What Does It Take To Surpass A SME V?

Dear @peterayer : You don’t specified under wich analog rig scenario you made your tonearm comparisons.

Ideally comparisons must be doing using same TT/cartridge/phono stage, well same audio system.

It’s normal that 3 different tonearms with the same cartridge performs in the reproduced sounds in a different way with different kind of developed distortions/COLOR and is up to each one of us priorities in MUSIC at home but here maybe there are other cartridge surrounded room/systems differences in between.

Stand alone the 3012R is the one with more differences between the other two: it’s not a VTF balance design, it use steel build material instead magnesium, bearing is different two using knife/ball and not well damped as the other two. For me the 3012 is the one that develops the higher distortions and nothing wrong with that if it’s what you like but with out any kind of preference bias the 3012 R is the worst one and today not true competitive if what we want is stay truer to the recordings.

R.

syntax or not syntax you can't win.

😁 funny thing about that...

Raúl, I compared the SMEV – 12 to the SME 3012R both on the SME model 30/12 turntable over a period of about a month.    I built a standalone arm pod so I could have both Tonearms on the same turntable. I could not use the vintage tonearm on the modern turntable so I switched the modern tonearm onto the arm pod and I compared both arms on the same arm pod with the same cartridge on the same turn table under the same conditions in the same system.   
 

to me the SME V tonearm is over damped and colored sounding.   The vintage 3012R sounds much more natural in my system.  

I have a similar impression comparing a SME 3012R to a Kuzma 4P. The 3012R sounds livelier in a pleasing way, the 4P over-damped. Comparisons made with a Lyra Etna and two ART 7s on a Luxman PD444 with three arms and two 3012Rs, one stock and the other(better one) with silver wire and a bronze bearing.