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View Full Version : Peter's Technics SL-MCCXIV thread (SL1210 + SME IV)



Peter Stockwell
11-02-2009, 18:31
The long awaited SME IV arrived today, but I won't be able to install it until the weekend. I need some time and day light for that. Also added to the order were the "Feet 1" and the "audiophile" mat from Sound HiFi.

Tonight I installed the feet and the mat, I already had the KAB psu installed. I'm currently listening to "My Funny Valentine" from the 1964 Miles Davis group, a live recording. The rendition of the hall space is uncanny, I'm used to listening to live jazz in a 600 seat hall, and the feeling is just like being row 3 in my favourite hall. Of the two items I think the mat is probably the most marked, but I can't help feeling that the extra stability of the foculpod feet is a big plus over the stock feet. I had some very slight misstracking on this disk which is gone now.

The Kab psu is already a monster step forward over the standard power supply, but the addition of the feet and the mat are more than icing on the cake, they're an extra layer to an already tasty slab.

For those thinking of hotrodding an SL1200/SL1210 I believe the heirarchy is Power supply, feet and then mat. I'm still using the stock arm, albeit with Sumiko headshell, Cardas wires and a Thrunobalaxx weight.

cheers

Gromit
11-02-2009, 21:23
Oooh...nice one Peter - I wait with baited breath to read of the SME exploits. :)

Plenty of pics too I hope ;)

Peter Stockwell
12-02-2009, 09:21
Richard,

I wanted to wait until I actually had the SME on the Teccie, but I ordered the SME in Decemeber and I was bursting with impatience :) . I'll be posting pictures soon.

cheers

Pete
13-02-2009, 05:25
Peter, congrats. Very Cool!

My SME 309 just arrived from Soundhifi, and I will be performing surgery on my SL-1210 on Friday :)

Peter Stockwell
13-02-2009, 07:54
Peter, congrats. Very Cool!

My SME 309 just arrived from Soundhifi, and I will be performing surgery on my SL-1210 on Friday :)

That means you'll be up and running before me! Great, let us know how you go on. i've been wondering about how to manage attaching the arm plate. I'm wondering if I'll want to return the deck to stock, In the back of my mind I've got this idea of an SP10 mkII, and of course I'd put the IV on that, if I ever got one.

cheers

Marco
13-02-2009, 08:18
Oooh, exciting times are ahead chaps... We want all the gory details (with pics) in due course :eyebrows:

Btw, it was nice chatting to you on the phone the other day, Peter. You're not at all how I imagined! But I guess you'll say the same of me ;)

Marco.

Peter Stockwell
13-02-2009, 09:31
Btw, it was nice chatting to you on the phone the other day, Peter. You're not at all how I imagined! But I guess you'll say the same of me ;)

Marco.

I've never spoken with a scittish before ;)

I was just saying the same about you :lol:

Marco
13-02-2009, 09:51
LOL. How y'all doin' over in that there Par-ise? :eyebrows:

I just lurve your accent, daddy-o!

;)

Marco.

Peter Stockwell
13-02-2009, 10:34
There's a bit of snow today, but it's getting brighter. I lived in the US, 1980-1990 and then came to France where I worked on an international project with Americans, mostly, for the next 10. I guess it rubs off. How I speak English to people depends how I perceive their capacity to understand, or not, colloquial English. I spend time talking to people from SA, Germany, Holland, Ukraine, Russia and even Newcastle, as part of my job. Sometimes, I can't remember how to speak English, coz my everyday language is französisch ;)

cheers

Pete
13-02-2009, 19:57
Alright dear friends here are the pics of the 1210 SME 309/Zyx machine

One of the bolts that tightens up the arm post refused to tighten up from the factory, but I installed anyway. Dave Cawley said he'd mail a new bolt and nut out to me next week. It the bolt you can see just behind the arm lift lever in the second pic.

I also have the new armboard from Dave. A really nice CNC two piece unit.

:dance:

http://www.head-case.org/forums/members/digipete-albums-vinyl-rig-picture525-sme-309-1.jpg

http://www.head-case.org/forums/members/digipete-albums-vinyl-rig-picture526-sme-309-2.jpg

Marco
13-02-2009, 20:03
Looks GREAT, Pete, but the all-important question is how does it sound? :gig:

We wanna know the precise sonic and musical upgrades the SME has brought to the party :)

Marco.

Pete
13-02-2009, 20:20
My initial impression playing just one album: Gino Vannelli - Powerful People - MoFi

Sounds great right out of the box! The bass seems fuller and deeper than the cardas rewired/Zupreme headshell 1210 arm, and really good separation, better than I remember. Tonally the mids and highs are just right (the highs seemed a tad brighter with the old arm). I can't think of what would sound better, but its impossible to A/B, so this is just my subjective memory/opinion.

Of course nothing is broken in yet.

After a few more albums I would add that imaging is more precise, I can locate instruments much more clearly in space, along with the wider soundstage.

Peter Stockwell
14-02-2009, 05:45
Nice one Pete! You beat me to the porn :-) ! It's back on it's feet(1) and playing music.

Pete
14-02-2009, 15:13
Nice one Pete! You beat me to the porn :-) ! The beast is upside down and the bottom is undone!

Excellent!

Peter Stockwell
14-02-2009, 15:30
I just finished and it's had a couple of sides on it. I really like what it brings to the system. But at the same time, in someways what it brings is so subtle that for some it may not be worth it.

If you appreciate how a pianist touches the keys, how a drummer hangs off the beat or pushes it forward a touch, or the subtle breathy tones of a saxophone. It's really worth it. If you think that stuff is minor, then it's not.

I'm really pleased, and the missus was somewhat gobsmacked also by the effortless "there" that there is with the IV.

Pictures tomorrow.

cheers

pure sound
14-02-2009, 17:12
Alright dear friends here are the pics of the 1210 SME 309/Zyx machine

One of the bolts that tightens up the arm post refused to tighten up from the factory, but I installed anyway.

Looks good. Silly question, but you did check that the square block that the bolt couples to is sitting properly & squarely in its slot? (ie as the back bolt's must be if that one is ok)

Spectral Morn
14-02-2009, 17:20
HI PETE

Just a thought but if you can live with the slight issue of not having a finger lift, the SME 309(as does the 4 and the 5) sounds better (not by much but its there) without the finger lift. Slightly better focus across the frequencies and bass. Just a thought.


Regards D S D L---Neil :)

Pete
15-02-2009, 01:03
Looks good. Silly question, but you did check that the square block that the bolt couples to is sitting properly & squarely in its slot? (ie as the back bolt's must be if that one is ok)

Yes I did and it is.

Took it out and there is definitely something wrong as it won't tighten.

Pete
15-02-2009, 01:05
HI PETE

Just a thought but if you can live with the slight issue of not having a finger lift, the SME 309(as does the 4 and the 5) sounds better (not by much but its there) without the finger lift. Slightly better focus across the frequencies and bass. Just a thought.


Regards D S D L---Neil :)

I like using the finger lift, and am loathe at this point to remove the cart bolts and have to redo the cart alignment. I may try it at some point.

Peter Stockwell
15-02-2009, 10:24
<a href="http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm286/user34_Peter/SL1210%20and%20SME%20IV/?action=view&current=IMG_2600.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm286/user34_Peter/SL1210%20and%20SME%20IV/IMG_2600.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>