Catridge for sme 30/2

I recommend Ortofon cartridges, and we have an SME 20/3 with Ortofon Cadenza Black as our reference turntable setup. Ortofon cartridges have a little peak on the top that also helps to adjust azimuth, if the tonearm does not support rotation along its horizontal axis (roll). We use Dr. Feickert's Adjust+ to measure and calibrate cartridge phase / azimuth, and Dr. Feickert's protractor for alignment and overhang.

The Ortofon Windfeld Ti was used on the SME 12A in a room at the Florida Audio Expo and sounded excellent. 

Boy, that is a big jump! You're gonna love this. It has a V arm on it right?
That is a light arm which is OK, you can always add weight. I love ortofon cartridges particularly the Windfeld Ti. But, in this case I would prefer the Clearaudio Concerto. It is more compliant and very detailed. It tracks almost as well as the Windfeld but is a shade more dynamic. I think it is a better match for that arm.

Mike

Don’t worry, an SME 30 is almost plug and play. The table looks complicated, but really isn’t. If your 30 has a V arm just setup as described and it’s actually pretty easy. There aren’t the cart issues that other arms have as the head is not slotted, nor does it have rotational adjustment. There is a little bit of side to side, but it is very slight. Setting up the rest is pretty straight forward. Get a good force scale gauge as well. Have fun with it, it’s a great setup.