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

 

I do have a 3012 question: Is it possible to lower the armrest/cueing collar? I prefer it if the arm doesn't travel as far to cue up and down. I've undone the set screw but that only seems to allow it to move horizontally, not vertically.

Yes, there’s another adjustment tube at the base of the arm. Loosen it and then rotate the armrest clockwise to lower the cueing mechanism to where you want.

david

 

I do have a 3012 question: Is it possible to lower the armrest/cueing collar? I prefer it if the arm doesn't travel as far to cue up and down. I've undone the set screw but that only seems to allow it to move horizontally, not vertically.

you can rotate the whole cueing assembly to move it up and down.

 

Thanks. I will give it a try in the morning!

 

I do have a 3012 question: Is it possible to lower the armrest/cueing collar? I prefer it if the arm doesn't travel as far to cue up and down. I've undone the set screw but that only seems to allow it to move horizontally, not vertically.

I had this situation when my 3012r came back from SME after service.
I contacted Brian Laker who remembers building my arm as the original owner had specified a very high grade internal wiring and bearing.
You have to hold the base and spin the whole are round, not sure which way for up or down. Best to speak to service dept.

 

I have to say that I've never been as happy and content with listening. I've truly stopped evaluating and I'm just able to listen to music. I never even think about how it sounds anymore, if that makes sense? It all just sounds lovely. Now I'm just buying LPs like crazy. LA has some incredible record stores.... shops with a point of view and really good taste.

What records do you go to in LA I’m in Long Beach. Have to find a place that I can take my table because the person who did the arm has it on that I can’t get the the screw to may any adjustment on the arm lowering it or rising it

 

any opinions on the "new" M2 12R vs the original 3012R?

 

Joined the SME 3012-R club today.

Something to my surprise, one popped up locally--mated to a Thorens TD520 table. The whole package $1600 all in. I don't really need the TD520, but other than one crack in the dustcover, it's in surprisingly good shape. And the arm, as best I can tell without removing it from the table, is in 8/10-9/10 cosmetic condition, with all of the rubber pieces looking fresh and supple.

The plan is to remove the arm and move it to my TechDAS V. Looks like I'll have to source an arm lift, as the Thorens deck has its own built-in lifter, but I'm guessing that won't be a huge chore. The original SME RCA leads come out of the back of the Thorens, so I'm guessing I'll have to figure out how to detach those. And maybe find an updated set of cables? Don't know how well the original SME stand the test of time....

Far up thread, @ddk (no longer active here?) advises not to have the arm rewired. I'll probably follow that advice for the time being, or maybe have SME take a look to verify everything is in good working order. (The arm had free play when I tried it at the shop and is in really clean condition.)

It's *possible* I'll keep the 3012-R on the big Thorens 520. I plugged in the deck, and it held speed fine. It also seems to have reasonably good reviews online. But my suspicion is I'll either sell the Thorens or put it up in the attic for a while until I can find, I dunno, an SME Series III or something to mount on it. Just to have a really low-mass arm to play around with vintage MM carts.

The plan, currently, is to run my SPU Synergy G or #1E on the 3012-R.

All in all, a bit of an impulse buy, but I figure I got the arm for a competitive price and a "free" turntable in the offing.

 

wbass,

Congrats to your Thorens & SME Combi !

I’ve got the same, and I was indeed advised, to keep the original arm cable.
The tonearm bearings however were changed to the bronze / brass (?) version – there is a German specialist, Robert Graetke, who sells those

Bronze knife edge bearing Mk3 for SME 3009 / 3012 - Analog Tube Audio - finest quality handcrafted in Germany

SME 3012-R SME Parts & Tools Templates & Manuals Current Production Tonearms Vintage Tonearms Turntables sme, sme tonearms, sme turntable, sme 3009, sme 3012, sme parts, sme tools, sme templates, sme manuals, sme custom cronze parts, sme cardas rewiring

www.analogtubeaudio.de

Regards
Urs

BTW: For me the automatic end-switch and arm lift are of - highly personal !! - Importance .. !

 

Yes, it certainly would make my life easier to keep the 3012-R on the TD520! We'll see. The TT itself seems to get generally good reviews.

Auto-lift, while not essential for me, is definitely nice. It seems like it's tripped by an LED light being passed by the arm or something like that.

I'm investigating whether I can get a replacement arm board and use something like the SME Series III (which I think is much shorter than the 3012-R). I'd imagine the auto-lift wouldn't work then, but, again, not essential for me. With a Series III, the TD520 might be a good secondary table for playing with vintage MM carts.

I do wonder if using a different arm would unbalance the suspension on the TD520, but, then, I do see (via Google image search) all sorts of different arms (longer and shorter) being used on it.


EDIT: Here's a webpage that describes how to adjust/level the suspension:

Adjustment method of THORENS TD520/TD521 + SME 3012R

my-audio-life.main.jp

 

Yes, there’s another adjustment tube at the base of the arm. Loosen it and then rotate the armrest clockwise to lower the cueing mechanism to where you want.

david

Can it take a full turn? It seems cueing device hits the back part of the enclosure of knife bearing so a full turn isn’t possible. Does it require something special to make that happen?

Edit: No worries - i manage to do that. A really great tonearm by the way that stands very well next to modern top-notch ones

 

after 12 months sitting on the floor I finally set the SME 3012-R back onto the Technics SP10 mk3 Acoustand plinth. first with the Ortofon SPU Royal GM which was already set up on the arm, then the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL.

 

Nice. How does it compare to your other arm? And do you have a preference for one cartridge over the other? I like the photos.

 

Nice. How does it compare to your other arm? And do you have a preference for one cartridge over the other? I like the photos.

Hi Peter. thanks

too soon to tell tbh. I have 10 years of listening to the Thales/Atlas so I have to lower that sonic bias before really going into any valid comparisons.
Just on a few albums, the SME musical presentation seems to be bass driven upwards, where the Thales is more neutral.
I couldn't wait to get the SPU off the table TBH. The Dynavector XV1-s sounds really good on the 3102-R as well.

 

Since April this year I have a 3012-R Model II mounted on my GPA Monaco turntable. David set it up with me and showed me around the arm. First time I had someone else set up an arm and I was happy to have the expertise.

It replaced my Kuzma 4Point. I did a review of the Aidas Mammoth Gold cartridge on the 4Point and we put that cartridge on the 3012-R so I've had a chance to compare. I liked the Mammoth Gold on the 4Point. The Aidas-SME combination is excellent, I really like it. In contrast to the 4P, music with the 3012-R is more vivacious and weighty in the low end with better tonality and dynamics across the spectrum. It offers better interior resolution to strings and woodwinds with more natural transient attack and superior top-end extension.

 

After spending a week with the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL on the SME 3012-R with SME headshell, I could not get the thing to sing. I sort of had a suspicion and a few here have said I needed a more modern heavier rigid headshell, but DDK has always said the SME headshell synergizes best with ANY cartridge. So I tried it.

Well he is wrong, at least with the Atlas. I bought a Phasemation CS-1200 headshell ( the most stupid stiff headshell wires I have ever seen) and put the Lyra Etna SL on it. It is a lot better than the Atlas/SME combo. very happy now, so will put the Atlas back onto the Thales.

 

After spending a week with the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL on the SME 3012-R with SME headshell, I could not get the thing to sing. I sort of had a suspicion and a few here have said I needed a more modern heavier rigid headshell, but DDK has always said the SME headshell synergizes best with ANY cartridge. So I tried it.

Well he is wrong, at least with the Atlas. I bought a Phasemation CS-1200 headshell ( the most stupid stiff headshell wires I have ever seen) and put the Lyra Etna SL on it. It is a lot better than the Atlas/SME combo. very happy now, so will put the Atlas back onto the Thales.

Great photos!

 

Great photos!

Tim, r u still using the SME 3012-R over the Kuzma 14P?

 

Tim, r u still using the SME 3012-R over the Kuzma 14P?

Hi Shane - Yes I am although after roughly 5 months I've only had the Aidas cartridge mounted on it. I'm very pleased with that combination and for now have no motivation to switch cartridges but eventually I'll put one of my Master Sigs or maybe the Allnic Puritas (which I haven't used for years) on the SME. With their low compliance the Fuuga works well with the 4P. I've used two 4Ps over the past 8 years or so and I want more experience with the SME so it will stay for a while. I like the Aidas so much I may buy another as a backup.

 

After spending a week with the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL on the SME 3012-R with SME headshell, I could not get the thing to sing. I sort of had a suspicion and a few here have said I needed a more modern heavier rigid headshell, but DDK has always said the SME headshell synergizes best with ANY cartridge. So I tried it.

Well he is wrong, at least with the Atlas. I bought a Phasemation CS-1200 headshell ( the most stupid stiff headshell wires I have ever seen) and put the Lyra Etna SL on it. It is a lot better than the Atlas/SME combo. very happy now, so will put the Atlas back onto the Thales.

Very cool photos, but I would leave out the fingerbar on the headshell. It's strange at first to move the tonearm with your finger on the tube over the LP. The finger bar changes the anti-skating force enormously. I use my Lyra cartridges with VTF a lttle over the specs 1.75-1.80g and skating force 0.3- 0.4g with excellent results. My tip to get the best out there.
P.S
Set anti-skating: you take a really straight LP and lower the needle into the lead-in groove using the lift. You set the anti-skating force so that you get the lowest possible noise when you put it on the LP (the azimuth of the cartridge must be correct). All other methods have proven to be counterproductive over the last twenty years, as the skating force changes across the width of the record.try it out and report back

 

Set anti-skating: you take a really straight LP and lower the needle into the lead-in groove using the lift. You set the anti-skating force so that you get the lowest possible noise when you put it on the LP (the azimuth of the cartridge must be correct). All other methods have proven to be counterproductive over the last twenty years, as the skating force changes across the width of the record.try it out and report back

Come on!… I wasn’t expecting to see this nonsense here on WBF. That’s not the right way of aligning anti-skating, far from right…