I bought a Jelco 370 H mid 1980's vintage fluid damped tonearm to install on my 1984 SYSTEMDEK IIX. The 370 H is NOS and ran about $300. They're great tone arms for the money.
SME tonearms on a japanese market
Good day! With a plan to add another tonearm to have a backup for my Sumiko tonearm I recently did browse the ebay and realized there is a big selection of SME tonearms mostly 3009 in the range of 400-500$, and even IV and V under 2600$. Is there any polytical connotation in the fact or I just have not been there for a while (which is very true)? I was considering between Jelco and SME but now I am so very positive about the latter. Thanks for the feedback
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@anatoliy I’ve three TK850 tonearms. 12" and 9". Running them with Decca cartridges with zero issues. The knife edge 850/950 series are a large step up from the others. They replaced three SA 750 Jelcos. |
Visualize a knife, edge up, placed transversely across the armtube. Now, fit the armtube in a metal block with a presisely machined 'V' groove that is placed on the knife edge and balanced. You have now created a stable, extremely low-friction, rattle-free vertical knife- edge bearing, just like SME. It's also quite durable, unless you drop it and damage the knife edge. A point to remember when buying or shipping an SME arm - it must be blocked up and preferably removed from the plinth and laid sideways to protect the knife edge. |
Do note, there are Analogue Source users within this Forum and others, where it is no secret their funds seem unlimited for the value of ancillaries that can be purchased. There are a few of these types with serious spending opportunies, that are using Vintage Knife Edge Bearing designs on Tonearm in use. |
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