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SME 20/2 sound problem. Remedy suggestions needed

Dear Readers! I bought SME 20/2 w/V tonearm as an upgrade from my Roksan Xerxes w/SME IV tonearm. I use Denon DL 103R cart, a very good phonostage just in league with Manley Steelhead, amplified in biamping by Primare Integra on high/midrange and Krell KAV250a on bass, Danish Physics DP.02 speakers. Xerxes palyer with very airy big warm soundstage, the vibration bound turntable design (similar in construction to LP12) being compensated by rigidly controlling Krell produced a rhytmical, colourful sound. Lots of so called coloration transformed into big big lively music. Now replacing it with SME 20/2/V arm all life got immediately lost - sound is dry, flat and monochromatic . Could it be that Denon DL 103R does not live up any near to the SME high end purism, or would You rather say that theres no synergy between a very uncoluring and rigid SME deck and Krell which is known as most monochromatic synthetic and sterile sounding amp? Is it possible that given same system and cartridge the difference between Roksan w/ SME IV and SME 20/2 w/V arm could be so startlingly negative towards the SME deck? I read somewhere that SME decks play flat on rock - I listen mostly to rock/metal - but such a vast devastating difference? colours vs no colours, life vs lack of vitality, music vs. synthetic flat sound? Please help with your knowledge, I'd highly appreciate suggestions. thank You!
zbielak
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
there's no easy way to put this...if possible 'get the xerxes back'. otherwise experiment with other cartridges to put life into the sme
pgtaylor
32 posts
 
I too had a similar experience when moving from a Goldmund Studio (with SME V/Lyra Helikon) to an SME 30 (with SME V/Lyra Helikon). The pleasantly vibrant, not to say blowsy, sound of the Goldmund was suddenly gone.
Today, I recognise that the SME 30 is hugely superior. It almost totally removes that euphonic vibrancy that many turntables impart. By doing so it lets you hear more of the individual tone colours of the instruments, but most of all the musical phrasing and the relationship between one note and another.
Certainly, getting to grips with this turntable has been a learning experience. The manufacturers say that it is easy to set up (and this is true as far as the basics go). What they do not warn you about is the fact that any number of problems may arise with the fine tuning of the arm/cartridge - this is especially so in a situation like yours (or mine some years ago) when you move a familiar arm/cartridge across and naturally expect to hear a percentage improvement in the well-established positive characteristics of those components. The apparent shortfall is - paradoxically - due to the fact that the SME is letting you hear more of what is going on (not less). Some of the problems that may arise:
1. anything less than optimal alignment, VTA, VTF, antiskating, etc will tend to produce an unimpressive sound, meaning that it will no longer give you a reasonably pleasant, forgiving sound as it did on your old table.
2. the grainy sound of an ageing stylus may be become audible to an extent that it was not before (this happened in my case).
3. the harmful effect of poor quality internal tonearm cabling or the external phono cable (like the ones that SME install/supply with their arms!!)will be more audible.
4. the effects of the support surface will be more evident. SME claim that the turntable (thanks to its suspension, high density metal construction etc) is indifferent to the material it is in contact with but my own experience does not bear this out. And a UK SME dealer who I once talked to confirmed this, saying 'It sounds like what it is sitting on. If it is sitting on metal, it sounds slightly metallic, if it sitting on wood, it sounds slightly...'. I have had good results from placing it (with the rubber feet removed) on four large high density graphite blocks (like those sold by Audio Tekne).
Imagine if you have all those problems (to some degree or other) together! And that's without considering your favourite records, which may not be as well recorded or as free from groove wear as you thought.
Of course, there are some who say that the SME turntables sound more 'alive' with other arms (the idea is that a highly damped SME turntable together with a highly-damped SME arm is just too much - the sound is too 'controlled'). I haven't experimented, so I can't comment. The other arms would be Graham & Triplanar (if you can get an appropriate arm base for the latter).
Best wishes,
Peter
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
I totally agree with Pgtaylor. The SME turntables are far more neutral and of higher resolution than the typical mid-priced Brit belt drives from Rega and Roksan. While I've never heard any of the REALLY expensive (> $100K) turntables, the SME 20 and 30 series are the best I've personally heard, particularly in the ability to convey the emotional power of the music. At first Concerning the DL-103, the SME IV has the same effective mass as the SME V, so it must be the 20/2's ability to drain more spurious vibration out of the turning of the record. In other words, the Roksan table's colorations were compensating for a bad cartridge/arm match. The DL-103 needs about an 18g arm, and the SME IV and V have an effective mass of 10g. Have you messed with VTF and VTA on the SME to listen for the effects?

I was listening to a Roksan Radius a month ago and found it to be highly colored. The midrange was recessed, which made the bass and the ambient details sound bigger than they really are at the expense of the voice or instrument carrying the tune. Switching to a more linear turntable may be revealing a less than optimum arm/cartridge match.
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