Ortofon as309s or sme m2-12r


Hi
For a Garrard 301 and a Lyra Delos cart (7.3g weight and complianece of 12) I'm looking for a 12" arm.
Where will you go between Ortofon as309s,sme m2-12r
or others ?

Thanks in advance to all repliers.
icorem
Doesn't the Ortofon arm use the grub screw on the pillar method for VTA adjustments, in which you loosen the screw and manually slide the pillar up and down? To me, that's not very convenient. I prefer methods that are mechanically controlled for fine, repeatable changes.
Stargazerang

Is and why the rs309d worth the extra cash over the as-309 or the SME m2-12r in your opinion ?
I am also looking at a similar choice. Ortofon or SME.
Ortofon is known to be a Jelco with probably a better internal wiring and some additional adjustment features above the stock Jelco 750D tonearm.
SME on the other hand is of course more reputed for their analog products. The M2-12r is one tonearm which many prefer over the SME V tonearm. That gives it more credibility.

But in the end how different are they sonically, I do not know.
Like I said above, I haven't heard the Ortofons and they certainly have a lots of happy users. My SME M2-12R (with an upgraded phono cable; the supplied one is not so good) holds its own next to a Triplanar VIIuii and Phantom Supreme in my system. I certainly wouldn't say its better than those arms, but it's not far behind, and I find myself listening to it just as often.

I'll add that the thing that put me off the Ortofon when I was shopping for a 12-inch arm for SPUs is the odd geometry, which disallows two null points with SPUs. I think you can overcome this issue by rotating the cartridge in the headshell, but not for SPUs. Now, whether this oddity really makes a sonic difference, I surely do not know.