SME Price Increases

Late to this Thread, but having looked into the new 'Synergy' TT package and its shocking £14K ticket, I started decomposing what's being offered here in the context of this thread.

£14K minus the included Ortofon Windfeld = £11k
£11K minus the included Nagra BPS-derivative phono stage (but mains-powered, so steely-sounding [see the reviews]) = £9K

£9K for an SME TT with no suspension and a scaled-down IV-derivative tonearm?! I could buy a 20/3 with a V tonearm for that (pre-20%-hiked) price and still have £500 left over for vinyl...

Another audiophile company off of my purchasing radar for greed and price-gouging -- I hear that they're looking at £14K+ for their 'new' Garrard 301s. Snort!

 

I've owned an SME 10, 20/2 and my current 20/3. I've bought all used; I couldn't afford them new.

Another recent price hike now puts the 20/3 at £11450 and the V at an astounding £5200! All the music lovers/ audiophiles that I know cannot buy new SME products.

I've heard from some dealers that 80% of SME products are sold to the far east, not sure how true this is though.

 

Makes me glad I equipt my VPI with an SME 309 years ago (along with an extra two headshells). Never regretted that purchase.

 

I have SME arms bought new on two of my decks and would like to fit SME arms to two other decks, but I can no longer afford to buy new SMEs even if they represented good value so I'll either buy used or use different arms, SME are entitled to charge anything they wish, but hopefully what amounts to pure greed will eventually catch up with them, companies such as Jelco and Audiomods probably can't believe their luck.

 

That is true of most high end UK brands. Due to internet domestic prices have risen to be on a par with export prices. Most of the increase goes to the new distributor which I believe is another part of the parent company Cadence. BTW I've noticed other product prices rising. Michell Orbe is about 20% more expensive than when I purchased over 2 years ago and I got an additional discount as I did on a new SME 309. That lot would now cost me an extra £1200 at least.

 

Those Garrard 301s are NOS that have been refurbished and improved by SME including remachining the platter with strobe markings. They have designed a new plinth with isolation from the existing SME parts bin.

 

The original 3009 was £27 19s 2d in 1968 direct from SME. or £27.95 in decimal money. Prices have gone by a factor of 17.3 times since then - so the 3009 price now should be £430 (so say $700 to be generous).

The nearest equivalent arm in the SME stable is the M2-9R, and that is £2275. In other words a factor of 5.3 times more expensive in real terms. Which is simply bonkers.

The V in 2011 was £2392, correcting for inflation £2900, so now at £5200 it is 1.8 times more expensive now.

The equation that SME are calculating is what price level gives them the most margin. And that alas is entirely their calculation. And stuff us who can no longer afford their product.

I bought a Series II improved back in 1973 when I was a schoolkid (I still have it). Which says it all, really.

 

The problem is other manufacturers are charging crazy prices for newer designs. If the SAT (Swedish Audio Technologies) arm is £32K, £5K looks reasonable for 'The Best Pickup Arm In the World'! The new owners want to max profit obviously and I believe the company was not in the best financial shape when sold. Just buy a 309 as there is not a lot of difference for £3400 less. I shudder to think what they will charge if they develop new models. Maybe this is where the extra money is going long term.

 

How can these be "NOS" from 60 years ago in sufficient quantity to make a worthy tooling business venture? Surely, they're merely reconditioned -- as the Japanese dude does -- wherein the ludicrous price.

Similarly, I'm not sure that an idler-drive can ever be isolated from what maters -- the motor -- as its platter is in direct contact with it...

 

The assumption is that these are Loricraft/SME restored originals, what new SME content there is remains to be seen and SME aren't being very forthcoming: Garrard

Is an SME restoration better than a CTC/NWA/AudioGrail restoration remains to be seen, personally I doubt it.

The platter is in contact with the wheel, not the motor, hardly any different from a belt drive or direct drive, try and track down a good idler and have a listen you may be amazed by how good they are.

 

Loricraft? That makes more sense.

The devil is in the details in analogue, and I'd say that being "...in contact with the wheel, not the motor" is the entirety of the difference as that wheel is not flexible in the way that a belt is; thus, any motor vibration is conducted to the platter all the more efficiently. People look past the rumble with idlers because of the bass, but even the best of them rumble in a way that any $200 Pro-Ject doesn't. Each to their own, but for me reducing motor vibration (rather than re-introducing it for the sake of tonality or 'drive') is the path to follow...

 

SME prices have hit the ceiling for sure! I was just checking the price the V tonearm yesterday and it seems to be £5,200. Last time I checked it was less than that, maybe a year ago, iirc. I get the feeling that a large percentage of the company’s sales are made in Asia. I recall seeing a large gathering of Japanese business people at the SME booth at High End 2018. I had been ‘toying’ with the notion of upgrading my 20/2 turntable but each time I checked the price it had gone up so I decided against it, even though I have the funds. Being realistic, I felt it was time to call a halt to this endless depletion of my funds.

SME appointed Patood in the U.K. as its distributor in the last two/three years and that apparently contributed to the 20% increase back then. But I agree, other manufacturers are pricing above SME’s prices so it’s onwards and upwards price wise leaving anybody on a normal income way behind. Given a choice however, I would buy an SME turntable every time over and above any other manufacturer including Marc Gomes' SAT model that I heard at Munich two weeks ago. SME's engineering and build quality is legendary and exceeds that of its competitors almost all of the time. Against that backdrop, maybe the company feels that its products are good value for money considering the insane levels that specialist audio commands these days?

 

This was supposed to be the year for the SME M2-9R at chez moi. As is typical, I had been mulling over that decision for a long, long, time. However, I think the balance just shifted toward another T3 Pro.

 

Fremer/Analog Planet reported back in November that SME's North American importer, Bluebird, was announcing 'across the board' price cuts on SME products for the NA market.

So, what was that then, them just taking back part of the big recent-years' price increases, 'cuz sales were falling off a cliff?? Dunno.

In any case, SME is going about this all wrong. If they want SAT-like margins, then they should make a stupid-expensive SAT arm competitor, rather than making their entire lineup a poor value. Which just makes more ppl buy used SME arms, buy further down in the lineup (309 instead of IV or V), or just look elsewhere entirely.
.

 

Greed.

 

Thats exactly what I thought when I heard where their prices were going.

 

Good luck buying a 309 for 3400 less,the arm is 2450 pounds now!

 

Well they have put prices up another 20% then. I paid more than £1K less just over 2 years ago. This is ridiculous. Frankly if the far east market collapses as it did in the 90s these companies will be in big trouble. The price difference is still around £2800 when once it was a few hundred pounds. There isn't that difference in sound if much at all. BTW SME have dropped the 10 TT for their new style 12A model. Including arm that is double the price of the old 10. Linn are beginning to look better value with recent improvements to their mid range model. Similar price to an Orbe + 309.

 

Because I never throw anything away, I have the April 1984 SME price list. That was before they even got into making decks.

The 3009/S2 Improved (with detachable shell) was £93.77 plus VAT, which was 15% back then so £107.84 selling price. Retail prices have increased by 2.95 times since then, so £317.80 in today's money. The nearest equivalent is the M2-9R which is £2275. So a factor of over 7 times more expensive in real terms.

In fairness, you can buy a 3009/S2 on eBay for about £300, give or take.

I bought my IV from eBay a couple of years ago from a seller who reckoned it was in good condition and recent manufacture - it had the plus that it came with the optional damper, so it essentially was a V by stealth. When it arrived I checked the serial number with SME, and it turned out the build date was 1987! So a really early arm. The seller cut the price from £2k to £1400 when he got the evidence. I then sent it to SME for service. They stripped it, ultrasonically cleaned every part, replaced the arm tube assembly, replaced all the bearings, rewired it, reassembled and gave it a 2 year guarantee - for £600 plus VAT. So I got essentially a brand new IV with damper for not much more than £2k. So although their retail prices are through the roof, their service is comprehensive (even a new arm tube!) and not expensive.

Their service manager Brian Laker said "you'd be surprised how many eBay purchases we see in for service!". He's a really great guy, and knows SME products backwards and forwards.

 

SME factory tour in four parts.


SME Limited-Precision Audio Turntable & Arm factory tour pt. 2
SME Limited-Precision Audio Turntable & Arm factory tour pt. 3
SME Limited-Precision Audio Turntable & Arm factory tour pt. 4 final

 

Just over 2 years ago I could have got a new IV for less than you spent on that arm plus refurb. Used prices have been rather too high for a while. Easy to sell our arms now and make a nice profit. SME remain a great company and that service may just still be worth the entry level given most competition is nearly as expensive ( for similar engineering). Audiomods does not have the ability to take up the slack and I can see him charging more if he can't meet demand. The only relative bargain based on reports are the Audio Note arms. A Linn Akito is more than £1500 and Ekos SE is also stratospheric. Some other designs that are hovering in the £1500 to £2K bracket look fairly simple engineering compared with SME. Jelco now looks the only good cheap model other than Rega. It is possible production costs leaped last year due to pound v dollar and wage increases. SME compounded the problem with the added distributor costs from the previous year. Nice to know you can deal direct with the factory still for servicing. High end engineering costs have always inflated way above the average inflation index but recent rises are unprecedented by any standards. Seen similar rises in other imported products in the recent past. I'm sure if you took Ortofons top MCs the difference would be similar hidden by model changes which are just developments from the previous products.

 

You are quite right regarding price of a IV a couple of years ago. But mine had the damper added - and that is (or was) not a cheap addition. With the damper it is essentially a V without the fine adjuster on main balance weight position. Brian Laker's take on it is that the IV+damper actually sounds better that the V, because it does not have the main balance weight adjuster. He also advised against upgrading to silver arm wiring during the service (that is standard on the V) because it sounds too bright.

SME also sell accessories direct - so spares for older arms, balance weights, cartridge spacers etc. It is just the finished products that go through a distributor now. I was involved in the audio industry a few decades ago, and I know for a fact that distributor margins are 30-50%. It was always a major gripe that once distributor and retailer margins were taken into account, they were making more money that we were, as the manufacturer.

 

I have dealt with Brian too and you’re right he is a great guy! Last time I spoke to him he was able to give me ‘chapter and verse’ on the history of my V tonearm and service over the years. Reading your post has given me the idea that maybe I will send my V back for updating etc. If I were to do that, I might, just might be able to ‘stomach’ the cost of the SME 20/3, on its own. I bought my V new in 1990 or thereabouts.

Sometime ago my local dealer advised that it is not so easy to sell an SME without an arm, so that got me thinking that I would have buy an SME 20/3 with a new SME V. The latter is a costly proposition by any measure. If I decide to get my arm refurbished I’d better do it before October 31st next when the U.K. leaves the EU.

 

My SME V is 1990 vintage and still going strong. The Price hikes are very heavy indeed which is a shame.

 

It's being reported that SME will no longer sell arms on their own just as part of a package with their decks, if so then to me it's an insane decision, but maybe the price rises have already killed a lot of their business.

They no longer list separate arms on their site so it's true.

SME Product Announcement - SME