"lack of passion is fatal"
Vinyl: Thorens TD-124mk2 / SME-312 Aluminium 'special' / SME M2-9R / STEREO: Etsuro Urushi Cobalt / Shure M3D / Ortofon SPU A95 / Cartridge Man Music Master / Shure - SC35C (US) / SAEC C3 MC MONO: Miyajima Zero B 0.7mil mono / Miyajima Premium 1.0 / Amps & SUTs: Radford STA25 mk3 / AD Audio 'Satchmo2' pre & LCR phono / Hashimoto HM-7 SUT / ETR-MONO SUT Digital: Audio Note 4.1 (with DAC5 upgrades) DAC / Roon / Tidal Speakers: Tannoy 12" MGs' in RFC custom 'Rutland' Cabinets with RFC crossovers / Tannoy ST-100 Super Tweeters Cables: LFD Grainless phono / RFC Mercury / Duelund DCA16GA tinned copper / Kimber 12TC / SW1X Audio Design USB-SPdif / Duelund DCA20GA interconnects / SW1X Audio SPDIF Aero 6 / Mains Power Conditioner / Box Furniture rack / Audiodesk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner / a very beautiful & understanding Wife!
The first 3009 (improved) arms used the steel knife edge bearings used on the previous arms. When the stock had been exhausted, the design of the counterweight decoupling mechanism was modified to adopt the new nylon bearing design. It might be thought that the new nylon bearings were a cost-cutting exercise, but the change was made on SQ grounds: Alistair Robertson-Aikman thought a small amount of decoupling at the bearing was beneficial.
Clearly this is a matter for debate, but judging by the amount of after-market bronze bearings on offer, there are many SME users who think otherwise. I replaced the nylon bearings on my arm with one of the original steel bearings. Some believe that bronze bearings are better, and prefer them to steel types.
Barry
The typical murky area of hifi upgrades then
As the late Colonel Sanders once said
"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken!!"
It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!
Can you elaborate any further Jamie??
As the late Colonel Sanders once said
"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken!!"