What Does It Take To Surpass A SME V?


Thinking about the possibility of searching for a new tonearm. The table is a SOTA Cosmos Eclipse. Cartridge currently in use is a Transfiguration Audio Proteus, and it also looks like I will also have an Ortofon Verismo if a diamond replacement occurs without incident. 

The V is an early generation one but in good condition with no issues. Some folks never thought highly of the arm, others thought it quite capable. So it's a bit decisive. 

The replacement has to be 9 to 10.5 inches. I have wondered if Origin Live is worth exploring? Perhaps a generation old Triplanar from the pre owned market?

 Any thoughts on what are viable choices? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

neonknight

@rauliruegas 

 

Well I have images of a cantilever with epoxy only on the tip and pictured of a clean cantilever devoid of epoxy. Cantilever is not fractured. The cantilever is confirmed as synthetic diamond. There is plenty of data to confirm the cartridge is all OEM and missing a diamond. Condition and health of the cartridge is confirmed by inspection. Steve is in the process of installing the diamond at this time. 

@lewm , I live in a bathroom community glued to the side of the greater metropolitan Boston area. I also have an excavation company in my back yard. Can't see them but I can hear them all day long if I walk outside. I hear and see them running inside if I but a a few blocks of wood under the Sota and turn off my rumble filter. Put the tonearm down on a stationary record, put the dust cover down so you are not subjecting the tonearm to any drafts and watch the subwoofers go. Sometimes I can even see the cantilever squiggle a little as something comes in around it's resonance frequency. We do have seismic activity up here but it is always minor by the time it gets to us. I have felt it on several occasions, very spooky. A tonearm needs to be rigidly connected to the platter and both need to be isolated. People will do what they will but, you will never catch me with an outboard arm pod or an unsuspended turntable. Yes, "whew" is more than appropriate.

@pindac , two tectorial plates moving at two inches a year cashed into each other and created the Himalayas, a rock pile 25,000 feet high. So much for mass. 

@mulveling , I lost the diamond off a Clearaudio Charisma without a hint of damage to the cantilever. I sent a picture to Musical Surroundings who got a new cartridge and a return packing slip to me in three days. Great service. Then there is the episode with my Double Matrix Pro Sonic but, I will save that for another day.

As stated a few post back.

" Lets see which are those, whom choose to tell another how to mount their own Tonearms in conjunction with their own TT/TT's in their own Home ".

The Link is showing what one design philosophy thinks about Mass and the Standalone Tonearm Pod used in conjunction with a TT.

Mind you for the price asked, I'm sure a bit of the Himalaya's could be a acquisition possibly with a village thrown in as a sweetener.

 

Pindac, no one is telling you what to do. This is a hobby. Messing around is fun. Arguing politely is also fun and sometimes enlightening. Simon Yorke TTs are other exceptions to the rule broken by the Onedof with its outboard arm pod. But I think SY provides a shelf or base in which to seat his TT and arm pod.

There’s a first time for everything. After all these years of reading and appreciating Atmasphere’s excellent and very informative posts it happened: disagreement.

**** Back in the old days when the SME5 was first made, there were only three top arms; the SME5, the Graham unipivot and the Triplanar. ****

The mighty ET2 was left out of that exclusive club. Never owned the Triplanar, but have owned the SME5 and the Graham and still own the ET2. In the ways that matter to me, and with the many cartridges of both the MC and MM variety that I have used, the ET2 comes out on top. Still available and still beats the SME5.