SME armboard for a 1210, metal or wooden?

[Clive197]

I'm thinking of moving my OL Encounter Mk3A on and buying a SME 309 Tonearm.
a) is that a good idea?
b) which is better a metal or one of Speedy Steve's wooden armboard's for my 1210M5G?

[RobbieGong]

I'm thinking of moving my OL Encounter Mk3A on and buying a SME 309 Tonearm.
a) is that a good idea?
b) which is better a metal or one of Speedy Steve's wooden armboard's for my 1210M5G?

Hi Clive,
Both good arms from what I know - might it be a sideways move ?

With regard to the armboard, I can only highly recommend Steve's ebony armboard.
Quality item that not only looks great, also brings a certain rightness to the presentation that is probably more natural over metal / aluminium in my view.

[Cycleallday]

Never experienced a 309 but I have an sme 5 and as much as I like it I believe a rega based item has more life in it. As a last arm purchase I have an Audiomods on order. I also a have an early OL arm but have not been too impressed by the engineering quality and so have never considered upgrading along that line.

Arm boards are easy to make and if you already have a techie board then the dimensions can be obtained to make some samples yourself - why not try a simple birch ply board if you fancy a wood option. Because the techi arm is sunk in the deck it's easy to hide any rough edge cutting as only the upper surface needs to look nice.

[mikeyb]

I have one of Steve's Ebony armboards on my 1210, is it better than a metal one? Dunno, I've never tried one, I've thought of changing it to try a metal one but can't be bothered with the hassle of doing it so the Ebony one is staying lol

[Wakefield Turntables]

I had the Mike New solid copper tonearm boards in mine for ages and it sounded excellent but the ebony armboard trumped it. So speak to speedy Steve and go for the ebony armboard. It's not much more expensive than the metal and you'll get more detail in your soundstage.

[RobbieGong]

Must be someone here with experience of the SME 309 Tonearm :scratch:

[Wakefield Turntables]

Must be someone here with experience of the SME 309 Tonearm :scratch:

Live got the SME V sitting on mine with ebony armboard. What Excatly are you trying to find out?

[mikeyb]

I had the Mike New solid copper tonearm boards in mine for ages and it sounded excellent but the ebony armboard trumped it. So speak to speedy Steve and go for the ebony armboard. It's not much more expensive than the metal and you'll get more detail in your soundstage.
That good to know from my point of view, thanks.

[RobbieGong]

Live got the SME V sitting on mine with ebony armboard. What Excatly are you trying to find out?

Not me Andy,
The op - Clive is considering an SME 309 so would likely appreciate thoughts / experience and so on

[Wakefield Turntables]

Ok will come back to this tonight.

[chris@panteg]

Must be someone here with experience of the SME 309 Tonearm :scratch:

Yes I have a 309 magnesium on my 1210 with a soundhifi armboard, it works well never really thought of trying anything else except the Isonoe magnesium armboard which might be very good but no idea of the cost or availability.

[moodybuilder]

I've got a rega rb300 overhauled by jonnie at audio origami, on my 1200, have also had a 309 which I think is the best bang for the buck from sme as it has azimuth adjustment, but to me I think the rega is more alive and musical, I use a hana sl cart which is great with the rega, I use a metal erm plate but am thinking of trying the ebony or African black wood version.

[Cycleallday]

I've got a rega rb300 overhauled by jonnie at audio origami, on my 1200, have also had a 309 which I think is the best bang for the buck from sme as it has azimuth adjustment, but to me I think the rega is more alive and musical, I use a hana sl cart which is great with the rega, I use a metal erm plate but am thinking of trying the ebony or African black wood version.

This is my view of the SME/Rega difference. I use an SME V on a Michell deck and absolutely love it. The engineering is excellent and it is one of the easiest arms to set up with a cartridge I have ever come across.

However, my main listening deck tends to be a Rega or Techie - both with RB 300 arms and the reason is that more 'alive' sound - though frequency extremes are not as clear or sharp. Maybe an SME needs a bright cartridge to balance its smooth nature.

I always tend to think records played on the SME sound like studio albums while the same on a Rega arm sound more 'live'.

My early OL Rega based arm errs more on the SME type of sound but in all honesty it has spent most of its like in a box as its sound is not to my liking.

Mel

[drrd]

Anyone mentioned grounding? I'm using SME V on Sound Hifi metal arm board. I've tried a thin insulating film between the arm board and deck just to see if there was a difference. Everything grounded sounded better to me. Grounding components and both ends of interconnects (single ended or balanced) is kind of the accepted standard isn't it? Something to consider anyway but I ruled out insulating arm board materials after that.