to hear from members here.

 

Anyone has experience of the structure of the 3012 tonearm cable, due to suspicion of broken wire issue, I have to disassemble the cable completely to see what happen, surprisingly I found out there is a small carbon resistor (or capacitor) hidden inside the plug on one end with a label 221 printed, if this is the case for all other 3012 type of cable that means the pre-loading of the resistance value is inevitably avoid.

 

Anyone has experience of the structure of the 3012 tonearm cable, due to suspicion of broken wire issue, I have to disassemble the cable completely to see what happen, surprisingly I found out there is a small carbon resistor (or capacitor) hidden inside the plug on one end with a label 221 printed, if this is the case for all other 3012 type of cable that means the pre-loading of the resistance value is inevitably avoid.

Very interesting...

 

Anyone has experience of the structure of the 3012 tonearm cable, due to suspicion of broken wire issue, I have to disassemble the cable completely to see what happen, surprisingly I found out there is a small carbon resistor (or capacitor) hidden inside the plug on one end with a label 221 printed, if this is the case for all other 3012 type of cable that means the pre-loading of the resistance value is inevitably avoid.

Got any photos?

 

My first post in this website and I’m posting on this thread because I am intrigued by the 71 pages of replies on the discussion of the 3012R. I have not heard any SME classic arm before, but the discussion here suggests that the 3012R is as good if not better

I am running a Rega RP10 now and will be receiving the new J.Sikora Initial Max with the KV12 arm in 5-6 weeks. The Initial Max allows a second arm to be fitted.

So the million dollar question I have is, what can I get in terms of differences to the modern KV12 tonearm if my second arm is a 3012R?

Will the 3012R be a good/perfect partner to my new TT and arm? I am looking forward to hear from members here.

I am running 2 SME 3012R on 2 different tables. I like them. I don't know if they are necessarily better than other tonearms. Others will be in a btter position to comment but for their price I think they are good value.

 

Got any photos?

Sure, I will post it later when I get off from work

 

@Anthony - my 3010R cable was broken and while opening it up I found the resistors as well. I removed them when I re-terminated the cable.

 

Got any photos?

 

Very interesting..... (one eye brow raised)

 

View attachment 79466View attachment 79468

This is a capacitor, 220 pF.

 

This is a capacitor, 220 pF.

What would the (suspected) purpose be?

 

Perhaps the arm/cable was used with a Shure V15iii at some stage in the past?

David Whistance

 

If this applies to all former SME cable (i doubt) which could possibly mean the capacitance is pre loading to the cartridge, in my experience some phono stage design the starting point is 100pf while some others were close to 0pf, higher the figures which could tame the treble.

 

There were some SME cables that came with those capacitors fitted as standard, particularly those supplied with the 3009 Series III and 3009 Series II Improved with the fixed head shell as those arms were very often used with the Shure V15iii and that cartridge needed the extra capacitance. Indeed I believe the 3009 Series III was designed with that cartridge in mind. What the provenance of your cable is I have absolutely no idea but I can think of no other reason why it would have come with those capacitors fitted. If you search the web you will find lots of posts where people have complained that the 3009 Series III doesn't sound good only to find the capacitors, remove them and be astonished at how good it is with the right cartridge.

David Whistance

 

AT vdh and zyx all sounded nice on SME. The Lyra and the GFS didn't. The GFS sounded good on axiom. And then tang later preferred the Lyra on Sat, and Shane had the same finding on Lyra/SME.

Really?
VDH need low mas arms not 14 Gramm 3012r Tonearms, like Alphason hr 100s or SME 309 sounds much better for me.
Zyx sounds better with 20gramm+ tonearms then they sing incridible.
Lyra is an energetic beast works well with FR 64S here with Helikon and Titan i great sounding.
for me that is not a matter of taste, but simply physics.

Have a nice day