Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

Although SME's first hi-fi product, the 3009 Series I tonearm, appeared in Sept 1959, we would have to wait another 30 years for its inaugural turntable, the Model 30 [HFN Nov '90]. This was elevated to 30/2 status in the early 2000s and 'expanded' further a decade later as the wider, heavier 30/12 version complete with 12in SME V tonearm [HFN Mar '12; pictured below]. The Model 30 introduced SME's signature rubber O-ring isolation system resulting in a suspended deck that, frankly, never really felt like one. Not here the delicate wobble we all know from the classic Linn/Thorens-style setup as the heavyweight '30 seemed almost completely immune to external factors.

Moreover, the deck was perfectly complemented by SME's Series V tonearm, itself first shown in 1984 and officially launched two years later [HFN Jun '86]. That arm has been seen in 12in versions and with gold-plated appendages, but only now, with the Series VA fitted to the Model 60, has it witnessed a fundamental update of its own. Other SME decks have followed in the last decade, notably the Model 20/3 [HFN Mar '11] which is based along similar lines, but it is still the Model 30 and its updates that have gained the most effusive plaudits across the world. Only now, some 30 years later, has the deck been comprehensively overshadowed.