SME is leaving the OEM and aftermarket/retail tonearm business.

@mofimadness said the most salient point insofar as they took the arm so far forward.

They don't go well with Linn Sondeks and other 3 points due to their weight (talking about the iv and v) but they are a great choice for Roksan, Point triangle and many other decks.

Arms are so deck and cartridge specific it's a bit unfair saying it did not go with a certain deck.

The build quality and repeatability of set up are both superb as is their customer support. They probably sold more that most high end arm manufacturers combined - that is testament to this.

Also bear in mind that the likes of:
Schroeder
Kuzma 4 point
DaVinci
Vertere
Breuer

some are multiples the price to the SME V which is made as good or better than its competition. The SME V remained relatively affordable for a pretty long time - they have suddenly become quite inflated unfortunately - but hey so is all of the high end in audio.

I must say that it is a bizarre decision to stop the sale of something unless it is not profitable.

One of the funniest things is that they used to send things via simple first class post in a box as opposed to signed for delivery - don't know if that has changed though

@chakster 

bear in mind SME have been consistently producing arms for over 50 years - can anyone else claim this? no waiting list like a Schroeder. DaVinci is very costly like Schroeder too.

Any SME arm ever made can and will be serviced and restored by SME both within a reasonable time and price.

The point is not just about putting down the SME or any other arm for that matter. The issue is that the arm has been taken off the market and it has a set of specific strengths that people can no longer benefit from which is a shame. Hell, I have other arms that I like more and which work better in my set-up but it does not detract from what is a defining product being taken from the market.

You look at many extraordinary turntables and they so often sport an SME arm - this goes back decades - nobody else can claim this to the extent that SME can - save perhaps Fidelity Research.

I do agree that british products are expensive though. Funny thing is that I've never been blown away by their own turntables