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Cartridge suggestions for SME 309 tonearm?

Beobloke said:
Crazy thought - rather than upgrading the cartridge, have you considered upgrading the 309 to a Series V?

I used a 309 for nearly 15 years and always loved it. I felt it was about 80% as good as a V, until I finally bought one a few months back.

I would now revise that figure to about 60%…
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Interesting, did you make use of the damping on the SME V ?
 
Before the horrendous price increases, I chose the expensive tonearm cheapish cartridge combo on my SME 20 (2nd hand without arm) - brand new SME V and Grado Sonata.

Never seen the need for the damping on the V with eh Grado or a previous DV

To return to your original question, I've heard a DV17D3 really sing on a 309 (on one of the more expensive AVID tts).
 
I expect much of it will depend on amps, speakers and room. When I used an SME10 & 309 through to the end of the noughties I enjoyed both a Benz Glider low output and a Lyra Dorian, neither breaking the bank financially. It was a real shock seeing the current price of a Glider! I don’t assume either would be the best choice now with different system in a different house.
 
SME 309 is a very capable tonearm , I have owned both at the same time and there is not that much difference IMO , V has some easier setting up advantages - dial for VTF and VTA but 309 has an azimuth adjustment thanks to removable head shell as opposed to tilting arm pillar . Soundwise , well in blind test many wouldn't tell which is which , as to cartridge choice mentioned earlier Benz is a good match but Ortofon Cadenza range performs better , again IMO , depends what you're looking for - Benz more lush sounding , Ortofon bit more accurate
 
slawekt said:
Good choice but as you have mentioned no longer manufactured , another good cartridge ZYX Ultimate 100 but you'd need bit of extra mass added
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I have the entry level ZYX but have not compared it directly to the Transfiguration.
 
I use a Dynavector XX-2 in my SME V. It seems physically well suited to the SME (resonates at the correct frequency, sits easily in the headshell, stylus tip can be seen easily for cleaning and alignment). Most importantly, the combination has some life and 'vim'. I've heard a few cartridges in SME arms and some have played to the SME's reputation of being very detailed but 'dead' sounding.
 
Martin M said:
I use a Dynavector XX-2 in my SME V. It seems physically well suited to the SME (resonates at the correct frequency, sits easily in the headshell, stylus tip can be seen easily for cleaning and alignment). Most importantly, the combination has some life and 'vim'. I've heard a few cartridges in SME arms and some have played to the SME's reputation of being very detailed but 'dead' sounding.
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That was my experience of the SME iv with both the Lyra and Benz on the NA TT but the same arm and cartridge worked very well on a Gyro SE, a friend did have a SME20 TT with the supplied V arm, cartridge was a Sumiko Pearwood and it sounded excellent.
 
Another Benz fanboy here, I'll have another at some point. Been using a R50 Bloom for about the past 12 months and it is decent enough.
 
A Phasemation cartridge would be a good match for the SME - beautifully made, beautiful to hear and not silly prices.
 
Many thanks for all your replies, guys.

In the meantime I had a chat with somebody from Benz Micro and they suggested the Benz Micro Ruby 3 Open Air:

https://www.hifi-henkes.de/benz-micro-ruby-3-open-air-mr-low-output-moving-coil-tonabnehmersystem/

(the fact that Benz Micro does not have a proper website does not really help getting a good overview on what exactly they are offering)

Haven't really heard about that one, it is lighter than, say, the Gullwing, since the metal is aluminium and not brass, and the lower weight is better suited to the 309 (so they say). Furthermore the 'naked' Benz carts apparently are better suited to 'modern' music which, for Benz, also includes jazz, than the ones with wooden bodies.

I guess given the precise and neutral (some say boring) nature that is often attributed to SME TTs, I probably do want something with a bit of va-va-voom, to avoid getting a sound that is too matter of fact. I'll probably contact EMT next to see what they say (support your local cartridge manufacturers and all that). The Lyra Delos also seems to offer a lot of excitement and dynamics (some say even too much) and their idea of how they align the stylus to compensate for the downforce/tracking weight makes sense to me:

https://www.lyraanalog.com/lyra-new-angle.html

Are they the only ones that do it?
 
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