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SME tonearm differences

B

Bnoyes12

New Member
How do you tell the difference between the SME series I vs. II and the improved version? I’m getting a TD125 mkii without a tonearm and can’t think of a better option than an SME but never really knew the differences between all of them besides the clearly different type III.
Thanks,
-Brian
 
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tnsilver said:
The knife-edge housing on the rare and old SME's is round, the Series II is a pointy magician's hat. The S2 imp. rider weight rod emerges out of a large round plastic coupler, whereas in the none imp. it comes out of the counter weight and... The none detachable S2 imp headshell is, well, fixed w/o the lock knurled nut of the bayonet connector. Naturally, the detachable version has one.
Click to expand...
The one thing I couldn’t find online was why do some say “Shure sme” on the back and others just say “sme” on the back. Thanks
 
SME 3009R series was made in the early '80's. Has a totally different counterweight arm stub that can be moved horizontally left or right of the main axis of the tonearm tube. Has much better horizontal balance because of the different headshell weight. Arm tube is stainless steel. You can tell it's an "R" series from the black arm stub housing in back of the main pivot. The most desirable of the 3009 series.

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What cart do you intend to use on your rig, most SME arms apart from the mk1 require a high compliance cart, so an SME may not be the best choice.

Cheers
 
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