Internal Wire Upgrade for SME V

Ah, the power of suggestion. Any sane person is bound to look like an idiot. Keegiam will have his wire replaced and will think it made an amazing difference in sound quality like Raul and Frogman. 
Keegium, that "expert Tech" is now 30 years older and has a shake and bad eyesight. Anybody who is an "expert tech" would not be in this business. They would be doing something useful like fixing jet engines. You can actually make a living doing that. 
Anytime someone says a minor change makes a huge, amazing, stunning and or phenomenal improvement, RUN away. There is no such thing in tweakdom. Just vivid imaginations. Going from Rogers LS3 5A's to Sound Labs 845's is an example of a huge, amazing, stunning and phenomenal improvement.   

I would probably go with AudioNote instead of these cheap kits, but - why not?

It’s up to you.

I have replaced internal wires only when original was broken.
Been using Cardas, Discovery, Van Den Hul silver, never used Audio Note silver (that one is the most expensive).

I use many vintage tonearms and I have no intention to rewire them, the sound is nice as it is.

As for the external wire I can’t hear a benefit of silver over copper, so I am skeptical about it (snake oil).

Once I bought EPA-100 tonearm I asked the seller to rewire with his "expert" and there was a problem with ground after I received my rewired tonearm. Sometimes it’s better not touch/replace anything if it works fine.

But I agree than manufacturer can do the job properly, but their price is usually higher.

**** Ah, the power of suggestion ****

Ah, the power or idiocy and pent up anger. Or, is it just payback?

So, you don’t think that cables can offer significant benefits in sound quality? If you don’t, then please ignore the following. If you do, does it not make sense, never mind what one actually hears, that the first several feet that the cartridge’s very low level signal passes through would be very susceptible to the effects of cabling?

The stock cable on SME V tomearm is GOOD ENOUGH, period.

Internal wiring Capacitance 15.0 pF per channel
Resistance 0.5353 ohms per conductor

It was designed and used by SME engineers for any cartridges mounted on this tonearm, and this is NOT cheap old junk tonearm that require cable replacement.

If you think someone knows secret formula of the silver that is superior to everything else than it’s like saying that SME engineers know nothing about phono cables.

SME V stock cable is the last thing to replace in analog system.

Chakster, of course you’re right. Of course it is “good enough“; that arm’s pedigree is well established. Is it as good as AN or Kondo wire? I don’t know, but if my comparisons to Cardas and Discovery are any indication, the differences are not subtle. So, anyone with an open mind can extrapolate from that. Moreover, we are talking about a couple of different things here. Quality of the wire and its potential upgrade and the opportunity to eliminate at least two plugs and two solder joints from the delicate signal path on its way to the preamp by going “shotgun”. Anyone who hasn’t done or experienced this doesn’t have a clue as to the kind and magnitude of improvement in overall refinement and clarity that are possible by doing this.

I totally understand the concern about possible damage caused by less than expert technicians, but if SME were to do the work as has been suggested, why the staunch resistance by you and others to offering, as the OP requested, impressions based on first hand experience? He can then make up his own mind and make his own decision to go ahead or not. More information usually means a more intelligent decision.

Funny, “good enough” has got to be one of the least used phrases in an audiophile forum 😊