What Does It Take To Surpass A SME V?

@dogberry The Standalone Tonearm Pod I designed after looking at a multitude of Designs was to have an approx'  4 Inch (100mm) OD, Hollow Phosphor Bronze Billet with a Spiked Base mechanically attached. At the time I recollect the Billet could be acquired with perfectly flat Top and Base as an additional cost to the purchase for approx' £80. From the same Machine shop a matching OD Base Plate of approx' 20mm thickness was between £10-£20 depending on Aluminium, Brass or Gunmetal.    

A proportion of the Base of the Billet was to be filled with Lead Shot. up to the level where the Billet Wall was bored to allow the Tonearm Signal Wire or Cable to exit the Void. 

The Top Plate was to be a Multi-material approach to create different damping and dissipation interfaces. At this time Delrin was an early material to be tried, as Acetal was respected as a Platter Material.

If I were to adopt this method today, I would work much closer to Densified Wood as the Bulk of the Structure.

The Tonearm Pod I regularly witness in use has been Bespoke Produced by the same Machining Company that produced the SP10 R's Aluminium Plinth.

The Design is close to mine, but has a Aluminium Hollow Billet and Thick Brass Base and Spiked Feet, Lead Shot in the Void. There are options to use a alternative Top Plate Material, but Aluminium is used at present.

The owner of the TT>Tonearm, is already starting to express a curiosity toward Densified Wood, and I suspect this may start with the Tonearm Pod, as my owned 75mm Thick Board has been discussed within the HiFi Group as to what could be done with a Off-Cut.

I am sure I have offered a Off-Cut of this same material on this forum to another member for the use as a Tonearm Pod.

If you develop the curiosity yourself let me know and I will see how I can assist with your request.         

The ones I have coming are lead-filled brass, and have adjustable spikes. I am fairly confident they will not be a disaster, as much as that might disappoint some.

@dogberry It is no secret I attend a HiFi Group, there is within this Group, approx' 200 years of combined experience with HiFi.

The Group is made up of long term enthusiasts, a retired dealer in Hi End HiFi,    an active Dealer, who has a range of Hi End HiFi, an EE who designs and builds.

Most members also have Educational Upbringing that belongs to the upper echelons in a society, (quite different from my own). They are experienced in Live Orchestra, Live Choir, Live Opera and the Group in general are regularly at a Live Acoustic Performance or for a few seeing a Band.

The main venue for a meet due to the accommodating size of the listening room, and the familiarity with the system by all, is the home where the Standalone Arm Pod is in use. This TT set Up has been the source to demo' numerous devices to be added into a signal path over the past few years as well as be used for Platter Mat comparisons, Puck Comparisons, RCA Cable Comparisons.

Not at any time has it been suggested there is something amiss in the SQ as a result of the Standalone Arm Pod in use, there is only satisfaction and attraction to the performance of the TT>Arm>Cart' in use. Certainly no disappointment, 'what's that'.

Do you mean on the Analog Section of Audiogon, there might be a few who a long-time honed in their collusive activities, where there is the need to project an authority. Where this unfortunately results in the discoveries of endlessly contradictory statements, where the sands are always shifting in relation to their assumptions/presumptions that something is insufficient if they say it is.

@dogberry These Pods are going to be just fine as the minimum, in truth, they are most likely going to give you a experience that is totally satisfying.

The Base the Pod and TT share is a important consideration, it is best if it has a very stable property. There are numerous materials that are stable today.

The next consideration is how the Base managers energy transferred, either ambient or from the TT Operation. The road leads the Densified Wood once more for this a material that damps and dissipates energy to the desirable effect.

The link is one I posted very recently, it has a valuable demonstration, and shows where the Densified Wood reaches beyond earlier go to choices used by many.

As said once the impression is made if you want to experiment a little. If the use of a Densified Wood becomes a interest contact me.   

I was not referring to you, pindac.

Since you will have 2 really nice cartridges, an S tonearm with removable head-shells would be convenient. With SOTA, you have to be very careful that an arm will fit within the arm board, won't bump into the dust cover, and won't be over-weight for proper balancing of the suspension. My Fidelity Research FR64fx (S with removeable head shells) weighs ~ 2.2 lbs, and comes in just under that weight limit. It's a very nice match with SOTA Nova :) 

Of course when swapping head shells, VTA adjustment is a concern and most arms with on-the-fly VTA will be a difficult fit for SOTA. But in practice, the only cartridge I've yet encountered with a wildly different height than others is Van den Hul Colibri (much taller).