Silly turntable question

You might ask Albert Porter here for some thoughts, he has marketed a custom plinth for the SP-10 (I'm not shilling for him, just making it clear that he does business in this space) and has fooled around with a number of different arms, including the longer SME.
I have an old SP-10 that is sitting idle, bought it new back in 1974. Unfortunately, it is a mk i, not the better mk ii or iii, so I'm not inclined to sink alot of money into it right now. At some point I may bring it back into play for a vintage system. I will tell you, based on my experience with the older plinths for the SP-10 that the concepts of isolation were not as well advanced or executed as they are today. Mine, which was mounted in a gorgeous Music & Sound wooden plinth, was microphonic as hell. There's also been a fair amount of discussion here about running these naked, with a free standing arm pod, but I gather that's fairly controversial insofar as the SP-10 is concerned- not sure why it wouldn't work if the turntable mounted to something that did a good job on isolation. My current table (a Kuzma) works that way- the arm stands 'free' of the table on its own pod and gives you the flexibility to add several arms. However, that table depends on mass. And it is a motha to isolate properly and get level.
Good luck.

Getting the TT up and running is just the starting point for a many year tuning and tweaking process. You will have many ups and downs doing this - get started. The length of the tonearm is not the most important aspect of good vinyl sound.

Gary

Getting the TT up and running is just the starting point for a many year tuning and tweaking process. You will have many ups and downs doing this - get started. The length of the tonearm is not the most important aspect of good vinyl sound.

Gary

I suspect that a change to a 12" arm will be subtle, and not necessarily for the better. Depends on the cartridge you use.

I agree with those who suggest that you simply get started. However, to answer one of your questions: there is quite a difference between the 9" and 12" SME arms. I spent two weeks directly comparing the SME V to the SME V-12 on an SME 30/12 table using the same cartridge and cable.

Moving up to the 12" arm was like going from a highly resolving two-way compact speaker to a three-driver, three-way floor standing speaker. Extension and weight improved as expected. But unlike with some such speaker changes, there was absolutely no less coherence or sense of balance. There was just more information presented in a cleaner and clearer way and there seemed to be less distortion. IMO, well worth the cost to upgrade.

But changing the plinth and selling your unused SME V just to accommodate a new 12" arm may be more hassle and expense than it's worth right now. Check your priorities, get started, and join the fun.