Hi Peterayer, I've had the SME V too - back in the Eighties. Yes, it easier with the kind of tonearms like the Triplanar. However - it has nothing (read: VERY little ....) to do with record thickness, but everything (read: the HUGE portion of the whole "picture"...) with the cutting angle of the cutting head which originally cut the master for the record you are playing. As these (the cutting heads..) do (did) differ considerably in a fairly wide range in the angle they do use, it give us some headaches to get the minute detail and exact matching angle (read: VTA) with the polished area of the stylus.
The problem is system-inherent and universal.
It is the very same problem with ANY tonearm and ANY cartridge.
Some do allow easy adjustments - some don't.
Some (few....) audiophiles are very serious about matching that particular groove-compliant VTA - some audiophiles aren't even aware of the problem - and some audiophiles do not care.
To get back to the core issue: - the A90 will perform very well in a SME V.No matter whether you are willing to adjust the VTA for each record or whether you will - as most audiophiles do .... - settle for a "good compromise".
