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

 

My Lyra sounds very good on my 3012R but supposedly really sings with SAT.

 

My Lyra sounds very good on my 3012R but supposedly really sings with SAT.

Johnathan Carr prefers vintage Fidelity Research and Ikeda arms with his cartridges.

I know you want to spend that $30K burning a hole in your pocket Ian, but I’m going to fight you on it!

 

Johnathan Carr prefers vintage Fidelity Research and Ikeda arms with his cartridges.

I know you want to spend that $30K burning a hole in your pocket Ian, but I’m going to fight you on it!

Stop talking to my wife, Jeffrey!

 

My Lyra sounds very good on my 3012R but supposedly really sings with SAT.

This, obviously, is nothing more than my personal, subjective opinion, but Lyra Atlas (I know you have a newer model of Lyra) on an SAT tonearm possibly has been my least favorite cartridge/tonearm combination I have heard.

In contrast, Michael Fremer has consistently and enduringly loved Lyra cartridges on SAT tonearms!

 

There was a different version of the 3012R that was quite rare and short lived, it was meant to be produced for the Japanese market called the 31012R Pro the arm still said 3012r on it, it had different internal and external wire and a silver arm lift together with a few tolerance differences this also was meant to come supplied with a fluid damper. Some normal 3012R tonearms also were shipped with the silver arm lift just to use the parts up.

I bought a NOS 3012R from Japan today which the seller called “special professional”. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw this post. It has the silver arm lift. Is there any other way to tell what this is exactly such as the box or paperwork?

 

It was extremely dull at Tang's compared to how Lyra usually is, and Shane confirmed that after trying sme 3012r with his Lyra as well.

Ked, Is that Shane me? I have not tried the Lyra on the SME as yet. the Dynavector XV1s sounds excellent on it.

BTW - how do you go about finding a reasonably priced SME headshell - all seem to be very expensive and a slightly different to the one I have got - different SME writing,

 

Ked, Is that Shane me? I have not tried the Lyra on the SME as yet. the Dynavector XV1s sounds excellent on it.

BTW - how do you go about finding a reasonably priced SME headshell - all seem to be very expensive and a slightly different to the one I have got - different SME writing,

Sorry, I confused it with someone else then. I thought you had commented on it, I will have to go back and check who it was

 

Sorry, I had seen this. Now I realize you hadn't used it but speculated how it might sound, my memory remembered it as if you had tried it

Zero Distortion: Tango Time

http://zero-distortion.org/cessaro-gamma-techdas-af1-premium-emt-927-american-sound-sme-3012r-many-carts-much-more/ Here you go...was waiting for the platform change to post. It is important to note that I was here for 4 days. My conclusions changed as we moved from Day 1 to Day 2 to Day 3...

www.whatsbestforum.com

And the laid back here I thought was with Lyra

Zero Distortion: Tango Time

http://zero-distortion.org/cessaro-gamma-techdas-af1-premium-emt-927-american-sound-sme-3012r-many-carts-much-more/ Here you go...was waiting for the platform change to post. It is important to note that I was here for 4 days. My conclusions changed as we moved from Day 1 to Day 2 to Day 3...

www.whatsbestforum.com

 

Johnathan Carr prefers vintage Fidelity Research and Ikeda arms with his cartridges.

I know you want to spend that $30K burning a hole in your pocket Ian, but I’m going to fight you on it!

J Carr used fr64 with his Lyra but moved to Sat.

 

Ked, Is that Shane me? I have not tried the Lyra on the SME as yet. the Dynavector XV1s sounds excellent on it.

BTW - how do you go about finding a reasonably priced SME headshell - all seem to be very expensive and a slightly different to the one I have got - different SME writing,

I thought you have tried theLyra on the 3012R since you have been living with it for more than a year now. I was thinking maybe you tried and did not like it that's why you never mentioned. Anyhow, how could you have not tried it really? No itch to try really? For me I tried everything that get into my room.

kindest regards.
tang

 

I thought you have tried theLyra on the 3012R since you have been living with it for more than a year now. I was thinking maybe you tried and did not like it that's why you never mentioned. Anyhow, how could you have not tried it really? No itch to try really? For me I tried everything that get into my room.

kindest regards.
tang

Hi Tang

no real itch really. the Atlas is aligned onto the Thales tonearm - it is a bit of a pita to set up, so I am loth to remove it.

I also only have one SME headshell and DDK is adamant that you should only use SME headshell on the 3012-R, so I am believing him as he is the expert.

Later this year I may be able to have 3012-R on the Technics table, so that will make for easier comparisons

 

Bought 2 SME 3012R after reading abt the massive interest in this thread. Was thinking some of your guys with high end tonearms couldnt be wrong. However I have a bit of problem with lateral balance of 1 tonearm with the horizontal bar jutting out all the way left .. Where else another arm the horizontal bar is fixed centrally making lateral balance adjustment easy to manage. Refer to photos . Is the 1st tonearm normal ( left) ?

 

Bought 2 SME 3012R after reading abt the massive interest in this thread. Was thinking some of your guys with high end tonearms couldnt be wrong. However I have a bit of problem with lateral balance of 1 tonearm with the horizontal bar jutting out all the way left .. Where else another arm the horizontal bar is fixed centrally making lateral balance adjustment easy to manage. Refer to photos . Is the 1st tonearm normal ( left) ?

Read the manual, that’s adjustable.

 

Read the manual, that’s adjustable.

I have done that . The 1 on the right easily adjusted but not the 1 on the left with jutting horizontal bar

 

So I am asking both tonearm looks different .. normal ?

 

The “jutting horizontal bar” is adjustable laterally. This is what you tried? You’re saying it’s stuck and won’t move?

 

The “jutting horizontal bar” is adjustable laterally. This is what you tried? You’re saying it’s stuck and won’t move?

The top bar is not adjustable . Is fixed . The bottom bar is adjustable for lateral balancing .
If u check the photos carefully, both of them are quite different

 

The top bar is not adjustable . Is fixed . The bottom bar is adjustable for lateral balancing .
If u check the photos carefully, both of them are quite different

Why don’t you align your arm tube end to end and then see what you get?

 

Done that . Listened to it . Much better than Thomas Schick TA pairing with Ortofon Century . That’s why I immediately bought the 2nd 3012R & it was so easy to adjust lateral balance pairing it with Miyajima Infinity.
Just couldn’t balance the 1st 3012 esp on inner groove - rapidly drift toward spindle . Base plate of 3012 was levelled. Hence not sure I m getting the best out of the Tonearm

 

Bought 2 SME 3012R after reading abt the massive interest in this thread. Was thinking some of your guys with high end tonearms couldnt be wrong. However I have a bit of problem with lateral balance of 1 tonearm with the horizontal bar jutting out all the way left .. Where else another arm the horizontal bar is fixed centrally making lateral balance adjustment easy to manage. Refer to photos . Is the 1st tonearm normal ( left) ?

Audioblazer, I have owned three 3012Rs. The first one had the top bar jutting out far to one side. I found that I could simply push it back with my hand and mild pressure. I think this bar is only to keep the contraption aligned. The lower bar is the one that is adjustable with the allen wrench and what moves the counterweight assembly laterally. The top bar is only for alignment and works as a guide. You should be able to push it back in from one side so that it is more centered. It is smooth and only attached by friction to the plastic parts.