Geometry for pivot tonearms - calculation errors??

Dertonarm, How then do you feel about the SME tonearms, which utilize a sliding pivot point in order to achieve pivot to stylus adjustments? In the process the pivot to bearing or spindle distance is also altered pari passu.

Dear Lewm,
the SME 300 series (including SME V and IV) is one of the very few tonearms which does come with a kind of "fixed" geometry in ALL parameters. Given its unability to adjust offset, overhang (we can just move the base - which we shouldn't... - NOT the cartridge ) and effective length, it surely is a fairly unique sample.

Make no mistake - the SME V was designed for a specific mounting distance spindle to pivot-bearing! The SME sliding base is often mistaken for being an "invitation" to "adjust" the base "freely" to whatever alignment you want.

Not so.

SME does specify a mounting distance of 215.35 mm.
See here:

http://www.sme.ltd.uk/content/Series-V-1330.shtml

They did not give this very precise figure out of the blue........

SME took for granted all industry standards of its day (early 1980ies) and said:

"well, if all cartridge designers do obey to and follow the standards given and if all LPs are cut following the new IEC standard, then evrything will be perfect with our new tonearm - it will be the "best tonearm in the world"............"

But the world is an imperfect one and many people do want to go their own ways.

The new SME surely was the LEAST UNIVERSAL tonearm ever designed .......
It is for sure the one tonearm which gives almost no possibilities to adjust to specific cartridge needs or to different arcs.

The SME V was a child of its day and was regarded when introduced as the first tonearm which took all (some of them fairly new...) industry standards for record-cutting and cartridge dimensions serious.
Too serious.

Only a cartridge with 100% orientated cantilever and 100% standard horizontal distance mounting holes-stylus can be correctly aligned in a SME V and can only be aligned to ONE standard cuve/arc - the IEC.

Offset can not be aligned in an SME - thats why the SME template does FORCE the user into one possible geometry only.
Thats why the MINT tractor is so very effective with a SME V and a specific cartridge.

In a biological sense the SME V (and its offsprings with fixed headshell and fixed mounting holes) is the very opposite of evolutionary versatile.
It can not "adjust" to any change in the "enviromental conditions".
With the "right" cartridge, it is a VERY serious tonearm.
But there are so very few "right" (read: 100% following IEC standards) cartridges for the SME V around.......

Howdy,
here me meet again.
Just been thinking about Dear Lewm's input, which makes me think to start a thread for the 'poor' V owners i.e. which carts are a GOOD/BEST fit?

I guess we'd mostly look for MCs despite Raul's most extensive experience in MMs.

The cart stylus to mounting hole distance IEC-standard? is in any case to be 9.5 mm for the V arm.
DerTonarm will want to know it a bit more down to the 100th mm so we'll call it 9.52 mm (actually 5/8"). Now for me that begs the question why ICE would have settled for inches?! The mounting hole distance of 1/2" is also not quite metric, now is it?

What do you think? There'd be some folk to give some best fit input?
I use a Windfeld as you know --- and I would not add that to the list of BEST FIT! Amen. Sound great, but not BEST FIT in the alignmnet sense, methinks.

What else can a V owner do? You have mentioned all's fixed, can't even mess around with different flavours A, B, Stevenson...
It's vanilla SME, or go buy some other tone-arm, right?

Best greetings,
Axel

Dear Axel: My experience on cartridges are that: experiences on cartridges, MC or MM. I don't now why I give the impresion that I'm or have a MM bias, I'm not.
I have several MC experiences with vintage and today cartridges ( I own and owned ) and like the MM ones the MC has its own advantages and dis-advantages, same with the MM.

+++++ " With the "right" cartridge, it is a VERY serious tonearm... " +++++

absolutely yes.

Btw, the non-perfect world on the cartridge building is more " delicate " because this audio item is not a " mass production " one but almost made each one by hand where we even find " differences " between cartridges on the same model. So what the " poor " V owners have to do is " wait " to be lucky with the cartridge we have. Of course that are some " things " that we can do but always this " things " are add-ons that ( one way or the other ) could compromise the performance.

Dertonarm, I have too some interesting subjects on the LP " standards ", we keep in touch very soon.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Raul,
you are one of a dieing breed that STILL knows about MMs! That does in way mean to imply that you ONLY know about that.
But how many folks have gone through a truck load of that MM stuff? Nobody I'll ever know I'm sure, so please see it as a compliment and NOT as a limitation.
Bless you,
Axel
PS: so please give me some idea about the Shure V15 on a SME V, now how about that?!