SME 20/2 SME V or Triplanar VII?

IIRC, the SME also lacks any real ability to adjust cartridge alignment angle. Again, cartridges aren't always perfect. Headshell holes instead of slots confer no sonic advantage, but they do make aligning an imperfect cartridge difficult or impossible.

To an SME headshell, applying a sharp 2.8mm (~ 7/64") bit *by hand* yields enough accomodation on the holes for any cartridge alignment I felt the need to make.

Wrt 'synergy', is this the sort of thing one can talk a table/arm out of or into? I suppose there is no harm in the trying. ;-) Yet when the makers of an arm and table are the same, the possibility may not be so remote as one might reason. Those who have heard seem to think there may be something to the combination of an SME table with an SME arm.

Cheers,
Tim

I have owned two SME model V's,and the Triplanar.For what it's worth,when installing my Triplanar,I was quite impressed with it's "amazing" bearing rigidity/smootheness upon installation.This probably seems silly and redundant,but the arm's movement in free space,when mounted on the armboard,and being moved into place,"blew me away".Of course,it had moved "out" of the arm lock,to notice this.I guess you had to see this to understand,otherwise it seems like a stupid point.
The SME,obviously has great bearings,yet there was "something" about the Triplanar that stated...."this is hand made,and tweaked to the max"!!
I,also,found the SME bass to be a bit over-ripe,in my older COSMOS.
My friend had a SME-V on a VPI TNT,at the time,and felt bass response was a bit over done.Of course synergy has everything to do with it,but if I were to choose either arm today(assuming my table could accommodate them equally well)it would be the Triplanar.Warts and all Doug!-:)

Sirspeedy is correct - synergy of arm and table is everything. Given that you are getting a 20/2, I would get an SME V - with MCS 150 silver internal wiring, not the stock wiring; and a good phono cable, not the stock one. Unless I am mistaken, no one posting on this thread has compared the SME V and Triplanar arms on an SME table.

Raul,

Excellent question/suggestion re: arm/cartridge matching. We should have asked that earlier.

Jtimothya,

Thanks for the update on the SME Vd with azimuth-adjustable headshell. That seems like an excellent solution, which I was unaware of. (The two SME V's I am familiar with, from friend's systems, do not have this.)

Drilling out the headshell holes (by hand) is a reasonable accommodation, though I'd prefer to use a hole-sized bit and expand them *only* longitudinally and not laterally. If TriPlanar owners can fiddle with sandpaper and O-rings (per my "Tips" thread) I don't know why SME owners can't fiddle with a drill bit!

Perfect sound forever, anyone? ;-)

P.S. SirSpeedy is right about the "free" feeling of the TP while hand cueing. It feels like I imagine how zero G would feel. There's so little resistance in any direction it's kind of scary at first.

Wow! Polishing with emery paper and sliding on some O-ring vs. expanding holes, even by hand. Regardless of tonearms, that's quite a bit of difference in tweaks. And there is still the question of VTA. Brings to mind the Vector, but then there is VTA, and soon VTF, from Basis.

So, how does one measure synergy?