Sme Tonearm Serial Numbers
SERIAL NUMBER 500027 MINT CONDITION COMPLETE Tonearm is roughly 18 months old SME Series V MagnesiumTonearm Description SME, under the direction of Alistair Robertson-Aikman, began producing tonearms in 1959. Thirty five years later, the cast magnesium SME Series V tonearm was introduced in 1984, as possibly the best and most costly arm of the day. Jan 04, 2009 A true original that forever revolutionized turntable's sonic quality, the SME tonearm went through successive design changes that allowed it to continue to evolve when most of its competition.
I'm fairly sure that my tonearm is a 3009 series II improved with a fixed headshell.
According to the database on here the geometry of the series II improved changed at serial number 439606.
Arms with a serial number pre 439606 have a spindle to pivot length of 215.7mm and null points of 60.4 and 117.3
Post serial number 439606 the pivot to spindle distance changes to 213.25 and the null points to 66 and 120.9
How can I identify which version of the tonearm I have?
| Limited company | |
| Industry | High-end audio |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1946 |
| Founder | Alastair Robertson-Aikman |
| Headquarters | Steyning, West Sussex , |
| Products | Turntable tonearms and related equipment |
| Owner | Ajay Shirke[1] |
| Website | https://sme.co.uk/ |
SME is a brand name of an English company that produces high end tonearms and turntables, whose name has become synonymous with the industry standard detachable headshell mount.
- 2Products
History[edit]
SME was formed in 1946 under the title The Scale Model Equipment Company Limited to manufacture scale models and detail parts for the model engineering trade. During the 1950s the company moved away from model making to precision engineering, principally parts for aircraft instruments and business machines.[2]
In 1959 Alastair Robertson-Aikman, the Company's founder, required a pick-up arm for his own use and an experimental model was built. It received such an enthusiastic reception from friends in the sound industry that it was decided to produce it commercially and the first SME precision pick-up arm appeared in September 1959. Production was 25 units per week composed entirely of individually machined components. At this time a new factory situated in Mill Road, Steyning was opened and the Company's name was changed to SME Limited, a less committal title to suit its new activities.[3]
In December 2016 the company was acquired by Ajay Shirke with a view to preserve the brands legacy and extend research and development activities, appointing a new CEO and a distributor for the UK market, Padood.[4]
In May 2018 the company acquired the rights to the Garrard Transcription Turntable brand as well as Loricraft Audio, the only officially authorised Garrard service agent. Intending to develop the Garrard audio brand in the near future.[5]
Products[edit]
Series II[edit]
The company is notable for its 3009 and 3012 (9' and 12' respectively) tone arms which were widely adopted for audiophile and broadcast use during the 1960s and 1970s, at the higher end of the market. These arms featured a polished, bright-anodised aluminium [6] main tube with a lightweight headshell, knife edge horizontal bearings, and an anti skating bias provided by a weight that hung by a nylon filament. Versions were produced with both fixed and interchangeable headshells; the SME headshell mount became the de facto industry standard, and is still widely used today on consumer and especially DJ decks. Audiophile arms today tend to not use the SME mount, but this is not due to other standards replacing the SME but because audiophile arms now tend to not have interchangeable headshells at all in an effort to reduce mass and improve rigidity, though at slight expense of user flexibility.
Some cartridges were produced that mounted directly into the SME headshell mount of the arm (rather than into a headshell), notably from Ortofon.
Series III[edit]
The Series III was introduced in the late 1970s incorporating changes from the Series II models (which continued in production) covering both styling and its exceptionally thin and lightweight main tube, the entire arm being interchangeable rather than just the headshell. Although technically advanced, the Series III never achieved the market dominance of the Series II.
Series V[edit]
The Series V arm was developed as a medium mass arm more suited to emerging moving-coil cartridges with lower compliance than previously available moving magnet cartridges. The removable headshell was eliminated, and the horizontal knife bearing was replaced with ball bearings, both in order to provide a more rigid structure for the cartridge.
In recent decades, as with many of their competitors, the company's products have tended to move further and further upmarket. Recent products include the SME V tonearm, and extremely expensive (and consequently relatively rare) decks. The company bucked their upmarket move with the M2 tonearm which sits at the bottom of their current range .
Gallery[edit]
SME 3009 Series II tonearm on Technics SL110 turntable
SME V tonearm on a VPI TNT III turntable
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'SME Limited - Officers'. GOV.UK - Companies House. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^'SME Heritage'.
- ^Company HistoryArchived 2013-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^'Leading British Engineering And Hifi Company Sme Ltd Is Acquired By Cadence'. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^'SME Limited Acquires the Garrard Audio Brand'. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^http://hometheaterreview.com/sme-series-i-ii-iii-tone-arms-reviewed/