News

Any news regarding pick-up arms (as SME refers to them)?
Is there a Series VI in development?

Been thinking of picking up a used 20/2 as a treat for my 50th bday in a few years now I wonder if this new 10 will be as good as the older SME 20'S.

I would think the current model 10 is all most of us would ever need in a table.

but given Michaels comments my next turntable looks like the VPI direct drive

that said, I can only reccommend the the 20/2. I've never regretted or had second thoughts about it.
it is a superb turntable and the sound is fantastic.

I went and read Mickey's review of the 10 in 2000 and got that same impression, he concluded by saying hard to believe how much better the 20 + 30 are so armed with that perhaps I might be able to grab a used 10 if people will be upgrading.

Michael, Did you have a chance to listen to the SME 30/12 during your factory tour? Any plans for you to review this table?

Hi Mickey, Is there any word about an upgrade path for existing owners of the Model 10?

A great scoop for you! It looks a most interesting hybrid between the compactness of the original M10 design and the suspended models. If I didn't already own an M30 I would be sorely tempted by the forthcoming M10.
I can't see any sort of direct upgrade path apart from trade-in/sell, as the design is so different, but I'll leave it to MF to confirm.

Is this what SME will actually release at some future, unspecified date, or is it just another prototype being tested? This does not seem like an official announcement of a new SME model, but rather a sighting of things under development. Same with the stand/rack designs.

It does not sound as if Mikey had a chance to actually listen to anything.

Even if the design-aesthetics aspect of the rubber-bandy suspension towers wasn't offputting, the idea of all that (rubber? nitrile?) material airing out and getting drier... doesn't appeal. As a former coastal-californian, I can pretty much vouch for the idea that those will be needing replacement regularly, in areas like los angeles, the southwest.

Why are they not enclosed ? Another something to catch your hand, recordbrush, stylusbrush, sleeve on ? How do these make sense, especially in the more compact confines of the 10 ?

And just when they had gotten that mustard-color mat out of their system .... Hope Sme keeps the non-rubberbandy Model 10 around till I can get one.

Good, and in reconsidering it, nothing about SME would suggest that kind of shortsightedness or inappropriate material use...
On the ergonomic front, we'll just have to wait for your review to see if those seem in-the-way or not. (Aesthetically they kind of look like a mid-cent-mod flourish on some cocktail tray from MadMen or something..)

I used to own the Model 10 and now have the 30/12. Those rubber band towers with silicone damping do an admirable job of isolating the motor from the upper plinth and platter and a moderate job of isolation the entire structure from floor borne vibrations. However, I found that placing both of my SME tables on a Vibraplane platform made an astonishing difference in the area of isolation. And then placing the motor controller up on the platform was another substantial improvement.

It's amazing what a proper isolation platform costing $3K can do to elevate a turntable's performance. The SME Model 10 on a Vibraplane can compete with turntables costing $$$k's more. It's one of the cheapest forms of upgrades available for a turntable, suspended or not. If one really wants to know of what a turntable is capable, it must be properly isolated, IMO.

Love the new design the additional damping should provide the extra isolation the model 10 has been missing, and those three suspension towers seem to be at the same hight as the top of the turntable platter, which should prevent them from obstructing the user when playing LP's, in normal use. A welcome addition. As an owner of a model 10 I shall be ordering one when it becomes available.