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No more SME arms!

Sad news
Just looking at my 3012R 2203s.
Brian Laker remembers building it with special internal wiring. This model is In great demand with the super rich HiFi brigade in the states. Must make sure I show it true respect ✊
 
So this means that the M2-9, M2-10 and M2-12 tonearms, and their respective 'R' versions, are gone forever? I have never seen them sold with any SME TT, they always had/have 3 Series and up.

A real shame - a Luxman PD-171 with an M2-9R would have been such a nice pairing, at least from a visual POV..
 
this one?
mission_mechanic.jpg

No this one, it was better than an Ittok

https://www.vinylengine.com/tonearm_reviews.php?make=Mission&model=774+(original)
 
I dont think it's to hard to work out . Hifi sales are well down the market has shrunk substantially. I have two SME V arms on a SME turntable a wonderful sounding peace of kit built like a tank. British hifi at it's best.
 
So this means that the M2-9, M2-10 and M2-12 tonearms, and their respective 'R' versions, are gone forever? I have never seen them sold with any SME TT, they always had/have 3 Series and up.

A real shame - a Luxman PD-171 with an M2-9R would have been such a nice pairing, at least from a visual POV..

Yes it would seem odd that they've already gone to the expense of tooling and jigs etc. to make these arms, there can't be much outlay now to carry on producing them.
 
Interesting announcement, i guess from their position they are probably doing well selling a complete turnkey solution? The numbers probably say so.
I suppose its a bit like a speaker manufacturer also selling oem drivers alongside their own complete package maybe? Also i can imagine the majority of their customer base want to buy the complete package, times have changed and sme are just adjusting to this
 
Capitalism is wonderful. So they say.

It strikes me as the exact opposite of capitalism! All the moulds, machinery and processes clearly exist to produce a SME V, the raw material cost will be negligible, the current retail price is £5.2k, so that means it is going to dealers at about 30% less than that, say £3640. That’s a lot of cash to turn your back on for the price of a block of magnesium, some bearings, paint and wire! Why have that machinery sitting idle?

PS I wonder if it is the time to buy a few tidy second hand SME Vs as an investment?!
 
So this means that the M2-9, M2-10 and M2-12 tonearms, and their respective 'R' versions, are gone forever? I have never seen them sold with any SME TT, they always had/have 3 Series and up.
SME bought Garrard. It should be obvious where the M2s will end up.
 
Yesterday was the day for that. As of today prices are going to firm up considerably.

Probably right. I’ve got four close to mint 3009s (two boxed, one in use on my TD-124) and they have all been a stunning investment, each now worth multiples of what I paid. I suspect the one of the modern range that will be worth serious cash soon is the M2-12R. That one will go through the roof!
 
SME bought Garrard. It should be obvious where the M2s will end up.

Strictly speaking, they did no such thing, because there was no Garrard to buy; they just bought the right to use the name, but I can't see it going anywhere, all the time there are thousands of 301/401s out there.
 
Anyone who buys a sme arm on the back of this notice has just been played.


Sme announces discontinuation of arm availability in bid to help dealers clear their stock.
 
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Anyone who buys a sme arm on the back of this notice has just been played.


Sme announces discontinuation of arm availability in bid to help dealers clear their stock.

Any dealer who has stock has just been given carte blanche to charge whatever they feel they can get away with.
 
I heard that SME weren’t making enough profit on the arms to bother with it. That’s why the new owner upped prices significantly. The new turntables are mostly variations on previous designs, which were also not very profitable. It’s tough to see how they can really make a serious business out of it. Maybe by stopping the OEM supply, they can concentrate on making more exclusive and expensive turntable-arm packages.
 


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