2. analog
  3. 181738-1590

Should I buy an SME 30/12A for 15K?

I am a vinyl newbie with maybe 100 LPs (or less) in my collection. I have had a Technics SL1210GAE for past 2 years, I just plugged and played it. It’s good but my digital is almost as good or sometimes better.

I recently heard a SME 30/12A at the dealer’s, and it blew my mind, and my digital was no where close (the dealer had almost the same digital -- mine is Nagra Tube DAC, his was the Nagra HD DAC -- and we did on spot comparison, not an apples to apple of course but still best that we could under the circumstances).

 

Now given my relative inexperience with vinyl (I know next to nothing about setup), should I plunge for this offer which is offered to me at 1/3rd the retail price and probably an endgame TT for me.

 

Thoughts?

Also, is this as great an offer as I think it is, are there better TTs at 15K$ retail price (I cannot/will not buy used) than the SME 30/12A?

essrand
nferre66
28 posts
 

@gordon I did. So a great deal.
 

My opinion stays the same. The dealer had both a phono stage and a cartridge infinitely better than that of the OP.  It’s unreasonable to think the OP will get anything close to what he heard once he gets it home.
 

 

terry9
2,243 posts
 

Yes,nferr, but it will be a 'forever' table. The rest can be upgraded at leisure. 

gordon
128 posts
 

@nferre66 Sorry, I guess my post was a bit cryptic.  I meant that you suggested that he pick up the TT because it might be a scam:

"If you decide to buy the SME, make arrangements to pick it up in person. You know what they say- if it seems to good to be true…."

When the OP had already gone to the dealer to listen to it.  

Perhaps I misunderstood what you meant by the quote above.

 

lewm
12,553 posts
 

Perhaps there is no risk in this case, but several years ago I nearly bought an SME30 from a seller in the UK, off eBay. I smelled a rat after the seller requested payment via bank transfer, and I asked for his address. That turned out to be the address of a pub in London. An inquiry sent to the pub manager quickly revealed they knew nothing about turntables. What interested me was the indignance of the "seller", once I exposed him.  The price was definitely "too good to be true".

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