SME V service manual/parts list

@dekay 

I turned the wheel back and forth several times, MAX, slightly above 3,0 hits 3.36-3.37 consistently. 

Then I backed off a bit.

3+ = 3.36

3=3.17

2.5 = 2.61

2 = 2.10

1.75 = 1.87

1.5 = 1.60

1 = 1.25

Then again, and again, “forcing” it a bit at the 3.36 end.

1.7 now = 1.81

1.6 = 1.75

where 1.55 used to be 1.75

it’s a LOT harder to turn than I would expect. Feels like some old guns I’ve rebuilt where the lighter, more volatile components of the 50-200 year old oils/grease have gone to smog, what’s left behind stiffer than a double shot of Maker’s Mark.

The bearings in the horizontal plane/tower are FINE, loose as a goose or great aunt Lucy, but how to approach a “fix” maybe with modern synthetic oils in the right spot I’ll ponder while I just play the heck of out this setup, break in that Benz Glider.

I’ll live with it for now. I’ve emailed SME canada and Bluebird Music, I’ll see what they think.

To be honest, doesn't everyone use a digital scale nowadays rather than trust a knob and markings? BTW, even though VTF is by spring, you can zero out dynamic force and apply static force with the weight only.

@noromance

I think that’s about right. The digital scales are So much better than the old beam-balance devices in general. Ortofon makes a digital for around $120 that is accurate to about 0.001gm - 1 mg - (IIRC, there are several cheaper digitals that boast this level of sensitivity), I’m not sure the difference is audible or at all significant, the two beams I have I’ve compared at lower numbers and they’re about equal. A thirty dollar SME scale with a 1.5 gm upper limit and a plastic Ortofon scale (free with $2875 cartridge or $15 from Amazon) both as accurate with visual interpolation as a $20 Amazon digital scale.

But that $3,000 tonearm has a dial that SAYS 1.75gm, which actually weights about 15% more (off the top of my head). One would think a simple mechanical spring gadget would have an easy fix, a calibration mechanism, which leads back to my original question.

It’s my professional nature to worry about small details like this, and an academic question I find interesting at its core.

I recall a story - many say apocryphal - about some poor sod who was summarily let go from a job at Rolls Royce auto when he used the expression “good enough.”

@normb Can't argue with you about small details. I'm in that unforgiving business too where it either works or it doesn't.

@normb 

Here's a suggestion - what about reverse calibrating the dial  -

Set the VTF to 1.75g using the dial.

Now adjust the counterweight so that the VTF is actually 1.75g at the stylus tip - using your scales.

Now check 1.5g & 2.0g using the dial and scales to see if it is accurate enough to rely on.

Personally I prefer to set VTF with a combination of static and dynamic VTF. A ratio of 2:1 works very well - for example if you want 1.5g tracking force - set static downforce using counterweight to 1.0g and then spring force of 0.5g to bring it up to 1.5g. 

This is recommended by Grado after conducting tests - and JCarr also has found a mix of static & dynamic to be optimum.