SMEV set up problem....help needed

Initially with the arm raised I think that the arm will be about ½ inch from the top of the LP surface when viewed from the side.

Then set the arm and the cartridge on the LP and again view from the side. Have the arm about halfway across the LP.
Then use the supplied SME alignment gauge to level the arm using the stripe on the side of the arm so that the arm is perfectly level or slightly tipped back towards the mounting post.

Try to use a 150 gram pressing for your initial setup (An original Chesky LP if you have one or a heavy orange label pressing of a London Stereo Treasury). That way things will be more optimized for all thickness of pressings.

For instance original MO-FI are 100 grams. Most commercial pressing are between 90 and 120 grams. Then you have the 180 and 200 gram pressings. Unless all that you play are 180 or 200 gram.

Try to go with 150 gram as it will be the happy medium and you won’t have to tweak and fiddle with the arm at all.

The SME’s are the easiest to setup in the world and they do not go out of adjustment.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions email me.

Hi Wes,
my method is to have a number of spacers that fit in-between the bottom (clamp mount base) and the arm lifter / arm rest plate.
Inevitably this distance winds up at about 1/2" (12.7mm). The spacers I mostly use, based on various cartridge heights and VTA and! sound adjustments are e.g.
11mm:(Nagaoka MP-50),
12mm:(Ortofon Windfeld),
13mm:(AT-140CL), and
13.5mm:(Empire 1000SE/X), etc.
This corresponds in all cases from a level arm, to slightly heel up, to ~ 2.5 - 3.0mm heel up in the case of the 11mm spacer with an Ortofon M20FL super, and very little heel up with a Nagaoka MP-50.
(All measured on the side stripe of the arm).
These last mentioned carts like different VTA settings (sound) and have a rather different build height (M20FL = ~ 2.5mm lower than the MP-50) yet use the same arm height.
All is of course system / sound related (YMMV) and only to give you some indication.
I hope this helps,
Axel

Correct VTA setting is ALWAYS determined by the cutting angle of the record on the platter. Cutting angles used by record companies do vary. There is always a groove-compliant VTA - but NEVER a specific VTA for a given tonearm or cartridge.
Do set by ear. Use an acoustic recording with a solo guitar and voice. Watch for good "body" and a "believable corpus" of the guitar. The voice should have only a small "halo" around its origin.
Look for a VTA which suits the majority of your records - or if you are really particular about this - do make markers and set the VTA for every record.

SME V is a great tonearm (I've had mine for 20 years) but hard to adjust VTA -- and impossible to do it "on the fly" (while the record is playing.) SME can be excused a little bit, because the arm was designed before the era of line contact styli; and with spherical or elliptical styli, matching the stylus rake angle to the groove cutting head angle was not critical.

If you want to do it correctly, study this thread:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1140840022&openmine&Nsgarch&4&5&st0
It's a bit tedious, but not difficult -- be patient, take your time, and use the recommended tools. And rest assured an SME V will hold it's settings forever!

Regardless of the type of tonearm you have, dozens of Agonners have set their VTA (actually SRA) this way with great results. It's really the only way to take into account the variations in stylus mounting, even among cartridges of the same make and model.
.

Nsgarch,
please bear in mind with all this beautiful theory, and also Dertonarm, that:
1) At least with the SME V the pivot post can be clamped within a "range" (tilted ~ 1-2 deg. either to one or the other side!) thereby changing azimuth slightly, quite often un-noticed when changing VTA / SRA.
2) If in the case of a record clamp like e.g. VPI (rubber washer), SME (alu washer), yet another ~ 1-2 deg (vinyl level) is the case mostly toward the last band of the record, since the record centre is slightly elevated for the clamp to work as intended.
3) If a record is not completely flat (and which one is?) yet again the azimuth is changed by the vinyl, offering a different "level" surface constantly during each revolution.

I guess it is like with most things, try and get things set-up well --- yet try NOT to get too anal about it, lest you may not listen to music any more but to azimuth, VTA, SRA, VTF, etc. etc.
Greetings,
Axel