Thorens TD125mkII SME 3009 S2 Improved Issues

[timmy.timmy]

Correct. I just checked the SME manual and that's what they call it.

I have a standard thickness Series 2 Improved (fixed headshell) on a Thorens TD125 with an original armboard. Without the grommets and VTA adjustment set to full height, I wasn't able to get the VTA angle on the cartridge set correctly, so it sounded a bit dull. Cartridge is an AT ART-9, so that may have been part of it. I just put two 1mm thick stainless steel shims between the bedplate and armboard and this was enough to allow me to lower the VTA adjustment enough to get it set on 180gm records. Word around the campfire is that eliminating the grommets gives better bass. I agree with this, as well. My setup has better bass without the grommets. I don't get any rumble on my TT, so the grommets seem unnecessary in my case.

Last correction; SME3009 'Improved ' SII (= fixed headshell) & S2 (= detachable headshell). This seems futile maybe, but not through the many readings on them I have come to realize.

Audio Technica 'Art-9' cartridge ! My-my-my, some seem to really like that cart. OK, high body. But so is my Denon DL-102... Hence my DIY conversion of my SME 'Improved' SII into heavy mass

Now thinking of it, those TD150, 125 and 126 had the long arm board leveled to the top plate. Where the TD16x & 14x had an arm board standing higher above the the top plate.

This explains that and why at first I couldn't "figure" it out. Always thinking "wrongly" that they are mor similar than different. Now those thicker SME bedplate are also available in different materials and colors.

 

[vinylaudio]

Mine is a "3009 Series II Improved" = fixed headshell. Their numbering is darned confusing! haha

 

[twiiii]

Sorry for your SME issues I owned the original second and third generations of the SME and never had any static issues. So good luck chasing down your gremlins. Do you know what a female gremlin is. If I can spell it. Pifanella. They were the mascot of the Air WACS that transported aircraft during WWII. They are much more clever and hard to deal with than Gremlins. But its great when you have one on your side. Then you are almost invincible.