Folks,
Very recently I acquired and absolutely MINT SME 20/2A turntable/arm combination for a very nice guy indeed called Darren. Thanks very much Darren if you read this, it was really good to talk and the turntable has lived up to my expectations and more.
Turntable Details:
The SME 20/2A is a highend turntable and number two in the tree of the SME turntables with a list price of £7115.58 inc vat bearing in mind their flagship is £22,500 then this one is their 'affordable' model. The 'A' in the name means it comes with a specially selected SME Series V tonearm with gold lettering.
It looks like this:
http://www.sme.ltd.uk/uploads/images/M20large.jpg
although mine has the slightly older power supply (it was a 2005 model)
Initial Impressions:
The SME comes in a very very strong box. It is very heavy indeed - probably twice as heavy as my LP12 if not more. The attention to detail from SME was there from the off. The turntable has no less than 7 transit screws and the whole suspension can be clamped down too using the very clever adjustment mechanism. It looks industrial, perhaps its mother would call it pretty but I think industrial suits - perhaps with a dash of elegance but only a dash.
Setup:
Having been used to the LP12 I had no idea what a delight the SME would be to setup. The engineering and thought that has gone into the design of this deck and arm is simply stunning. If the LP12 was 5/10 for build (simply as benchmark figure and no reflection of the LP12 itself) then the SME would be 10/10. I really thought the LP12 was good but the SME is in a different league.
I was lucky that I picked the deck up by car so we decided to leave the arm on and simply use the transit screws. When I reached home I simply placed the deck on my stand and removed the two supension lock down screws (all required tools are part of the standard SME package and are also beautifully made), unwound the four subplatter lock down screws and removed the motor transit bolt.
First task was to precisely level the deck - my stand was level anyway so this was easy especially has the deck has four threaded feet that either sit on rubber rings or large ball bearings - up to the user, I used the balls.
With the platter on, record in place and clamped down I setup the suspension. SME trounces the LP12 here. They supply a little piece of metal 3mm thick with the kit. You simply put the hexagon screwdriver into the top of each turret on each corner of the deck in turn. You then turn the screwdriver until the gap between the subchassis and the suspension column is the thickness of the piece of metal. So easy and so elegant. This simply makes the subchassis perfectly level and the correct tension on the o-rings that support it. Compared with the black art of trying to twist the LP12 springs while it is held in a jig until the bounce is vertical it was almost laughably easy !!! We are now pushing 5 minutes of setup time and the deck itself is completely setup - just the tonearm to go!!
The tonearm takes over where the deck left off and then some. It is beautifully made – incredibly precise and so so clever. First off I was a bit shocked to see two simple round holes for mounting the cartridge – no slots just two holes. No room for error there and my Lyra Argo i was a breeze to attach. Next step was to balance the cartridge – unlock the counterweight at the back with the flick of a switch – rotate the knurled knob until the arm balances – flick the switch back. Next dial in the VTF with the precise knob, done. Next with the stylus on a record use the SME supplied measure against the very handy line along the middle of the tonearm and measure near the stylus and towards the edge of the record. In my case the measurement was the same so VTA was set but if I had need to adjust then I would have had to simply insert the supplied tool into a socket on the arm and turn – arm moves up and down – dead easy. I was still a little concerned about the cartridge position – how could the horizontal tracking angle be correct? Turn over to the next page in the superb SME Series V manual and all was revealed. This was the engineering party piece. I am still stunned by the cleverness of the idea. Simply place the supplied gauge over the spindle and the stylus diamond in the pin hole in the gauge. Loosen two hex bolts on the arm base then insert another SME supplied tool and rotate either way until the arm aligns precisely with the gauge. As you turn the tool the stylus pushes or pulls the gauge and the lines on it get more or less in line with the arm. It was so easy this step took about 30 seconds – no more messing around twisting the cartridge a degree here or there. Just before tightening the bolts back up another SME supplied gauge is placed over the spindle and the angle of the arm to the deck can be set in about 10 seconds (this ensures the bias control is accurate). Do up the bolts – arm setup complete.
Test setup :
The SME20/2A was close in second hand value to my LP12 so I did a direct comparison using records to computer hard drive through a high quality ADC so that I could eliminate the cartridge from the test.
The SME/20A was fitted with my Lyra Argo i through the SME supplied Van Den Hul cable to my Linto, then to my Linn Exotik and out to the Line in on my Asus Xonar Sound card. All the recordings were done as 44.1KHz 16 bit and in WAV format for compatibility. The LP12 had a Rosewood plinth with a nearly new subchassis with Cirkus bearing, Nirvana springs, Lingo power supply and Ekos MKII tonearm all bouncing very well. So about as good as you can get without the Radikal,Keel or Ekos SE.
All the recordings were made using Audacity. As thesame cartridge was used there was no issue of level setting as the signal was the same amplitude.
Listening impressions:
Considering the hammering the SME Series V got in ‘The Flat Response’ and the plaudits elsewhere I was expecting an interesting session. Indeed that is what I got but not explicitly how I thought it would go. Before I give you more of my own views I thought it might be interesting to get yours. As a result I have posted some of the needle drops to here:
[links removed - TL]
The WAVs are in pairs with _1 being one deck and _2 consistantly the other. Please do vote on which you prefer and feel free to post why and your views.
One of the decks will be up for sale soon – I will tell you which soon...
Thanks
CJ
Very recently I acquired and absolutely MINT SME 20/2A turntable/arm combination for a very nice guy indeed called Darren. Thanks very much Darren if you read this, it was really good to talk and the turntable has lived up to my expectations and more.
Turntable Details:
The SME 20/2A is a highend turntable and number two in the tree of the SME turntables with a list price of £7115.58 inc vat bearing in mind their flagship is £22,500 then this one is their 'affordable' model. The 'A' in the name means it comes with a specially selected SME Series V tonearm with gold lettering.
It looks like this:
http://www.sme.ltd.uk/uploads/images/M20large.jpg
although mine has the slightly older power supply (it was a 2005 model)
Initial Impressions:
The SME comes in a very very strong box. It is very heavy indeed - probably twice as heavy as my LP12 if not more. The attention to detail from SME was there from the off. The turntable has no less than 7 transit screws and the whole suspension can be clamped down too using the very clever adjustment mechanism. It looks industrial, perhaps its mother would call it pretty but I think industrial suits - perhaps with a dash of elegance but only a dash.
Setup:
Having been used to the LP12 I had no idea what a delight the SME would be to setup. The engineering and thought that has gone into the design of this deck and arm is simply stunning. If the LP12 was 5/10 for build (simply as benchmark figure and no reflection of the LP12 itself) then the SME would be 10/10. I really thought the LP12 was good but the SME is in a different league.
I was lucky that I picked the deck up by car so we decided to leave the arm on and simply use the transit screws. When I reached home I simply placed the deck on my stand and removed the two supension lock down screws (all required tools are part of the standard SME package and are also beautifully made), unwound the four subplatter lock down screws and removed the motor transit bolt.
First task was to precisely level the deck - my stand was level anyway so this was easy especially has the deck has four threaded feet that either sit on rubber rings or large ball bearings - up to the user, I used the balls.
With the platter on, record in place and clamped down I setup the suspension. SME trounces the LP12 here. They supply a little piece of metal 3mm thick with the kit. You simply put the hexagon screwdriver into the top of each turret on each corner of the deck in turn. You then turn the screwdriver until the gap between the subchassis and the suspension column is the thickness of the piece of metal. So easy and so elegant. This simply makes the subchassis perfectly level and the correct tension on the o-rings that support it. Compared with the black art of trying to twist the LP12 springs while it is held in a jig until the bounce is vertical it was almost laughably easy !!! We are now pushing 5 minutes of setup time and the deck itself is completely setup - just the tonearm to go!!
The tonearm takes over where the deck left off and then some. It is beautifully made – incredibly precise and so so clever. First off I was a bit shocked to see two simple round holes for mounting the cartridge – no slots just two holes. No room for error there and my Lyra Argo i was a breeze to attach. Next step was to balance the cartridge – unlock the counterweight at the back with the flick of a switch – rotate the knurled knob until the arm balances – flick the switch back. Next dial in the VTF with the precise knob, done. Next with the stylus on a record use the SME supplied measure against the very handy line along the middle of the tonearm and measure near the stylus and towards the edge of the record. In my case the measurement was the same so VTA was set but if I had need to adjust then I would have had to simply insert the supplied tool into a socket on the arm and turn – arm moves up and down – dead easy. I was still a little concerned about the cartridge position – how could the horizontal tracking angle be correct? Turn over to the next page in the superb SME Series V manual and all was revealed. This was the engineering party piece. I am still stunned by the cleverness of the idea. Simply place the supplied gauge over the spindle and the stylus diamond in the pin hole in the gauge. Loosen two hex bolts on the arm base then insert another SME supplied tool and rotate either way until the arm aligns precisely with the gauge. As you turn the tool the stylus pushes or pulls the gauge and the lines on it get more or less in line with the arm. It was so easy this step took about 30 seconds – no more messing around twisting the cartridge a degree here or there. Just before tightening the bolts back up another SME supplied gauge is placed over the spindle and the angle of the arm to the deck can be set in about 10 seconds (this ensures the bias control is accurate). Do up the bolts – arm setup complete.
Test setup :
The SME20/2A was close in second hand value to my LP12 so I did a direct comparison using records to computer hard drive through a high quality ADC so that I could eliminate the cartridge from the test.
The SME/20A was fitted with my Lyra Argo i through the SME supplied Van Den Hul cable to my Linto, then to my Linn Exotik and out to the Line in on my Asus Xonar Sound card. All the recordings were done as 44.1KHz 16 bit and in WAV format for compatibility. The LP12 had a Rosewood plinth with a nearly new subchassis with Cirkus bearing, Nirvana springs, Lingo power supply and Ekos MKII tonearm all bouncing very well. So about as good as you can get without the Radikal,Keel or Ekos SE.
All the recordings were made using Audacity. As thesame cartridge was used there was no issue of level setting as the signal was the same amplitude.
Listening impressions:
Considering the hammering the SME Series V got in ‘The Flat Response’ and the plaudits elsewhere I was expecting an interesting session. Indeed that is what I got but not explicitly how I thought it would go. Before I give you more of my own views I thought it might be interesting to get yours. As a result I have posted some of the needle drops to here:
[links removed - TL]
The WAVs are in pairs with _1 being one deck and _2 consistantly the other. Please do vote on which you prefer and feel free to post why and your views.
One of the decks will be up for sale soon – I will tell you which soon...
Thanks
CJ
