SME will exit the tonearm retail and OEM business with immediate effect - this is a bummer

Well KEF was the Kent Engineering Foundry and made crop sprayers and other farm machinery. And they were also dumped when they went into making loudspeakers. It was ever thus.

And anyway, most of SME's business is not in audio Home - SME Engineering

 

If you need arm specs they still have Pdfs up for all the arm manuals including long discontinued models. It also appears you cannot buy an SME TT without an arm now. Some people fitted alternative arms because they thought as a package they sounded overdamped. Overall this is a head scratcher and I predict that the Synergy type of new design will be expanded in place of the suspended models. All the mags appear to be salvateing over these ignoring the price hikes and drop in value for money.

 

It helps to have the master tapes of LPs to know. I have several such examples.

 

Who needs an SME when you have a Tri-Planer anyway!

 

I won't doubt you, you're Atma-Sphere, the ultimate authority on all things audio.

 

A continuing saga of why I have owned a SME V and just find less and less use for their tonearms. Like with Linn, another huge name in analogue advancements for decades, but as others have commented, is in a market loaded with cost effective competitors and innovation, their virtues and brand loyalty has faded.

VDH copper wire (not to my favor) replaced to Kondo-san’s Fairy Hair silver rewire and no VTA on the fly (completely annoying)... nice tonearms for decades but just not the last word by a long shot. And yet understand, the V for me has been a rock solid, stable, great sounding device.

Perhaps they understand that their market isn’t supported by a legacy anymore and they don’t wish to reinvent. So, tonearms insito for a consumer sold on a whole SME turntable package works well numbers wise...

So how do I feel about their latest notion? Yawwwwwn!

 

I need to comment, my apologies to others.

I respect other folks input and ideas here, especially many of our senior leaders in the industry like Ralph. But I don’t have any idea what you and or he might have going on between you yet, that kind of rhetoric seems extremely uncalled for and not value added in any respect. Strong beliefs, strong opinions, and people speaking their minds should not be a problem in a forum like this. And yet consequently, I don’t think anyone expects us all to be in agreement... but really???

 

Rob, the Ignore function here is a nice feature. It's helped make this place more pleasant for me when I don't have to read certain people, like the one you addressed.

 

Update
Mono and Stereo High-End Audio Magazine: SME TONEARMS PRODUCTION UPDATE

 

Added.

 

SME is/was a UK business.

 

I was only postulating about one possible reason why the company might have been sold. And I was providing a concrete example of how inheritance taxes can destroy family-owned businesses inside of a country where I have a reasonable understanding of how taxes work.

I know that SME is a UK company. And while I don't pretend to know UK tax laws, the tiny bit that I do know about UK taxes is that many are generally higher than they are inside of the US. Therefore I would be surprised to learn that UK tax law does not also include some provisions which have the potential to destroy family-owned businesses just like US tax law does.

 

Precisely, you do not know UK tax law.
Specifically that it is possible to claim Business Relief on Inheritance Tax of between 50% and 100% on some of an estate's business assets. As ever it is quite complex but clearly a rather different picture to that in the USA.

 

It looks like SME arms are available again, though at extortionate prices, I haven't done a search, but Hard To Find Hi-Fi on eBay have brand new 309s, IVs and Vs in stock.

 

One of the few audiophile investments I made that still increase in value! (or perhaps the only one?)

 

so even more extortionate than they were after the price increase before they stopped selling them

 

I think they want four times what a IV cost before the price rise, if only I'd known and been able to stockpile a few, no sign of the M2-12R which I actually need a couple more of, but then again they'd likely want five grand for one and that's more than twice what I'd pay.

If the arms were back on general sale I'd assume we'd have heard so perhaps Hard To Find made them an offer they couldn't refuse based on the expectation that if they are the only stockist they will still make money, but with the effect of Covid perhaps SME have changed their minds.

 

Up to very recently, the SME V retailed at £5,200 or thereabouts after the price rise. I note that Hard to Find HiFi wants £8,000 for the V. I had my V refurbished last Summer thankfully. Pricing like this puts ownership out of the reach of most enthusiasts. It's a tad shameful, if you ask me.

 

Is that an NOS series V?

£1800 was what l paid for my V in 2000 i l remember correctly.

 

I couldn't find any link to arms from the Hard to Find home page. SME are only listing turntables on their website. Probably some NOS that was being sold at inflated prices. SME would not sell many SME V at £8K. They charge a fraction of that if you buy with a TT. Frankly all their turntables are way too expensive and probably aimed at the far east export market. Owner is from that part of the world (India I think).

 

https://www.hardtofindhifi.com/ Menu, Manufacturers, SME.
Quite amazed that my SME309 came with my Gyrodec Bronze and QC PSU, lightly used in 1996, for the princely sum of £800 all in!