Please excuse my lack of knowledge concerning the SME V. I haven’t seen one for decades and forgot that it has a VTA adjustment ability. However, it is there and easier than the SME IV per other Audiogon forums but not on the fly. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/vta-on-sme-v
nsgarch2,517 posts04-12-2006 2:16pmYou can’t adjust VTA "on the fly" with an SME V. It’s main failing IMO (and I own one).
The arm post is held in place vertically by the clamping action of two captive bolts that go thru the adjustable "sled" base (a really great mechanism that makes adjusting stylus overhang a snap).
There is a removable adjustment screw that you can insert to help you make small changes in the arm height, after loosening the clamping bolts, but you cannot do this while playing a record.
If you want to adjust VTA (really SRA) while playing a record, you should consider a Triplanar, or a Graham 2.2 or Phantom (the Grahams are unipivot design, the SME and Triplanar are bearing pivots)
Now, back to my comment that set it and forget it. I’m using a Benz Ruby 3 which is not a hypereliptical but certainly not a conical stylus shape. It apparently is not as critical in set-up as the former but renders great detail using the SME IV. It took several hours and shimming up and down the post to postition the VTA so that the tonal balance was found to my satisfaction. I’ve kept it there for 12 years. The VTF and VTA were found which sounded best for most LPs. Note that I 100% agree that records can vary in VTA per cutting stylus changes as well as record thickness. It makes playing records more challenging than CDs or streaming. I have probably 7,000 LPs which are not and will never be released in any format again, half of which the master tapes do not exist.
nsgarch2,517 posts04-12-2006 2:16pmYou can’t adjust VTA "on the fly" with an SME V. It’s main failing IMO (and I own one).
The arm post is held in place vertically by the clamping action of two captive bolts that go thru the adjustable "sled" base (a really great mechanism that makes adjusting stylus overhang a snap).
There is a removable adjustment screw that you can insert to help you make small changes in the arm height, after loosening the clamping bolts, but you cannot do this while playing a record.
If you want to adjust VTA (really SRA) while playing a record, you should consider a Triplanar, or a Graham 2.2 or Phantom (the Grahams are unipivot design, the SME and Triplanar are bearing pivots)
Now, back to my comment that set it and forget it. I’m using a Benz Ruby 3 which is not a hypereliptical but certainly not a conical stylus shape. It apparently is not as critical in set-up as the former but renders great detail using the SME IV. It took several hours and shimming up and down the post to postition the VTA so that the tonal balance was found to my satisfaction. I’ve kept it there for 12 years. The VTF and VTA were found which sounded best for most LPs. Note that I 100% agree that records can vary in VTA per cutting stylus changes as well as record thickness. It makes playing records more challenging than CDs or streaming. I have probably 7,000 LPs which are not and will never be released in any format again, half of which the master tapes do not exist.