Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

Register / Login

---

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Vinyl Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ] [ Edit ] [ Delete ]

---

How good is an SME IV really? What are the alternatives?

203.10.111.38

Posted by Ross on April 19, 2007 at 20:34:15

I have an SME IV on my recently acquired Nottingham Spacedeck. I have tried it with a number of cartridges, including a Koetsu, Denon DL103, Glider and Rohmann. In each case, it sounds fine (depending also on phono stage and loading), but not as musically engaging as I was hoping. I also have an LP12 with an Ekos, which never fails to sound exciting and engaging, regardless of which cartridge I use. I don't get this sense from the Spacedeck/SME IV.

The Spacedeck has a reputation for musicality, but the SME arms seem to have a sense of professional respect for their neutrality and accuracy and their engineering qualities, but few people seem to regard them as great musical communicators. Is this an accurate summary?

I haven't been able to compare the SME with other arms on the same turntable so I have no idea which sonic attributes are attributable to the arm alone. (Although replacing the VDH cable with Kimber Tak-Cu was a big improvement.) What are the sonic characteristics of the SME IV? Is it accurate but dry and mechanical sounding, as some have suggested?

If the SME is ultimately letting down the rest of the system, perhaps it is time to move on to something else. But most competing arms now, especially those with the quality and mass needed for something like a Koetsu, are *extremely* expensive. Are there any realistic alternatives which do not involve some other compromise? Some arms which get good reviews at reasonable prices, such as the Hadcock, only seem useful for a small number of cartridges. Is there such a thing as a reasonably priced arm (say, around US$1500) that is good enough for high end cartridges, versatile enough for a range of MC cartridges and, above all, musical?

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Sonic Craft

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---