SME 309 or SME 3009r?

Maybe the SME 3009 was top tier when it came out fifty or so years ago. If the SME wasn’t top tier back then, which arms were?

I certainly agree with you, when it was released in 1959 it was revolutionary, set a blueprint for arm design to follow, and displayed immaculate construction; however I was reviewing it in the contest of the early 80‘s by which time cartridge and arm design had changed markedly.

I think persky mean V can be worse than a IV 🤣

A V is not a IV with extra bits added: the IV is a V with bits deleted! The V came out before the IV (by about 18 months), and the reviews at the time quoted AR-A saying that a V was handmade with selected parts, whilst the IV was assembled with off-the-line parts, unselected. So you might get a IV as good as a V, but lacking a VTA screw, VTF dial and damping trough.

A 309 was a IV with a detachable headshell. An M10 was a 309 with a simpler mount.

And that's all you need to know!