A study in SME 20/2

[1KW]

I have a feeling when I stop by to pick up the PPP for a test drive that it will actually be your TT demo my wallet will be afraid of

[gtubes]

Originally Posted by 1KW

I have a feeling when I stop by to pick up the PPP for a test drive that it will actually be your TT demo my wallet will be afraid of

No kidding. I have been reading this thread...danger danger!

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by 1KW

I have a feeling when I stop by to pick up the PPP for a test drive that it will actually be your TT demo my wallet will be afraid of

Grrrrrrr....

[PHC1]

I was glad to spend some time talking to Bill Peugh from Sumiko today.

Bill knows the SME tables really well inside and out and I went over my setup with him thoroughly. I think we covered just about every parameter of the table and arm and Bill shared many of his setup tips and what he has discovered over the years of playing with them. I had my work cut out for me when I got home and started applying and testing the various settings.

I had to tweak just about everything across the board. It was fun to do small incremental adjustments and hear the sound changing. I started by bumping up the suspension a few mm above the factory recommended level and re-leveling the table. Followed by the damping of the tonearm, I went up on the damping screw until it barely touched the surface of the silicone fluid in the resevoir. After these two adustments, the soundstage opened up tremendously.

It was fun listening to my new Jimi Hendrix vinyl and all of a sudden hearing the sound effects coming from the adjacent room on the left.

Next up I adjusted the VTA and VTF some more to achieve a balance of bass and detailed top end, added .5 gm of dynamic balance to the tonearm from balanced keeping the overall VTF in the range, followed by anti-skate by ear. After I also adjusted the speed of the motor by ear as Bill recommended a few small steps at a time and suddenly everything just locked in just like Bill said it would.

Table is sounding pretty incredible now. I was amazed just how much more can be had from an optimized setting. I doubt I would have achieved nearly as good results in a few months of experimenting as I did in a few hours after the advice from Bill.

[jdandy]

Serge.......Both the SME 20/2 turntable and the SME Series V tonearm are engineering marvels. It is enjoyable to read your posts, and know that someone as focused as you owns this equipment, and can appreciate the improvements that each tweak produces. It is a fine vinyl spinning and tracking system indeed.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Serge.......Both the SME 20/2 turntable and the SME Series V tonearm are engineering marvels. It is enjoyable to read your posts, and know that someone as focused as you owns this equipment, and can appreciate the improvements that each tweak produces. It is a fine vinyl spinning and tracking system indeed.

Dan, of course pushing the "play" button on any digital source is so much easier and foolproof. Spending time with your table optimizing the setup on the opposite side of the scale is very enjoyable and rewarding, at least to me. Once the stylus is in the groove and you have wall to wall, three dimensional, analog smooth sound that simply breathes with life, I simply grin ear to ear with satisfaction and consider all the time invested into it simple joy. Vinyl playback has fascinated me from day one.

I am hoping I will have a chance in the future to try other table and tonearm combinations as I derrive much satisfaction from getting a chance to experience and spend time listening to some of these very impressive analog playback engineering marvels.

[1KW]

I have heard Serges analog SME TT and it not only is eye candy but sounds fantastic and is fabulous as well.

[turntable]

Finally upgraded Serge. Well done!!

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Serge.......Both the SME 20/2 turntable and the SME Series V tonearm are engineering marvels. It is enjoyable to read your posts, and know that someone as focused as you owns this equipment, and can appreciate the improvements that each tweak produces. It is a fine vinyl spinning and tracking system indeed.

+ 1 : that is the RIGHT TT at the RIGHT place !

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Followed by the damping of the tonearm, I went up on the damping screw until it barely touched the surface of the silicone fluid in the resevoir. After these two adustments, the soundstage opened up tremendously.

Glad to hear that. That was the effect I had hoped it would have. With the damping fluid or the screw too far into it, it can appear a bit sluggish in comparison although the effect depends on the tt in question

howie