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help with clearance between sme 3009 arm's tube and arms lifter assembly

Hello guys,
I’m writing to ask for your support to correctly couple a Thorens TD160B mk 2 with a a SME 3009 improved seried 2 removable headshell arm. The cartridge I use is a Benz ACE L.

I bought the arm’s base and mounted the arm, verified its null points with the protractor, regulated the pickup orientation and put the cartridge shell parallel to the LP surface with an LP on the mat.

So far so good.

The point with me is that the clearance between the arm lifter assembly and the arm tube: it is too short. When putting the cartridge on the LP the arm tube touches the arm lifter (the semi-arc on top of the lifter case) and so it the stylus does not touch the LP at all.

I know (or at least I think I know) all about the exagonal 1/16’’ screw to be unscrewed to rise/lower the arm’s pillar and the other to untighten and rotate the arm lifter ring. So, I screwed the hex screw to rotate the arm lifter ring to the lowest point of the thread which below the arm’s yoke, on top of the arm’s pillar, but the clearance between the arm’s tube and the lifter is still too small to any avoid contact between these two parts.

With that said, now I run out of ideas.

Images at: 
https://imgur.com/zNxfC1p
https://imgur.com/qx0x6TG
https://imgur.com/GVeJjj4
https://imgur.com/KcAhhLG

Please, is there anybody out there ( ) who already run into this problem and who is so kind to help me ?

An additional info: in order to correctly set the arm pillar height (it affect the VTA...) I put a small inclinometer on the top of the cartridge shell and adjusted the height of the pillar until the cartridge shell was parallel to the disc surface. Is it correct ? I think so, but prefer to ask.

Many thanks
Luca
lsfarzo
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,678 posts
 
OK:

Missed the pics in your original post (the arm height/adjustment looks weird).

Here are a few pics of what it should (more) look like...


https://vintage-turntables.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/thorens-td-160-super-with-sme-3009-6.jpg

https://vintage-turntables.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/thorens-td-160-super-with-sme-3009-7-950x6...

And...

Here is the website...

https://vintage-turntables.com/product/thorens-td-160-super-sme-3009-tonearm/

DeKay



xaak
43 posts
 
The base is sitting too high off the plinth.  Lower it if you can, raise the arm pillar to compensate, and you'll have your clearance.
geof3
1,129 posts
 
Ok, so the arm and lifter move as one? Isn’t there a screw in the back of the lifter plate/clamp to adjust the lifter up, down and rotationally relative to the arm? And, yes, I did misspeak. You need to lower the arm so that when the stylus is on the record there is clearance of the adjuster. But, there should be adjustment ability of that assembly based on the screw on the back of the clamp around the main pillar.
dover
2,265 posts
 
@IsfarzoI 

I have compared your pictures to my own SME - to me it appears the aftermarket knife edge bearings are not correct - the knife edges are too high, resulting in the armtube sitting too low in the carrier.

Since you appear to have the armlift as low as possible, cartridge spacers &/or adjusting the back of the arm cannot fix your problem.

I think you need to replace the knife edge bearing.

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
@dover , that was my impression also! Look at my first post. Isfarzo did not respond to it. Why would someone make a bearing with the wrong geometry. Maybe for a different model of arm?
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