tonearm questions

Raul is correct about the internal wire being better on the new SME V. HOWEVER, if you buy an older one, and send it back to the factory for service (which you should do anyway) SME can install an even BETTER van den Hul wire than what they put in their current production arms.

That's what I did with my 16 y.o. arm.

I don't like suspended tables, mostly because I think they're a pain in the ass to use, but a unipivot on a suspended table -- I don't think so ;--)
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I'd agree with the Raul and Nsgarch. The SME would be the better choice. I don't think the unipivot on a suspended table is necessarily bad, Basis has been doing it well for years. If you want a uni, I'd suggest saving up some more and getting the Phantom or a Basis Vector. MY .02.

Best,

Dan

Thanks for the responses. I was planning on mating it with one of the Denon MC cartridges for now, possibly a 301. I will be jumping from a SME 3009 +linn Adikt. I guess you might say it is a big jump, but I don't see an reason to make lots of little jumps in between.

Regarding the vdh wiring, is there a big difference between the 150s 150m and 300 M? Which do they use? I read somewhere that the rewire with non standard wire made a significant difference.

It appears somewhat popular to knock the V, but given that it was designed with suspension in mind, it is probably the best choice. Could someone please explain what in particular makes it a better match, other than it is not a uni-pivot. Is there anything else I should look at?

Lastly, if I buy used, do the Vs bearings suffer with age? I presume the tightness of the bearings are critical to the success of the tonearm.

Thanks again

Nsgarch,

I've got an SME series lV arm (on an Oracle MK V table) that I just purchased a fluid damper for. I don't really know how old the arm is? How should I go about determining if I should send it back to SME for service and new wiring? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks
Rolloff

Rolloff, the internal wiring of the SME IV is a metallized ribbon, not wire. Supposedly, this presents less resistance to the bearings, and is also supposedly more compatible with MC cartridges -- for which this arm was specifically designed. So you wouldn't want to change it IMO.

The arm itself is not that old , maybe 5-8 years? You can find out but it is much newer than an SME V, and unless "you don't know where it's been" it shouldn't need routine service.

As for the damping tray, I can't tell you if you really need it or not because I can't find any info on the compliance of the Shelter 90X. (You probably don't.) Most MC cartridges have low(ish) compliance and are appropriately used in med to high mass arms (like the SME IV.) So the arm doesn't need to be damped as far as resonances are concerned, though it can help to keep the arm from overshooting the lead-out spiral, but that shouldn't happen if the table is level and the arm limit properly set.

Now if you were to use a high compliance cartridge (like a van den Hul, or many of the MM or MI cartridges) in a med/high mass arm, you might find the damping helps.

Here is a quick overview of the issue:

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/tonearmcartridge.html
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