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Wakefield Turntables
21-09-2011, 19:30
Guys,

I have both arms sitting around at home and I want to start a winter project restoring my Garrard 301. In your honest opinion which would sound the better, the Technoarm or the SME 3009. And no I'm not taking my V of my techie:eek:

hifi_dave
21-09-2011, 21:41
The Tecnoarm is more dynamic, cleaner with better bass and more tactile. IMO the better sounding arm.

The SME looks gorgeous.

Dingdong
21-09-2011, 21:53
The stock 3009 can be improved a lot with a better headshell and a rewire. I rewired mine with vdh MSS 7 and added an ADC headshell.
Then i went and bought a Hadcock.
What cartridge are you planning to use?

The Grand Wazoo
21-09-2011, 23:14
Why restrict yourself by forcing yourself into making the choice?
Make your plinth a few inches deeper & enjoy the strengths of both arms.

You wouldn't be the first!

http://i29.tinypic.com/10s6g3n.jpg

Beobloke
22-09-2011, 06:47
As Dave says, much as the SME 3009 is a glorious thing that I adore, in purely sonic terms the Tecnoarm pulls ahead of ti fairly noticeably.

Of course the correct answer is to buy another nice old deck to put the 3009 on for retro style and enjoyment, put the Tecnoarm on your 1210 and put the SME V onto the 301. ;)

DSJR
22-09-2011, 07:44
I'm awaiting a couple of bits to get my otherwise mint 3009 Improved with fixed shell in full fettle. I'm well aware of it's period limitations so shall be using either an ADC XLM/Phase IV/ZLM or Shure V15 with it, as the arm was designed for this type of cartridge and should perform well with the blac-tac in the headshell and possibly a very much diluted FD200 damper later on.

If yours is the SME 3009 pre-improved, then a re-wire?, Sumiko style headshell (the famous ADC one is catching up fast in cost terms now) and possibly some arm-damping a la Audio Origami should bring it sufficiently up to date as long as you don't go mad on exotic cartridge choice - some sub £1000 MC cartridges seem to be good at self damping and don't feed huge amounts of energy up into the arm structure..

Good luck :)

Marco
22-09-2011, 08:37
Chris' suggestion is best so far: make a bigger plinth and have BOTH!

As for the Tecnoarm, I'm not a massive fan, as the ones I've heard have all had a rather 'zingy' top-end, which annoys the shite out of me, but much depends on the cartridge used and also the system.

What cartridge were you planning on using with the Tecnoarm, Andrew?

However, the zingy top-end of the Tecnoarm will largely be ameliorated by the Garrard's 'big and wholesome' sound, so in terms of sonic synergy, I'm pretty sure that it will be a better match for the 301 than the SME, which will sound rather 'soft', in comparison; although a rewire and general fettling from Johnny (AO), will help enormously.

Looks-wise, there's no comparison. The 3009 'belongs' on a 301 much more than a Tecnoarm does, which will simply look wrong on a vintage T/T.

Hope that helps! :cool:

Marco.

hifi_dave
22-09-2011, 12:26
Second thoughts - I would suggest mounting both arms as Mr Wazoo suggests, then you don't have to make a choice.

I shall be doing something similar soon with one of my 301's when I plinth it but will have a 12 inch something and a 9 incher at the rear - probably both SME's..:scratch:

Wakefield Turntables
22-09-2011, 19:28
As Dave says, much as the SME 3009 is a glorious thing that I adore, in purely sonic terms the Tecnoarm pulls ahead of ti fairly noticeably.

Of course the correct answer is to buy another nice old deck to put the 3009 on for retro style and enjoyment, put the Tecnoarm on your 1210 and put the SME V onto the 301. ;)



I had the Technoarm on the 1210 and whilst it was good it didnt sound as good as the V. With regards to buying another turntable, I'd love another one. I've taken the 1210 as far as it can go (until some other mod comes out). The Garrard and 301 has been in the attic for the last 2 years, I paid £175 for it and the SME3009! Any spare cash is going on upgrading the 301 and not a new deck alas.

With regards to cartridge choice, I'm not quite sure. I have a mystery cartridge which came with the deck, I'll have to dig it out and see what it is. The 3009 really does need a fettle and frankly I dont have the time to fettle. J7 at AO will hopefully do this for me. He's done my V so he can do that as well! I intend to get a valve phonostage as the 301 is going to be the main source in my Radford / ESL 57 setup. So I have no idea what cartridge to use with the 301. This setup will mainly be my vocal/jazz/accoustic system. Any recommendations for cartridges would be very welcome :scratch:

Gromit
22-09-2011, 19:38
Andrew - is your 3009 a Pre-Improved? If so, it's a more massy arm than the Improved, and is happy with MC cartridges. I had Johnnie re-wire and generally give my Pre-Imp a good service including bearing adjustment and replacing the counterweight stub de-coupling. A pretty thorough job. :)

Rumour has it that the de-coupling rubbers now are a fair bit stiffer than the ones of old which may help the arm's sonic get-up-and-go.

The difference that J7 made to my SME was not subtle - gone was that wishy-washy, flat and slightly dull but 'nice' presentation, the arm growing a set of teeth. Mine's also running a Sumiko HS12 headshell - perhaps not right in terms of aesthetics but I've little doubt a better 'shell than the (rather lovely I admit) SME's own.

Dingdong
22-09-2011, 19:41
Blackadder just put a Shure V series with a Jico SAS stylus on his 3009. He seemed quite happy with the results. There might be a thread on it somewhere.


I had the Technoarm on the 1210 and whilst it was good it didnt sound as good as the V. With regards to buying another turntable, I'd love another one. I've taken the 1210 as far as it can go (until some other mod comes out). The Garrard and 301 has been in the attic for the last 2 years, I paid £175 for it and the SME3009! Any spare cash is going on upgrading the 301 and not a new deck alas.

With regards to cartridge choice, I'm not quite sure. I have a mystery cartridge which came with the deck, I'll have to dig it out and see what it is. The 3009 really does need a fettle and frankly I dont have the time to fettle. J7 at AO will hopefully do this for me. He's done my V so he can do that as well! I intend to get a valve phonostage as the 301 is going to be the main source in my Radford / ESL 57 setup. So I have no idea what cartridge to use with the 301. This setup will mainly be my vocal/jazz/accoustic system. Any recommendations for cartridges would be very welcome :scratch:

Wakefield Turntables
22-09-2011, 20:59
Andrew - is your 3009 a Pre-Improved? If so, it's a more massy arm than the Improved, and is happy with MC cartridges. I had Johnnie re-wire and generally give my Pre-Imp a good service including bearing adjustment and replacing the counterweight stub de-coupling. A pretty thorough job. :)

Rumour has it that the de-coupling rubbers now are a fair bit stiffer than the ones of old which may help the arm's sonic get-up-and-go.

The difference that J7 made to my SME was not subtle - gone was that wishy-washy, flat and slightly dull but 'nice' presentation, the arm growing a set of teeth. Mine's also running a Sumiko HS12 headshell - perhaps not right in terms of aesthetics but I've little doubt a better 'shell than the (rather lovely I admit) SME's own.

I have just taken the 301 to bits and dismantled the SME 3009, the serial number is 91013 with removable head shell. The cartridge tags are knackered. The RCA plugs are completely full of gunk, I think I'm gonna have to produce some new ones. This could be my weekend project! I think the 3009 is defo gonna go to Audio Origami.

DSJR
23-09-2011, 10:28
I wondered why my 3009 had such intact wiring. I think it's because my mate added some Pro-Ject leads to it, internal and external. I have no idea how good (or bad) the replacement internal wires are, but they seem easy to pull through, leaving the black earth lead intact. I'm leaving mine well lone for now as I hate soldering cartridge tags. I do have a little inexpensive kit from Vic (Transfi) and may have a go at some point.

The only thing to check with the horizontal bearings of the 3009 is that the ball races aren't set too sloppy, as the various arms I've used have been over the years. This 3009 needed a quarter of a turn on the lower-race adjuster to tone the free-play down - any more and free movement became affected. Since this bearing is gravity loaded in any case, it may not be the "issue" I imagined it to be, but it's done now and free-movement is no issue..

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/bc2a5313.jpg