I have always wanted an SME 3009 but the cost kept me away. Well I finally scored an early series (the best looking IMO) and proceeded to mount it to my AR (the TT). A fairly easy task once I converted the cable connections to RCA. I now have the table of my dreams, and must say it sounds fantastic!!!! The AR arm was good, but different. This SME made the bass come alive and the overall clarity is a step above. Very very happy.

It took me an hour or so to dial in the pivot distance, align to the cartridge, etc......but once I did and started playing records, I was disapointed in the overall mechanics of the arm. Mostly, I dont like the way the damper drops the arm on to the record...very harsh if you don't do it slowly and gently. I am used to just flipping the damper arm it it slowly falls to the record. Also, when I pick up with the damper in mid album, it has a tendency to skate back to the start. I have reduced the anti-skate to next to nothing and this has helped....not sure if that is a good idea or not.

My biggest concern is the damper....is this just a characteristic of the arm? or is there problem with mine? I love the sound and will deal with it if I have too....but it would be nice to get it to drop a little softer.

The damper might need some new silicone oil.the stuff in there has dried out I bet.
Hopefully someone with experience will be along shortly with a guide on how to get it apart and put the new silicone oil in there.

a new SME3009 lifts and drops the arm slowly and smoothly. a silicon recharge is in order.

I have two older SME's and do not have the problem you discribe. As has been said you need to refill the dampening fluid.

Thx...first chance I get I'll pull it apart and add silicone oil. I took it apart when I first got it, and it looked more like silicone grease. So I left it alone.
Should I look for anything special for this oil?

It is grease, not oil. Furthermore, it is not a glob of grease, but rather a piston that is covered in the grease (the grease gives the piston it's tension). When the grease all settles to the bottom (over 40 years) the piston free-falls. One trick that I have "heard" of is to take the arm off the table, invert it and set it in the sun for a day. Let the grease heat up enough to creep back along the piston. The claimaint said this worked on their arm...I haven't tried it though as mine still drops slowly.

The issue with your outward pull may be related to your set-up. If the arm is level, and the wayrod is properly positioned (so the arm can balance on a round screwdriver shaft by the rear stub off the knife bearing), the arm should litterally float when the counterweight is zero'd.

These SME's are fantastic arms but the set-up is very fussy (very British) as there are multiple lock screws, outriggings, and doobly-drops that need to be set, and everytime you set one, it throws the other ones out. If you haven't read the instructions manual on vinylengine, I highly advise it as it is enlightening (everything looks very strait forward, but it really isn't).

Not related to either of your issues, but did you use a Stevenson or SME protractor? Many people try to align theirs with a Baerwald and get "close", but these arms actually are Stevenson alignment. When I finally got a Stevenson protractor (downloaded), it was a brezze to align, and it sounded 1000000X better than it ever had.

James R.

Thx James for the info...very helpful. I only went as far as the bottom of the damper (pulled the C-clip and the rod connected to the cueing arm). From what I think you are saying, I need to disassemble even further. At the bottom all I could see was the cam on the cue rod...that was the part that was all gummy, old grease. I did not see a piston.

I will go back to Vinyl engine like you said. I read it once in a hurry when I first got the arm. I did use the Baerwald protractor...but have a Stevenson around here somewhere....it might be a Loefgren, not sure. I didn't realize there was any difference. And you're most likely right about the way rod being out of wack, I did like it said on Vinyl engine with the screwdriver the first time, but ended up pulling the whole counter weight system for some reason and never re-adjusted after.

I love this arm...even when out of adjustment it is still better than my old arm. I never minded all the tweeking, it's half the fun. And when you play that vinyl and hear the improvement.....well, it's really worth it. Even converted my wife. She has the head phones on right now.

Thanks again....I'll be gone for a week or two, but will report back then how the damper piston project goes.

Postscript...what cartridge are you using? I really like the Ortofon OM 30 on the old arm, but when I got the 3009 I figured I needed a Shure. No V15 III in my arsenal so I put a M91ED.....whoa! sounded much better than the OM.

The V15 series is actually designed (or vice versa) for the improved arm. The 3009-II (unimproved...which is what I believe you said you had as your said "early") is actually a meduim to higher mass arm and meant for medium to "higher" compliance carts (it "can" track my Otorofon SPU GM/T, but at its limits and not as well as the Ortofon RS-212 that was designed for that cart). The OM series is a a higher comliance cart so it will sound good on that arm, but not as good as something a little less compliant with higher mass. The "improved" was actually brought out when high compliance and low tracking force was in vogue, as the earlier 3009 (which is the one you and I have) was kind of a brick for those modern ultra high compliance carts.

I run a Sumiko BP#2 on my 3009-II and I think it's a match made in heaven. The EVO-III or Blackbird would be an even better match as they are higher mass carts, but that naked body design scares the hell out of me as I am a bit ham-fisted and see myself destrying a $900 cart while trying to align it!!

The SME instruction downplays the importance of that wayrod placement (they say close is good enough). It really is touchy, and not only do you need to slide it in and out to get the proper asimyth (that is your screwdriver balance), but then you need to loosen the counterweight lock-nut and latterally balance it. If the center gimble was a clock, I found that mine is best positioned around 2 o'clock as opposed to at a 90 degree angle as it helps to balance the the tendancy for the arm to want to lop inward. It looks like it's sitting a little high (like arm arm cocked ready to punch), but it evens out the weight of the cart.

Fiddling with these arms is the best thing you can do. They only take a few minutes to set up, but refining them can take hours/days/weeks. I don't swap carts on my SME as I find it such a pain to re-align everything. I find the detachable headshell to be useless unless you have two carts that were exactly the same weight, with exactly the same overhang, and exactly the same VTF, and exactly the same VTA....you get the point. They don't make changing settings easy (which they refined with the later re-issed arms like the 3010 which had knurled knobs instead of set-screws), but once you get it, you lock it in there and it 'aint going anywhere.

James R.

Well, I seem to have opened up a can of worms....or rather a can of grease.

After a couple hours at the bench I figured out how to pull the dashpot completely apart, not that difficult really. But here is the rub....no matter how I packed the piston area, it would not drop slowly. I tried packing the 1.top half only, 2.bottom half only, 3. both sides (this seemed the most logical since it would float through the grease). No grease seems to be leaking out the top past the seal---or out the bottom. Nothing seemed to keep it from falling like a rock. After several hours re-doing the steps, trying this and that, I finally gave up. The rubber seal seems OK, I got ahold of some high quality silicone grease, nothing looks broken or worn...ARG! :confused:

I put it back together and will lower it slowly by hand until I can find one on Ebay at a reasonable price.

James, if you are following this thread....or anyone else with some advise that might help, any ideas? Used dashpots are going for around $40-45, and I might end up with the same.

Thx

Another question

I re-set the cartridge using the Stevenson protractor. Since there is no room for adjustment on the SME headshell, the only way to get it to align is to move the arm further back along the bed plate. Is this what I want to do? It will change the recomended distance from spindle to pivot by 1/4" to 3/8".

With the Baerwald protractor every thing lines up perfect...and it sounds pretty good! I ordered an after-market headshell with the slots in it and will try again....but something tells me I'm overlooking something.

the silicon grease needs to be 300000-500000 weight. hobby shops have in the RC cars as Diff. oil. try there.

The silicone grease I used was not much different in consistancy than automotive grease....and that was not enough to slow the piston down.
I'm guessing that this 300000/500000 is pretty thick stuff?

Got some 500000 weight grease on ebay... thats the ticket! The stuff is like thick honey, hard to work with. But it did the trick....my arm floats on to the album like its supposed to now.
Thx for the help:yippy::yippy:

Excellent tonearm, all parts still available from SME Ltd. in England or their US importer. Their support and customer service is superb. Fine performer and superb on a AR XA and many fine turntables. They respond to email inquiries promptly.