@@indieworks hi, I'm using the Shure v15mklll cart. an older original one,, with a new Vn35 he stylus, that I used on the SME arm,, what do you use, what do you recommend,, ?
@@paulwibb.8944 On my turntables I love the old classic Ortofon cartridges such as the VMS20E MK2, OM30 Super and MC30 Supreme. They all have there own special characteristics and are sweet to listen to.
Best mods to this arm are to rewire with litz wiring and to use PTFE spray on the knife edge bearing, you don't need much and you should make sure the two surfaces are clean first, these mods will allow the arm to track in the horizontal plain so much better if you have a test record test it and find the arms horizontal limit where the tone starts to fail, then do the mods and try again, you will be surprised at just how much better it will track and sound when playing a record.
MERCI bien que j'aurai bien voulu voir en réel les réglages au fur et à mesure , la les réglages sont déjà fait , vous expliquez mais pas de pratiques , juste la théorie
Very Helpful Thanks for making this available i have a luxman PD 441 and was wondering if i need to mount the tonearm on a gasket or straight to armboard?? thanks!!
@indieworks Thank you for this video - it's really helped me understand the whole process. Can I ask you a question? In the section from 5'25", you talk about balancing a 10g cartridge by adjusting the rider weight arm. I'm using an Ortofon SPU headshell/cartridge which weighs 36g - should I simply slide it out as far as possible?
The headshell is skewed over to the right. Sliding the rider weight to the left balances the forces on the knife edge bearing. I am not sure of the answer but with the weight supplied with my SME arm and 2g per division you can see how much the rider weight has to be moved over. As you say ,with a heavier cartridge it would have to be slid out more.Can a heavier rider weight be fitted? Not sure if thats the method to use -perhaps someone else may have the answer.
@@indieworks merci de votre réponse , vous n'avez pas le manuel du bras ? SUREMENT QUE CE BRAS donne un poids de cellule a respecté ! je vais cherché ;et si pas trouver votre explication va m'aidé ,
Hello, I have this tonearm with an Ortofon bronze. I was just wondering if this is a good combo?. I hear the bronze is between high and medium compliance. So far its sounds great but was hoping to get some more information. Thanks
Good to see you using an Ortofon cartridge.However I have no experience with modern cartridges. I did have an Ortofon MC25FL fine line cartridge which did not sound as good as the MC20 and MC30 which I now use.Perhaps someone else might be able to help.
I have a question as my arm was not parallet the turntable when the stylus landed on the record so I lifted 1cm the arm from the back but now when the arm is lowering it hits the resting position before it hits the record. The arm has not the spacer instaled and its was mounted directly on the turntable. Thanks.
As Indieworks replied the arm should have either a spacer fitted, see his assembly, or four aluminium pillars. The spacer is a much better option than the pillars as it not only braces the thin arm board but also facilitates easier arm removal in the future. I had a similar issue after fitting a 2M Black to mine. In my case I had to loosen the bracket that holds the raiser assembly and lower it, in my case about 1mm.
@@donk1822 Spacers are only to be used as a last resort and they are not necessary here. You can actually adjust the height of the armlift section idependently on an SME arm though it is a bit difficult and, as Michal Caine would put it, not a lot of people know about it. In any case, here goes: 1. Loosen the screw on the arm lift bracket wrapped around the pillar (small Allen Screw, might be very tight so use a proper tool). 2. Rotate the whole armlift section around the tonearm pillar, keeping it clear of the gallows arm and the sledge screws. 3. When you've made a full round like that, check the new height of your arm lift. I hope this helps.
@@jimmyolsenschannel6263 Hi Jimmy, thanks for the advice. I know the arm height is adjustable, but for obvious reasons it is always best to have it set as low as possible, using the appropriate spacer allows this. I don't doubt mounting it directly will work, but it wouldn't be best practice. All the best mate.
@@donk1822 Thanks, but I didn't say that the arm height is adjustable, because that is quite easy to see, and I knew that you are aware of it. What I meant is that the height of the "arm lift section" (what you call the "rest position") is adjustable INDEPENDENT of the arm pillar. That means you can raise the whole of the arm pillar (as you have done) and then lower the "arm lift section" so that the arm will NOT hit it. This is much better than using spacers since they add a foreign and "shaky" element to the overall setup. I suggest you follow my instructions instead. It is a very difficult process to describe but well worth trying out, and it is how the creators of the SME arm wanted you to solve this problem you have. This arm was never intended to be used with spacers.
hi, my rider weight has the little spring and plastic plunge but it doesn't stay inside, is there a correct way to put it or is it missing a part? im talking about the one you are moving for the balance around the 3:37 minuted mark, thanks
Hi my spring plunger arrangemen is solidly fixed in place so dont want to try to remove it to check. Just applies enough pressure to hold the weight in place to stop it sliding about. Someone else might know more about the mechanical arrangement and comment.
The rider weight is inverted on this arm. Normally the spring and key are located in the weight and held in place while it is pushed into the arm. The key and spring are then trapped in place.
Thanks for the video. Quick Q if I may? I have the same arm but my arm cradle is facing out wards so I have to move the arm over the cradle and in. Do you know how to turn it through 180 degrees so the arm just moves straight into the cradle?
Mine was the same Paul so I pulled off the plasic cradle and refitted it at 180 degrees. It it just a push fit on the arm. Makes the arm operation a lot easier.
@@paulmardon9954 The only reason I can think of is you is that you have to lift the arm at the end of a record to allow it to clear the cradle hence protecting your stylus from accidentaly coliding with the vinyl
Thank you for this. Two questions: do you know the size of the Alan key you need to loosen the rider-weight arm? Also, I always thought that the main weight at the back should be set by first balancing it for the "floating" effect, and then, from there, That's obviously not the case? Why would I have read? Any thoughts? Thank you again.
Hi Adam, You could adjust the main weight first but the stylus might not be in line with the playing surface if the arm height is incorrectly set. The Alan key is 1.5mm I think. Hope this helps
@@indieworks Hi there. Me again from another account. Thanks very much for your reply - and sorry for my rather garbled questions (must have been on my iphone). My second question was meant to be, does adjustment of the big weight at the back end once you have got the tone arm perfectly balanced (floating)? ie. you don't touch it again after that? An additional question is that I notice the holes on the headshell for the screws holding the cartridge in place are just holes, not grooves. How, then, are you supposed to adjust the overhang angle of the cartridge using a traditional cartridge alignment protractor? Thanks again.
@@scrumpymanjack Yes leave the main balance weight alone when the arm is level and floating then slide the rider weight forward to give the correct stylus force. As for overhang perhaps someone else might know the answer. With my fixed SME headshell there are only 2 screw fixing holes and my cartridge tapped holes are fixed so there is no adjustment I can see.
@scrumpymanjack re. your "additional question": At 1:50 in the vid is where the cartridge alignment is done. There are no slots/grooves in the SME headshell as you noted, so the adjustment is done by sliding the base of the entire tone arm. That's when you loosen those two knurled nuts (SME calls them acorn nuts), so you can slide the tone arm fore and aft in its mounting base.
When using that sme alignment paper protractor It sais to make pinhole on end of arrow. Arrow tip end is not on the line though. So do you put stylus tip on line near arrow tip or right at end of arrow tip? Thanks
Ben the end of the arrow head points to the black line. The pinhole is made in the centre of this line. This is where the stylus tip goes. Hope that makes it more clear.
@@indieworks oh yes, a lot more clear. For some reason my sme protractor the arrow tip doesn't appear to make it to the line, or Im going blind 😁. Thank You very much
@@indieworks thank you very much for making it clear. I went back and made a pinhole right on the line and made tonearm adjustments. Now headshell lines up perfectly to the lines on sme protractor. Honestly on mine the arrow tip does not appear to make it to the line. All is good now, much appreciated
Thank yo very much. This video helped a lot setting up the same tone arm on a Thorens td125.🇧🇧
Great easy to follow video to setup your SME tonearm. Thanks again.
Glad it was helpful!
Good stuff,, I recently re fitted the original unipivot arm to mine, glad I saved it after swapping to the 3009 some yrs ago.
Great Paul.
What cartridge have you fitted?
@@indieworks hi, I'm using the Shure v15mklll cart. an older original one,, with a new Vn35 he stylus, that I used on the SME arm,, what do you use, what do you recommend,, ?
@@paulwibb.8944 On my turntables I love the old classic Ortofon cartridges such as the VMS20E MK2, OM30 Super and MC30 Supreme. They all have there own special characteristics and are sweet to listen to.
Thanks for the video. Finally set mine up correctly ..
Great to hear!
Great explanation thanks!
Helpful!
My weight has been set up on the wrong side since 1975!
Best mods to this arm are to rewire with litz wiring and to use PTFE spray on the knife edge bearing, you don't need much and you should make sure the two surfaces are clean first, these mods will allow the arm to track in the horizontal plain so much better if you have a test record test it and find the arms horizontal limit where the tone starts to fail, then do the mods and try again, you will be surprised at just how much better it will track and sound when playing a record.
Thanks Derek will try it
pre 1977 deck flat edging is a give away the mitchel arm that came with it was just as good as the sme
MERCI bien que j'aurai bien voulu voir en réel les réglages au fur et à mesure , la les réglages sont déjà fait , vous expliquez mais pas de pratiques , juste la théorie
Thank you for excellent video demonstration.
As much as I love my Ortofon MC20S, it is much better suited to a higher mass arm.
Understatement of the week. Kind of casts a shadow over what is otherwise going on here.
3009 on my Logic dm101 mkii.
Very Helpful Thanks for making this available i have a luxman PD 441 and was wondering if i need to mount the tonearm on a gasket or straight to armboard?? thanks!!
Not sure. Perhaps someone else might know. The SME base on my deck is attached to the spacer through rubber grommets to give some isolation I suppose.
sorry guys I missed the replies! Thanks I will look into it :)
@indieworks Thank you for this video - it's really helped me understand the whole process. Can I ask you a question? In the section from 5'25", you talk about balancing a 10g cartridge by adjusting the rider weight arm. I'm using an Ortofon SPU headshell/cartridge which weighs 36g - should I simply slide it out as far as possible?
The headshell is skewed over to the right. Sliding the rider weight to the left balances the forces on the knife edge bearing. I am not sure of the answer but with the weight supplied with my SME arm and 2g per division you can see how much the rider weight has to be moved over. As you say ,with a heavier cartridge it would have to be slid out more.Can a heavier rider weight be fitted? Not sure if thats the method to use -perhaps someone else may have the answer.
@@indieworks merci de votre réponse , vous n'avez pas le manuel du bras ? SUREMENT QUE CE BRAS donne un poids de cellule a respecté ! je vais cherché ;et si pas trouver votre explication va m'aidé ,
je l'aime ce bras
Hello, I have this tonearm with an Ortofon bronze. I was just wondering if this is a good combo?. I hear the bronze is between high and medium compliance. So far its sounds great but was hoping to get some more information.
Thanks
Good to see you using an Ortofon cartridge.However I have no experience with modern cartridges. I did have an Ortofon MC25FL fine line cartridge which did not sound as good as the MC20 and MC30 which I now use.Perhaps someone else might be able to help.
I have a question as my arm was not parallet the turntable when the stylus landed on the record so I lifted 1cm the arm from the back but now when the arm is lowering it hits the resting position before it hits the record. The arm has not the spacer instaled and its was mounted directly on the turntable. Thanks.
Gabriel you need a 12mm spacer to mount the SME arm to the transcriptor deck . You can find them on Ebay item 233725397036
As Indieworks replied the arm should have either a spacer fitted, see his assembly, or four aluminium pillars.
The spacer is a much better option than the pillars as it not only braces the thin arm board but also facilitates easier arm removal in the future.
I had a similar issue after fitting a 2M Black to mine. In my case I had to loosen the bracket that holds the raiser assembly and lower it, in my case about 1mm.
@@donk1822 Spacers are only to be used as a last resort and they are not necessary here. You can actually adjust the height of the armlift section idependently on an SME arm though it is a bit difficult and, as Michal Caine would put it, not a lot of people know about it. In any case, here goes:
1. Loosen the screw on the arm lift bracket wrapped around the pillar (small Allen Screw, might be very tight so use a proper tool).
2. Rotate the whole armlift section around the tonearm pillar, keeping it clear of the gallows arm and the sledge screws.
3. When you've made a full round like that, check the new height of your arm lift.
I hope this helps.
@@jimmyolsenschannel6263 Hi Jimmy, thanks for the advice. I know the arm height is adjustable, but for obvious reasons it is always best to have it set as low as possible, using the appropriate spacer allows this. I don't doubt mounting it directly will work, but it wouldn't be best practice. All the best mate.
@@donk1822 Thanks, but I didn't say that the arm height is adjustable, because that is quite easy to see, and I knew that you are aware of it. What I meant is that the height of the "arm lift section" (what you call the "rest position") is adjustable INDEPENDENT of the arm pillar. That means you can raise the whole of the arm pillar (as you have done) and then lower the "arm lift section" so that the arm will NOT hit it. This is much better than using spacers since they add a foreign and "shaky" element to the overall setup. I suggest you follow my instructions instead. It is a very difficult process to describe but well worth trying out, and it is how the creators of the SME arm wanted you to solve this problem you have. This arm was never intended to be used with spacers.
hi, my rider weight has the little spring and plastic plunge but it doesn't stay inside, is there a correct way to put it or is it missing a part? im talking about the one you are moving for the balance around the 3:37 minuted mark, thanks
Hi my spring plunger arrangemen is solidly fixed in place so dont want to try to remove it to check. Just applies enough pressure to hold the weight in place to stop it sliding about. Someone else might know more about the mechanical arrangement and comment.
@@indieworks thank you for the reply anyway
The rider weight is inverted on this arm. Normally the spring and key are located in the weight and held in place while it is pushed into the arm. The key and spring are then trapped in place.
Thanks for the video. Quick Q if I may? I have the same arm but my arm cradle is facing out wards so I have to move the arm over the cradle and in. Do you know how to turn it through 180 degrees so the arm just moves straight into the cradle?
Mine was the same Paul so I pulled off the plasic cradle and refitted it at 180 degrees. It it just a push fit on the arm. Makes the arm operation a lot easier.
@@indieworks apparently there was a reason they were the other way round....
@@paulmardon9954 The only reason I can think of is you is that you have to lift the arm at the end of a record to allow it to clear the cradle hence protecting your stylus from accidentaly coliding with the vinyl
Thank you for this. Two questions: do you know the size of the Alan key you need to loosen the rider-weight arm? Also, I always thought that the main weight at the back should be set by first balancing it for the "floating" effect, and then, from there, That's obviously not the case? Why would I have read? Any thoughts? Thank you again.
Hi Adam, You could adjust the main weight first but the stylus might not be in line with the playing surface if the arm height is incorrectly set. The Alan key is 1.5mm I think. Hope this helps
@@indieworks Hi there. Me again from another account. Thanks very much for your reply - and sorry for my rather garbled questions (must have been on my iphone). My second question was meant to be, does adjustment of the big weight at the back end once you have got the tone arm perfectly balanced (floating)? ie. you don't touch it again after that?
An additional question is that I notice the holes on the headshell for the screws holding the cartridge in place are just holes, not grooves. How, then, are you supposed to adjust the overhang angle of the cartridge using a traditional cartridge alignment protractor?
Thanks again.
@@scrumpymanjack Yes leave the main balance weight alone when the arm is level and floating then slide the rider weight forward to give the correct stylus force. As for overhang perhaps someone else might know the answer. With my fixed SME headshell there are only 2 screw fixing holes and my cartridge tapped holes are fixed so there is no adjustment I can see.
@@indieworks Thank you again. Great video and really appreciate your answers.
@scrumpymanjack re. your "additional question": At 1:50 in the vid is where the cartridge alignment is done. There are no slots/grooves in the SME headshell as you noted, so the adjustment is done by sliding the base of the entire tone arm. That's when you loosen those two knurled nuts (SME calls them acorn nuts), so you can slide the tone arm fore and aft in its mounting base.
When using that sme alignment paper protractor It sais to make pinhole on end of arrow. Arrow tip end is not on the line though. So do you put stylus tip on line near arrow tip or right at end of arrow tip? Thanks
Ben the end of the arrow head points to the black line. The pinhole is made in the centre of this line. This is where the stylus tip goes. Hope that makes it more clear.
@@indieworks oh yes, a lot more clear. For some reason my sme protractor the arrow tip doesn't appear to make it to the line, or Im going blind 😁. Thank You very much
@@indieworks thank you very much for making it clear. I went back and made a pinhole right on the line and made tonearm adjustments. Now headshell lines up perfectly to the lines on sme protractor. Honestly on mine the arrow tip does not appear to make it to the line. All is good now, much appreciated
Where is the dampening oil injected into ?
You have to lift off the platter and there is a trough underneath. An adjustable paddle dips into the silicon fluid in the trough.
If its the dampening oil for the cueing arm, there's a video on youtube showing how.
Very basic? Hardly.