Avid Volvare - SME IV arm or Tri-planar VII ???

Brie,

If you are a "set and forget" listener then I want to throw you another suggestion, Basis Vector. This arm does not have dials and such so setting it up is a bit more work. However, once set this arm never needs re-adjusting. The Vector is very well engineered and can handle just about any cartridge you want to mount on it. That's not to say the Tri-Planar or SME can't also but the Vector is alot less money. Because it is a modified unipivot you will probably never have to worry about maintenance. I think it would be a good match with the Avid as it can hold the arm very stable.

You could also start with a Denon 103R cartridge and save more money towards that next higher end cartridge, but I do like the Glider.

I have been told by many that unipivot arms are basically a huge mistake with the Avid suspended tables as they don't provide a direct line for vibration to be channeled through the arm into the suspension, or something like that. I think I'll stick with the SME arm for now, but thank you for your suggestion... And I will look into the Denon Cart.

-Brie

...you both made comment as to the SME's "assumption" that the cartridge is perfect and I am a bit concerned as to cartridge matching... How significant an issue is this?

Unlike most arms, the SME IV's headshell does not have slots which allow you to angle the cartridge. It has two mounting holes. That's where the cartridge goes and that's that (unless you drill the holes out a bit, as some owners do).

Overhang is easily adjusted, since the entire arm slides in or out on a rail, but offset angle will necessarily be wrong if your cartridge:

a) has an off-line cantilever and/or,

b) has a stylus-to-mounting holes dimension different than whatever SME assumed when they positioned the mounting holes.

In either case your cantilever won't be tangent to the groove at the intended null points. The sonic result will be higher than intended tracing error distortion (channel information out of phase due to the cantilever being non-tangent over more of its arc, and/or non-tangent by a larger amount than designed).

How significant will this be? That depends on how far from SME's ideal your cartridge happens to be. There's no way to predict that. I can only tell you that if I mis-align the cantilever when mounting a cartridge the distortion can be audible, especially on inner grooves.

What cartridges (or manufacturers) would you describe as "perfectly built" lending themselves to being well suited and matched to the SME IV or V?

There's no such thing as a perfect cartridge. Of course I'd avoid brands known to have poor QC in this area. Shelter and VdH come to mind. Getting a square one of those requires some luck. FWIW, I've not heard of many problems with Dynas or Benz's.

Any mid-compliance cartridge should be a good theoretical match with an SME IV. Which brand and model to choose depends on your phono stage, budget, sonic priorities and musical tastes. I think that's a topic for a whole other thread.

P.S. If you do opt for an SME, I'd seriously consider trying to find a used one. They are beautifully built and should withstand anything short of outright abuse. The money you'd save might buy a cartridge upgrade.

I understand what these folks are saying about unipivot arms in general. The Vector is not a unipivot per se and should never be compared as such. But the vibrations from the Vector would not be sinked to the suspension, that is true. It is also true that vibrations from the platter cannot be leached into the Vector from the suspension. That is because of the damping that is built into the design. I agree with DougDeacon, if you do go with an SME it would be a much better value to find one used.