2. analog
  3. 162185-492

SME tonearm rewire - holy cow

A couple of months ago I bit the bullet and sent my vintage SME-3009 tonearm in for a complete refurbishing and rewiring. I researched various options and decided on Alfred Kayser at smetonearms.com in Canada. He was great to deal with and very knowledgeable and gave me detailed instructions on sending him the arm, promising that I would be very happy with the results and how he thought it was an upgrade worth making for my Kyocera PL-910 turntable.
  
I got the arm back this weekend and hooked it up and got everything dialed in. From the first listen I could hear more improvement than I could have ever hoped for. The rewiring resulted in a better tonal balance, richer sound, a beautiful and never harsh top end, and flawless tracking. I proceeded to listen to all of my favorite albums that I know well, and smiled ear to ear for hours while listening to each one. The wiring definitely made a substantial improvement, and the arm now looks brand new. They polished it, replaced a number of parts, and now the arm lift, arm lock, and VTA work much better than before. It’s like a whole new arm for my table, and what sounds like a world class arm, and has definitely taken things to the next level.
If you’re like me and don’t want to attempt this kind of precise rewiring job yourself, Alfred does an amazing job and improves the arm in other ways as well. I highly recommend Alfred if you’re in the market for any work or upgrade to a new or old SME tonearm.

And if I had the money to buy the gold 3009 tonearm on their website, I’d snatch it up tomorrow. That will have to be a post-winning-the-lottery purchase. For now, I’m thrilled that my PL-910 is singing like I’ve never heard it before.
dazzlingmd
8 responses Add your response
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
I love um.. 3009 I and II, have to keep them clean and lubed. Give it a few hundred hours, it's a lot longer than watching paint dry. New wire,
I've added RCA conversion kits and rewire, NO coffee! :-)

3012, I and II I like them, for heavy MM carts and a little CBal mod.

Beautiful pieces.

It will sound better and better.

Regards
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Things usually do well with Canadians .
quincy
352 posts
 
Thanks for the excellent tips and contact.  Good post others will remember.
Did he use a six nines silver cable as a new lead?
geof3
1,129 posts
 
Al is a crazy dude (in a good way) and does excellent work. I just got my V back from him a few days ago. Full rebuild plus rewire. Excellent.
bigwave1's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
bigwave1
237 posts
 
Sent my V to SME England for the overhaul last year. Same result, holy cow! Also,there was a great tweak by Roy Gregory of Hi-Fi plus magazine back in 2005 I believe for all the SME arms with the bridge, remove it, only cosmetic, just links the two sides of the bearing cradle.  Two accessible screws, and easily reversible. I don’t think you’ll put it back. Only caution, if you put it back, do not torque the screws. 
lewm
13,029 posts
 
You left out a major point of interest for me and others like me. In your new wiring, do the leads go directly from the cartridge pins all the way to the phono stage? And is this a change from previous? Because that sort of modification generally does make a big difference, especially with low output cartridges.
dazzlingmd OP
71 posts
 
In answer to previous questions, yes the new leads go directly from the cartridge to the phono stage, which is a change from the original (mine is a 3009-R), which terminated at the base of the arm to RCA jacks and I was previously using an RCA to RCA phone cable to get to the phono stage. 
And I’m not familiar with a six nines silver cable, but according to the SME tonearm a website, they use a - 4 X 33 Awg Cardas Litz 18 Karat Gold Wire.

I’m running an Ortofon SPU Royal GM mkii cartridge which is low output and sounds fantastic.  
geof3
1,129 posts
 
@bigwave1, what is removing the bridge supposed to accomplish? Just curious...
Log in to respond
More to discover
80x80
CHOIR AUDIO Turntable with SME 3 tonearm
80x80
Garrard 401
80x80
Lenco L75