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Ortofon 309 vs. SME 3012 for SPUs

I am hoping that people here can compare the vintage Ortofon 309 arms to the SME 3012s for use with G type SPUs.

My question is which vintage tonearm is the best complement to a top flight G type SPU? There are a few versions of the RMG 309 tonearm and also SME 3012s (Series I vs. Series II). It seems that the SME 3012 Series I fetches the highest price. I would like to match one with an AE90 or Silver Meister GM MKII SPU.

latinsamba1

Showing 2 responses by lencotweaker

lencotweaker
15 posts
 
The Spirit is a very nice SPU and I agree the price/performance is a sweet spot. Most are sold and they are super rare outside Japan. I've only very briefly compared them but I liked my Royal GM more. Once I can get a rear tonearm up and running on my Raven for the SPU I will do a more serious comparison.

In fact thats what attracted me to this thread. I was going to use my Jelco 12" or an FR64fx for this purpose but thought have been turning to alternate 12" SPU friendly tonearms like FR66fx, Ikeda IT407 SME 3012-R, M2-12R or the Ortofon RMG309i. So many options!
lencotweaker
15 posts
 
I had did have the RS212D briefly but had to return 2 samples due to loose bearings unfortunately. I ended up with the AS212S as that one in the shop was ok. It was a nice arm on my SP10 with an SPU and various other carts. I changed to the 750L to see what the 12" fuss was about and preffered it with my SPUs. I'd like to try a good 309D yet but the M2-12R and RMG-309i look very tempting. Not sure how much better than a 750L they would be though, if at all.
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