SME is leaving the OEM and aftermarket/retail tonearm business.

One of the funniest things is that they used to send things via simple first class post in a box as opposed to signed for delivery - don't know if that has changed though

@chakster 

bear in mind SME have been consistently producing arms for over 50 years - can anyone else claim this? no waiting list like a Schroeder. DaVinci is very costly like Schroeder too.

Any SME arm ever made can and will be serviced and restored by SME both within a reasonable time and price.

The point is not just about putting down the SME or any other arm for that matter. The issue is that the arm has been taken off the market and it has a set of specific strengths that people can no longer benefit from which is a shame. Hell, I have other arms that I like more and which work better in my set-up but it does not detract from what is a defining product being taken from the market.

You look at many extraordinary turntables and they so often sport an SME arm - this goes back decades - nobody else can claim this to the extent that SME can - save perhaps Fidelity Research.

I do agree that british products are expensive though. Funny thing is that I've never been blown away by their own turntables

I love my SME 20/2 but when I switched my tonearm from a IV.vi to a Tri-planar I realized that the SME tonearm was not as good as I thought it was.  Not even close to the TP.  
Still, SME is an awesome company and I hope they continue to thrive and develop more awesome products in the future.  

snackeyp, it all depends on the cartridge. With most modern moving coil cartridges a Tri Planar arm will sound better unless some mass is added to the SME. If you set the resonance frequency of both arms to be exactly the same with the same cartridge installed they are going to sound identical. IMHO the SME V 12 is the best arm made for most modern cartridges. When it comes to the Koetsu's and Air Tight's the Kuzma 4 point 14 has to be heard. Best bass definition I have ever heard come from a turntable set up. If you are looking for dependable, durable, well made turntables and arms it is hard to beat SME. If you are buying these devises for looks you are in the wrong hobby. There is an inherent beauty in precision. 

@lohanimal with all my respect to SME engineering this is the sort of the arm i have never even wanted to buy, never ever. It is true that vintage turntables on used market often comes with an old SME, but this is the first thing i would immediately remove and sell to put much better japanese vintage tonearms instead. New SME must be better, but at their price there are so many tonearms to choose. In terms of design i just don't like SME on any turntable, so ugly in my opinion.