Going from a Gyrodec to a SME 10

Hi Yogiboy and Tketcham,

Thanks for your replies. You both seem to believe that changing over headshells would be easy although I had this reply on another forum site..

"I have used both the 309 and the 312. In terms of ease in removing headshells from the wand for cartridge swapping, I give them a fail. The recessed allen screw needs to be fully removed to get the headshell off. The head of the screw is smooth sided, and when unscrewed from the captive nut at the bottom (more about that in a second), only pokes up a couple of mm from the headshell. It's hard to grab even with tweezers. I ended up putting a dab of blu-tak in the hex and using the allen key to pull it out. I seem to recall that I needed to glue the captive nut at the bottom, too."

The actual carts I have, a Benz micro wood SL stereo and a Benz micro ace mono. Although from the same manufacturer, there maybe slight differences to re just when changing between the two. I do also have a Denon 103 modded by ESC which from time to time might go on.. But I'd mainly want to change between mono and stereo..

As to the damping trough and vertical height screw. Does the height screw come with the damping trough? I contacted SME about the trough, they didn't believe it was essential as they thought most modern carts had sufficient dampening..

Tom, as far as the desire for change of TT. I bought the Gyrodec new after a couple of overseas telephone calls with John Michell himself when he was still alive.. I couldn't have met a nicer person.. So I have a bit of loyalty to it.. However I have a small legacy and with a sale of the Gyrodec have this opportunity to purchase the SME 10.. In fact I have two 10's to choose from. One has the 309 arm, the other is without a arm. Both less than 3 years old. So is the Gyrodec limiting?? Interesting word... Probably not.. I wouldn't know if the SME would be an improvement unless I could have a home demo. This might give me a better idea but isn't possible at this stage... . I could use my meagre funds in another area of my system...

I wasn't going to expand too much the thread but I should add that I also have a Garrard 401 in a nice jarrah plinth with a 12" Jelco arm with the older SME removable headshell. :)

So Tom, I was considering consolidating TTs, perhaps even selling the Garrard, that's why I considered the SME with the 309 arm. Or just sell the Gyrodec and not buy the SME. keep the Garrard and perhaps get a "better" arm? It also has a removable arm board so I can change arms.. Instead of changing arms I'm even thinking of putting a second arm on it to carry the mono cart.. I know, I'm spoilt for choices but who said audio was easy :)

Peterayer, thanks for your detailed input.. It's sounds as you have got your changes down pat.. However I'm not sure I'd be as capable even with practice..

Thanks All.

I had the same problem with my 309. Just a dab of crazy glue to make the nut permanent so it stays in place fixed the problem. No big deal!

As a former Gorbe/SME IV owner, I'm not sure this is an upgrade. I have heard the 10 in a limited listening session and I found it to be quite a bit dryer than the Mitchell. If you are looking for an upgrade in some area of the presentation, or overall, perhaps you should look into a new arm. I eventually replaced my SME IV with a Moerch DP6 and was thrilled.... but there are so many other great arms out there as well. That would be my approach. It's all about fit so maybe get the SME 10 and some other arm for the Mitchell and do your own comparison and sell the loser....

Dear Kensell21: IMHO there is no real improvement down there but a different presentation.

I think that you can change your IV for a non-SME tonearm or a better cartridge or a better phono stage if you want a real improvement.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.

Kensell21; if it's just a fortuitous opportunity, then by all means give the SME 10 a try! (It's easy for other people to spend YOUR money. :-)

The height adjustment screw is part of the damping trough assembly. But you're paying for the damping trough when all that's really wanted is height adjustment. (SME, are you listening? Great opportunity for an aftermarket product that would be a hit with all the owners of SME tonearms.)

Your idea of having a single deck with two tonearms is also a great idea. I've considered modifying my Gyro SE to do just that. Much easier than swapping headshells. Well, at least after you've spent the time and trouble modifying the turntable.

Enjoy the journey!
Tom