SL1210 Mk2 with SME III

[Geoff101]

Evening all,

Well my first SL1210 project might not be very ambitious by the measure of many on this section but I'm pleased with it so I thought I'd share:

I bought a pair of SL1210s a few months back - the first time I've had one. I sold one on to help pay for the other and found I rather liked the one I had left so thought I might have a little play.

I loved the ease of use but the stock arm didn't really suit my collection of cartridges which are mostly old (sorry, vintage) Shures.
Anyhow, I had an SL-150 (Mk1) with an SME series III on it and I thought it might fit well on the 1210.

After much pondering, I ordered an ebony armboard for the SME from Speed Steve which arrived today. Very please with that; obivously I don't know how much is the arm and what the board does but it sounds loads better than the stock arm and I still need to set up the arm distance properly and find some damping fluid as the previous owner obviously hadn't stored it flat so the silicone was spread all over the arm.

I've also 'made' a Technics sized Achromat from a spare full sized version. I did this by clamping a craft knife in a vice over the rotating platter with the mat on to mark it out. I then cut it by hand with the knife and sanded to as near round as I can make it. Not a bad job in the end I think!

http://www.g32.co.uk/images/SL1210_SME1.JPG

http://www.g32.co.uk/images/SL1210_SME2.JPG

http://www.g32.co.uk/images/SL1210_SME3.JPG

I now need to buy some damping fluid for the arm - is the lavishly expensive SME stuff the best bet?

Might look out for some new feet as well as the rubber in mine is starting to crack.

[Andrei]

Very nice Geoff! While I can't vouch for the sound that arm certainly looks the goods - quite a good match visually with the TT. What I can vouch for regarding the sound is replacing the feet. Isonoe feet are popular and with good reason. They are available in black and would IMHO enhance the looks further.

[aniki]

Looking good Geoff.

[keiron99]

Hi Geoff

I have the same Series III arm as you, you can see mine here (hope the link works)

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?29472-The-Tech-Gallery/page3

I don't have the damping trough though.

The arm, you often read, "divides opinion". As you'll know, it was designed for high compliance carts like the Shure (I have a M97Xe) and apparently, was the last arm of its kind. At the time, Stereophile had it as their reference arm.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/sme-3009-series-iii-tonearm

I do suspect you would have to spend considerably more money to get marginal improvements.

[Tarzan]

A very pretty Techie there Geoff.:)

[Marco]

Yeah, the SME Series III is undoubtedly a great visual match for the Techy - especially with the SS ebony armboard! :thumbsup:

Marco.

[ChrisKemp]

Very nice set up. I like the SS armboard. Next upgrade....:eyebrows:

[pcourtney]

Hi Geoff,

you have a classy setup there, I had until very recently the SL-120 with SME 3009 S2 Improved Arm and it sounded fabulous, I also have an SME S3 ( the same as you ) , and it sounded fantastic when I tried it on the SL-120, so no reason with the right cart ( very high compliance and tracking around 1.5g) that you won't get good sq.

One of the best carts with the SME and the SL-120 was the Shure V15 Type III, truly wonderful sounding combo, for a little more money the B&O MMC1 or MMC2 carts, or the super expensive SMMC2 from Soundsmith ( I have had all 3 and prefer the stock B&O carts )

the SME fluid damper, just use a quality Baby Oil, it is the perfect viscosity for the FD-200 damper that came with all my lightweight SME arms from the seventies, no longer in vogue because of the huge uptake of low compliance MC carts requiring medium to high mass tonearms, so lots of bargains to be found at the moment with high compliance MM ( Moving Magnet and Moving Iron ) carts.



as to feet, try the ISO-9H from Audio Serenity, they work well, not that I had a lot of footfall or vibrations from
my concrete floor, but I used them on my SL-120 and tested them on various spots around the house, and
they work very well given how cheap they are

http://www.audioserenity.co.uk/iso-9h/